High Blood Pressure in the Early Morning

Blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day. According to the Mayo Clinic, it tends to be lower as you sleep and first wake up. High blood pressure in the early morning increases the health risks associated with the disease.

Daily Pattern

• Blood pressure tends to follow a daily pattern. During the sedate state of sleeping, it is lower and remains low when you first wake up. As you become active in the morning, it goes up, peaking in the afternoon.

Identification

• High blood pressure is identified as a reading of 140 systolic over 90 diastolic. If your pressure is at this level in the early morning, you have morning hypertension.

Significance

• The problem with high blood pressure in the morning is that, on average, this is a time of day when your readings should be lower. If you're already getting a high reading in the early morning, you may experience dangerously high levels as the day goes on.

Causes

• Morning high blood pressure can be caused by sleep irregularities such as sleep apnea, nigh-shift work or high stress levels. If you have poorly controlled hypertension overall and use caffeine or alcohol, you may get high morning readings. Conditions such as kidney disease can cause early morning high blood pressure.

Warning

• If you are getting consistent high blood pressure readings in the early morning, it is a signal that you may be headed for a serious problem with hypertension. Monitor you readings throughout the day and seek the advice of your doctor.