blood pressure spikes

Simon I suggest your spikes may be due to sleep apnia. It's interesting that your earlier BP is so very low, yet something triggers this rise and a breathing fright is the most likely.

In passing, I have recently removed regular Micardis for blood pressure treatment and regularized a 12.5mg dose of Hydrochlorothiazide for its obviously better results.

I think you should talkto your doctor about a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure cuff to see what is happening with your BP, which is supposed to drop 10 % at night. One possiblity is sleep apnea.You may also ask him about the Coreg CR medication, long acting version, to provide smoother control; or, alternatively, timing the dose of the immediate release by taking one before you retire.

Currently titrating down from clonidine which I had been using for BP spiking during waking hours, with highs of 210/105. I would not recommend it. Clonidine is a tough med to use and may only worsen the wide swings in SBP that you already have (100 mmHg systolic). From personal experience, I know such swings are hard on your body.

I think you should talkto your doctor about a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure cuff to see what is happening with your BP, which is supposed to drop 10 % at night. One possiblity is sleep apnea.You may also ask him about the Coreg CR medication, long acting version, to provide smoother control; or, alternatively, timing the dose of the immediate release by taking one before you retire.

Currently titrating down from clonidine which I had been using for BP spiking during waking hours, with highs of 210/105. I would not recommend it: Clonidine is a tough med to use and may only worsen the wide swings in SBP that you already have (100 mmHg systolic). From personal experience, I know such swings are hard on your body.