Co Down mum urges others to check blood pressure after ‘ticking time bomb’ warning

Denise Davison’s high blood pressure was only detected after she attended an event where Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) was offering blood pressure checks.

The Saintfield woman said: “I thought I may as well have mine done as I couldn’t remember the last time I had my blood pressure checked. My youngest son is 24 and it could have been that long ago!”

“Valerie, from NICHS, took my blood pressure and said she wanted to check it on my other arm as the reading was coming back very high. She completed the second check and then said she wanted me to go outside, walk around for 10 minutes and come back in for another reading. I did that, but my blood pressure was still 229 over 107 which is dangerously high.

“Valerie recommended that I go to A&E. I think she must have looked at my expression and thought, ‘She’s not going to go’, so she said alternatively I could go home, call the GP out of hours service and see what they advised. I decided to do that and waited for about an hour after phoning the out of hours service, but I didn’t get a call back. I then thought I would be better off going to A&E, just in case. I went to the Ulster Hospital and was seen very quickly.”

At the hospital Denise had a chest X-ray, ECG blood tests and constant blood pressure

checks.

"After about five hours of that, I was admitted to a ward, where I stayed for two nights. I was started on the blood pressure medication that I am still taking now, and the doctor told me I was a ticking time bomb. Those were very frightening words to hear.”

Denise added: “I am someone that is health conscious and I try to look after myself. I run three to four times a week as well as doing other exercise and I hadn’t experienced anything, no symptoms or warning signs, that would have made me concerned about my blood pressure or health in general. This all came as a complete surprise.”

Denise is sharing her story in support of the local health charity’s current blood pressure awareness campaign. NICHS is concerned about the number of people living with undetected high blood pressure in Northern Ireland, and the fact one in two heart attacks and strokes are linked to the condition.

The mum-of-two added: “I am just so lucky that mine was caught and treated in time - I was on a trajectory of something terrible happening. I am only 55 and have always tried to keep myself fit and healthy. I’m part of a running club, I enjoy walking the dog, I do strength conditioning classes. But I am lucky to be able to share my story as I was on the verge of suffering a very serious health event."

Since her diagnosis Denise has discovered high blood pressure is something that

runs in her family. She is on a treatment plan for her high blood pressure and is seeing improvements.

“I am on medication and my body has got used to this. I am back exercising again and enjoying it. Even now I carry the little slip of paper that Valerie wrote my blood pressure reading on with me as a reminder of how lucky I am. I might not have been here, able to share my story. That alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. Valerie and NICHS’s blood pressure checks service really did save my life and I am so grateful for this. My message to everyone is to get checked as it could just save your life too.”

Fidelma Carter, head of Public Health at NICHS said: “Over 280,000 people, or around 1 in 5 of the adult population in Northern Ireland, are living with high blood pressure but there is a significant number of people, around 120,000, who have high blood pressure and do not realise it. Shockingly, this means at least a quarter of the adult population here live with high blood pressure.

“Undetected high blood pressure is often known as ‘The Silent Killer’ due to the fact

it rarely causes any physical symptoms or warning signs and is often only discovered

after someone suffers a stroke or heart attack. The only way to know what your

blood pressure is, and if it is high, is to have it measured and that is what we are

urging the public to do.

Fidelma added: “There are a number of ways you can get your blood pressure checked. You can make an appointment with your GP or visit your local pharmacy which may operate a blood pressure monitoring service. You could also buy a blood pressure machine for home monitoring.

“Alternatively, you could attend the free pop-up blood pressure checks we will be

delivering at selected stores of our corporate partner MACE and shopping centres

across Northern Ireland during the campaign. Our website and social media channels have all the details about future pop-up checks this month and next, so please follow us online for more information.

“We will also be hosting an Online Blood Pressure Advice Session featuring

clinicians and health professionals on June 1.. This is open to everyone and attendees will be able to send in questions in advance of the session. All the details on how to join the advice session are available on our website at www.nichs.org.uk/highbloodpressure, where you can also find lots of resources and information about blood pressure.”