First re the flashes in your eye. More than likely they were and are floaters. For most of us floaters are harmless and offer a form of entertainment. The link below from NIH is an excellent explanation of flashers.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/flashesandfloaters/ot089103.pdf
Your high blood pressure is a different matter, and you should treat monitor it at home. If it is still high, you should treat it with appropriate medicine. We have had a few friends who didn’t treat their HBP, and they had devastating strokes which seriously impaired their life styles.
Before you go on your meds, buy a wrist BP measuring device. We use the OMRON made by Intellisense. You put it on your non dominant wrist, push the start button and put your wrist a little over your heart let it work. It only takes a minute and can retain your past pressure. My doctor has me keep a chart for a few weeks before my yearly visit. I take the chart in with my visit, he scans it and has his RN take a reading and says, “Your med is still, working. Stay on it.
A lot of people have white coat syndrome when just visiting a doctor’s office and having the nurse or doctor take your BP can raise their BP significantly. A friend, who was a personal pilot of a CEO had that syndrome. We had him walk a mile to the doctor’s office. The office RN, a friend of he and his family, met him in the little park surrounded by the medical building. She had him sit on a bench and took his BP. When, she did that, his reading was normal.
Then, if he went into the Dr.’s office and said high to the receptions and went to an exam to be tested by the same RN, his BP was high. When, the Doctor came into the room, his BP was in the stroke area. After he walked home, he used a wrist BP monitor, and his BP would be normal. His BP was normal for years when he monitored it at home.
You should monitor your BP as noted above. If it is still high after a week or two. You should see a doctor, and your HBP should be treated.
See your doctor and get a med for it. I have been on enalapril/Vasotec for about twenty years. I split a 10 mg tab and take a half tab in the morning and about dinner time. The drug is an ACE inhibitor. ACE inhibitors protect your kidneys and other organs. The ACE inhibitors for most of us work with basically zero side effects and impact on lab tests.
My generic enalapril 10 mg #30 costs less than $2 for a month’s supply at Walmart.
Good luck and take care of your BPH.
Thank you for that link. I have a huge amount of floaters that happened after a coughing/choking session had a several years ago. I was suffering with severe bronchitis and could not stop coughing. I went to my eye doc immediately and he diagnosed me as having floaters. They do affect my vision in my right eye and I don’t think they will ever go away. I have never had flashers and my retina is OK.
I have tried the wrist monitors and have found them to give wildly varying results. I returned it and got my money back.
I also tried a upper arm cuff one but was not happy with it either. Can anyone recommend a good / relaiable / accurate one for a relatively reasonable price?