really High BP, hoping others could share

[TexasLady]

Ive lived with ever increasing BP since I was 30. For 12 yrs, its gotten crazy.

Ive gone from water pills to altenelol to toprol-xl(which seems to be doing the trick.) Water pills for three weeks brought it down for three weeks then BAM the ol BP crept up to 221/121. Talk about feeling like I was in a microwave oven cooking from the inside out!

Im in constant contact with a new doctor who is wonderful! She knows this is all out of my pocket, so she cuts me awesome deals for my visits. Today its going down down down to 148/99...I figure with time, it ought to even out and get close to normal.



Any other horror stories about Bp?

[bonito]

1. Get some celery

It's good for you. Peace

[onecent]

2. WOW...that's some serious numbers. I don't have any stories

cuz my bp hasn't been that high....but I'm sending you blessings.
Please do stay on top of this with your doctor. That is extremely high 221/121...wow.

I take toprol myself (Had several major panic attacks year ago)..and I don't like pills (2 sons are chiropractors)..one very big in the nutrition end ... but I refuse to stop taking my toprol (before the panic attacks) I would have refused to take toprol....but now...lordy.

Good luck to you.

[hyphenate]

3. One time when I was under a lot of stress

mine went skyhigh. And it's always been higher than normal. However, right now, it's good. Today, for example, it was 120/80--essentially, perfect.

I would suggest, if you can get it, biofeedback for it. Or, barring that, meditation or massage therapy. The secret to lowering blood pressure is not pills, nor diets, but finding a continual outlet for dealing with stress.

Even though I am also taking an anti-depressant for which high BP is a regular side effect, it's managed to stay lower because finally, for the first time in my life, personal stress is at a low.

I've found meditation costs nothing, and can be profoundly useful. And if you have any faith in alternative medicine, try either acupuncture or acupressure, and perhaps investigate a homeopathic remedy called "Rescue Remedy" by a company called Bach.

Glad to hear it has come down significantly!

[Warpy]

9. Mine goes up to 170/110 when I'm in pain

but the cure was pain meds. Now it's textbook normal, not bad for someone who had two parents with insanely high blood pressure in their 40s (and I'm WAY beyond my 40s). I've been on a low salt diet since I was 10.

Talk to your doc about switching to the older, short acting form of the drug if you're having a hard time affording the extended release formula.

[Caoimhe]

4. Yes mine is insanely high too

Today when I went to my cardiologist it was 175/110. I am 34

A few years ago (about age 31) I had difficulty sleeping, had to prop myself upright to sleep. Come to find out I had chronic heart failure because of my high BP. With medication (Coreg, Lisinopril and Lasix) I got it back down. Meanwhile, my husband and I have been trying to conceive pretty much since we've been married, in 1998. In summer of 2004, I got pregnant and miscarried at 10 weeks. As soon as I knew I was pg, I quit taking Lisinopril, but miscarried anyway. My doc says there is no way to know if it contributed to my miscarriage, but I have a feeling it did. It is a real no no to take while pregnant. We weren't TRYING to get pg, but not using any contraception for 8 years without success, we had sortof given up. We got all excited about being parents for the first time, only to have our hopes dashed when my OB/GYN couldn't detect a heartbeat. I had to have a D&C and it was just a terrible, gut-wrenching experience.

I didn't want to take Lisinopril again because of that heartbreak, and my BP has been steadily rising since. He wants me to go back on it and get my BP back down, so I guess maybe having babies isn't in the stars for me. My heart is broken. And I know how you feel.

[RedOnce]

5. A friend's mother is dealing with this.

Since it is all out of pocket you might want to check out this protocol; http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-060.shtml They have a Nutritional Therapy section which includes: Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin C, Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamin E, Garlic, L-Arginine, Aspirin, Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium. She found it very helpful.

[wackadoo wabbit]

6. Recent studies indicate that potassium can control high blood pressure

It's certainly worked for both my husband and myself. We each take 300 mg. per day (although I've read that 350 mg. is actually the recommend dose), and our formerly high blood pressures are now normal.

Here's a link to a recent abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16467502&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

[Warpy]

8. Very high potassium can stop your heart

so be very, very cautious with this one and get your serum level tested.

Most extra potassium is simply flushed out by the kidneys, but this can take time when a huge oral dose is ingested.

[REP]

10. Other Vitamins Shown To Lower BP

I was researching this for my Loved One, who was recently dx'd with moderately high BP. I can't find the link to the study right now, but it was a double-blind study that found that 200 mg magnesium, 30 mg zinc, 200 mg vitamin C and 150 mg vitamin E taken once a day every day can reduce blood pressure after 4-6 weeks use. I'm not recommending anyone with high blood pressure or any other medical condition try this without their doctor's advice - even though these are generally pretty safe to take (unlike potassium), any supplement can interfere with prescription meds and of course, sometimes prescription meds are the best choice.

I hae the opposite problem - I'm always being told to raise mine, so that's why I follow politics!

[babylonsister]

7. Well I'll be! Look at this little gem I just read in the lounge:

Sipping Cocoa and Nibbling Chocolate Cuts Blood Pressure and Mortality

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/DietNutrition/tb/2758