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Suggest Treatment For High BP And Severe Back Pain
I m a 52 y/o female, overweight, have high blood pressure and chronic back pain. There have been several times when near the inside area of my left arm felt strange with a pain sensation like I ve never felt anywhere else in my body. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like the vein between my elbow and shoulder was tight or constricted (or expanded?) and very uncomfortable and somewhat painful. One occasion my blood pressure was quite high 172/86 and I also felt chest pains and short of breath (it really scared me) but it lasted no more than a half hour. Other times there were no other symptoms that I can recall other than the pain and discomfort in my upper left arm. Could this have been heart related or is there something else that could cause temporary pain and discomfort in the vein of my upper arm? Thanks! Tammy
Fri, 26 Aug 2016
Thank you for the query.
From the history that you have provided, you are a 52 year old lady, suffering from high blood pressure, a constricting pain in the left arm and low back pain (chronic). I shall deal with the issues separately
1. A constricting pain in the left arm, alongwith shortness of breath and occasional chest pain, associated with uncontrolled high blood pressure (BP-172/86 mm of hg), may be related to a cardiac cause (commonly ischaemic heart disease). I would suggest you to get a 12 lead ECG done,to check the cardiac status, along with a lipid profile (fasting). In case a cardiac abnormality is detected, further work-up like an echocardiography or stress test may be needed.
2. Your blood pressure needs to be controlled with medications. The ideal BP should be around 140/80-90 mm of Hg. A number of medications are available (but should be taken only after consulting your physician). You would need to reduce the daily salt intake to around 2 gram/day.
3. Thirdly, your chronic low back pain, may be associated with degenerative changes (age related changes) in the lumbo-sacral spine. You may get a X-ray Lumbo-sacral spine done along with checking your serum calcium and vitamin D levels. Sometimes women in the peri-menopausal/ postmenopausal age group may be suffering from osteoporosis/osteopenia. The X-ray of the spine, should give a fair idea about the status of your bones.
Hope this helps you
Regards
Dr Ayusmati Thakur
From the history that you have provided, you are a 52 year old lady, suffering from high blood pressure, a constricting pain in the left arm and low back pain (chronic). I shall deal with the issues separately
1. A constricting pain in the left arm, alongwith shortness of breath and occasional chest pain, associated with uncontrolled high blood pressure (BP-172/86 mm of hg), may be related to a cardiac cause (commonly ischaemic heart disease). I would suggest you to get a 12 lead ECG done,to check the cardiac status, along with a lipid profile (fasting). In case a cardiac abnormality is detected, further work-up like an echocardiography or stress test may be needed.
2. Your blood pressure needs to be controlled with medications. The ideal BP should be around 140/80-90 mm of Hg. A number of medications are available (but should be taken only after consulting your physician). You would need to reduce the daily salt intake to around 2 gram/day.
3. Thirdly, your chronic low back pain, may be associated with degenerative changes (age related changes) in the lumbo-sacral spine. You may get a X-ray Lumbo-sacral spine done along with checking your serum calcium and vitamin D levels. Sometimes women in the peri-menopausal/ postmenopausal age group may be suffering from osteoporosis/osteopenia. The X-ray of the spine, should give a fair idea about the status of your bones.
Hope this helps you
Regards
Dr Ayusmati Thakur
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