Few questions about high blood pressure (hypertension)?

I have checked my blood pressure several times at pharmacy and it was in Pre-hypertension level. A couple of times it was normal. Had it checked in ER a couple of days ago and the bottom number was 97. They checked it again a couple of hours later and it was 97. Checked it today and it was pre-hypertension level. I was told to see doctor but I am thinking of getting bp kit and checking it myself. My questions are,....Does one have to have CONSTANT high bp to be diagnosed? Also at what level do they usually put someone on meds? And last but not least,...are the meds for hypertension expensive?
hypertension runs in my family but don't want to worry my family with telling them as I recently found out I was hypoglycemic and they are worried about that already. I know that if someone has diabetes they like for their bp to be lower. But is that the same for hypoglycemia also?

Any help is much appreciated. I have read up in the net and can't find the answers to these questions.

a lower ( diastolic) BP of 97 is fairly high and i would expect them to put you on meds for anything consistently over 90. They will want to do more tests, eg lying and standing BP, and ECG of your heart, assess lifestyle etc- there may be other ways they can get your BP down without meds( eg stop smoking , take more exercise, lose weight, reduce stress if any of those are a factor) Since they checked it more than once at the ER, they could hve been checking to see if it was 'white coat syndrome' ie the very fact of getting your BP taken can put it up- fraid i can't help you with prices, will depend where you live and your health plan

If your bp stays high and never goes down (even at rest) you have hypertension. If it's over 140/90 you will need meds. Meds for hypertension can range anything from 20 to 100 bucks. It all depends on what you get. I'm on sular and atenol (for the rapid heart beating the sular causes) and the sular was free, while the atenol was like 30 bucks for 90 days.

i have hypertention and the way i found out i did not know i had it but i was feeling like i was going to pass out and my aunt was a nurse and she checked me out and my bp was way up both #'s and she called the doctor and he put me on a low dose of meds and i keep a check on my bp with my own machine so it is a good ideal to buy one and check it 3 times a day and yes if u don't have insurance of some kind meds r very exspendive i take 2 kinds everyday and 1 is 500.00 and the other is 300.00 so buy a bp machine or go to the doc.quick

To be diagnosed as having hypertension, you need to have several high readings at several different readings done by a health professional. Those machines are not reliable, and the same is true for those home blood pressure kits.
The price for hypertension drugs vary. The beta blockers and thiazide diuretics tend to be cheaper than the calcium channel blockers and the ACE Inhibitors/Angiotensin Receptor blockers.