My BP climbed a bit every year as I got older, but always stayed under the old DMV reg of 150/90. After I had my knee surgery in 2004, it started climbing again, (mind you, I had quit smoking, I was no longer commuting, no longer working a high stress job) and finally, when it had gotten to 200/100 on a regular (everyday) basis, I gave up and went to my doctor for some pills. I spent about 6 months trying to control it by cutting out almost all caffiene, reduced my sodium intake by over 50%, and the BP still kept going up. It took the doctor a few months of trial & error to find a medication that would control the BP with few/no side effects and was affordable since I'm out of insurance, but finally...my BP now runs about 128/80, and the doc is happy as hell with it...