Hello Ned, I understand your concern. A lot of people have a temporarily high blood pressure at certain times of their lives, due to stressful circumstances and this is normal, however, when despite a healthy weight and lifestyle, the blood pressure readings do not get back to normal, the first thing to do is to identify the cause. Although in many cases the cause for hypertension is unknown, conditions such as kidney, pituitary and adrenal gland problems. Make sure you do not add contributing factors such as smoking and increased salt in your diet. However, for unknown reasons, despite doing all the right things, some people still have high blood pressure. I m afraid at this point, medication is the only way for you in order to lower your blood pressure and reduce risks to your health in the future. An untreated hypertension can lead to many complications and to decreased quality of life. Amlodipine is an effective medication and at a low dose it can be very beneficial in the long run by keeping hypertension at bay. Wishing you good health and all the best.