My bps are pretty good. Once in awhile on dilaysis I will get a feeling like my bp is dropping only to find that the opposite is true - my bp has jumped up about 15 points. It will go right back down the next time and not jump up any more the whole tx. Is there a reason for bp jumping up like that and then going right back down and how is it that the symptoms feel so similar to a drop in bp?

Faye:

It sounds almost like you are describing a renin response. Sometimes, when stressors are applied the body responds with excretion of renin, thus causing the blood pressure to rise. This is not uncommon in dialysis patients.

What are your blood pressure readings at the end of treatment?

Carol

My bps are 117-140 when I get on, and they slowly deline until about 2 hours on. I then have coffee and they start to rise again and either remain stable to the end or begin to gradually decline. I will get off anywhere from 120 something to 114.

What does the bottom number of bp indicate? My top number may be good but my bottom number sometimes starts to go into the 60's or 70's.

Faye:

The blood pressure readings you reference don't sound all that bad to me. However, I would encourage you to discuss this issue more in depth with your physician. Take copies of your treatment sheets where you have a noted increase in blood pressure to show him / her what is going on. He may want to adjust your medication, or evaluate you further with some other tests. Let us know what the outcome is!

Cassidy:

Blood pressure is a reading or indication of the pressure felt by the blood vessels when the heart pumps blood throughout the body.

Diastolic blood pressure is the reading of the minimum arterial blood pressure during ventricular diastole. Diastole is when one of the chambers of the heart relaxes and then dilates (enlarges) and fills with blood. The diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number of the blood pressure, and normal is generally considered less than 80 - 85.

Systolic blood pressure is the reading of the maximum arterial blood pressure during ventricular systole. During the normal blood pressure cycle, your blood pressure reaches a high level. This is recorded as the top number, or the systolic number. It is an indicator of the maximum pressure as the left ventricle of the heart pumps blood into the aorta (the large vessel of the heart). Normal systolic blood pressure is considered less than 120.

When vascular resistane increases, your blood pressure rises. The size of your arteries and arterioles change to adjsut blood flow to the need of your body tissues. The smaller the opening of a vessel, the greater its resistance is to blood flow. Hence, when someone has coronary artery disease (or 'hardening of the arteries'), the blood pressure is often increased because there is less room for the blood to flow in these arteries, because they are 'clogged up'.

The volume of blood circulating with the body affects your blood pressure. At the end of a dialysis treatment, blood volume is somewhat decreased, and a subsequent decrease in blood pressure is expected.

Other factors such as hemorrhage, shock, or vascular damage will affect blood pressure.

All blood pressures are measured in millimeters mercury, which is abbreviated mm Hg.

I hope you find this somewhat helpful.

Carol