Hello, I m a 44 year-old psychiatrist and have had severe headaches in the temporal and frontal areas for 5 days, along with an increased pressure of around 140/85 every morning which becomes normal in the afternoon and then increased to around 135/80 in the evenings. I had an EKG done in the office which was NSR with pulse of 58.I have a strong family history of HTN with all 3 siblings taking meds now (all 40 years old). How often do you see HTN to be the cause of headaches? Or do believe it to be the other way round? I started Bystolic 5 mg today and see no change in the rate or pressure. How long do you reckon this will take to help? My headache is unchanged.Thanks
Hello doctor! Thank you for asking on Chat Doctor! I would not recommend a beta-blocker for controlling HTN at your young age NAD regarding your heart rate; you can try a calcium Chanel blocker (like Amlodipine or Lercanidipine), or an ACE/ARB (whichever is available). In fact your BP values are in the upper limit of normal, so nothing to worry so much. That severe pain you are experiencing for 4 days, may not be related to your mildly elevated BP. Probably a tensile type of headache. Nevertheless, a visit to a neurologist college would be necessary for a differential diagnosis of your headache. Greetings!