Blood
Vicki Notaro: ‘I started taking blood pressure medication
Nov
When Vicki Notaro began to get consistently high blood pressure readings, caused by a genetic predisposition, she was tempted to ignore the problem — but soon realised she had to take action to protect her future self
Vicki Notaro. Photo: Evan Doherty
Yesterday at 03:30
I used to dread going to the doctor, but not for the reasons you may think — what I dreaded was the blood pressure monitor. Since my mid-20s, the BP gauge had always shown an almost abnormally high reading. My GP often put it down to “white coat syndrome”, an elevated reading due to nerves. But by the time I reached my mid-30s, it was consistently sky high, so she advised a 24-hour blood pressure monitor.
I knew I was prone to high blood pressure. My father and my maternal grandmother had always suffered with both, neither of them overweight or inactive. I thought because it was likely hereditary I had nothing to worry about, so I stalled any prospective treatment.
