Sudden Increase in Blood Pressure: What to Do & Potential Causes

Question
I have always had LOW blood pressure. All of a sudden it's high.I take Armour thyroid ,clarinex and a female hormone.I stopped the clarinex today..going to stop the hormone tomorrow.I have an appointment to have stress test.Am I on the right track?I am 62 yrs old in good health.

Answer
Linda,
You are doing all the right things, and I wouldn't be surprised if they need to titrate your thyroid replacement either up or down.  I found an interesting article from the Mayo clinic about secondary causes of high blood pressure--both low and high thyroid hormone levels can cause high blood pressure.  However, don't do any dosage changes of the Armour Thyroid on your own, because they'll want to check your levels, and it could really mess up your metabolism, heart rate, etc.  I'm happy to hear from someone who is taking good care of herself and really advocating for her own health to get this figured out.  

Here's that article:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-blood-pressure/HQ01345

-Maggie Smith, RN, MSN