Blood Pressure Meds

calebmfbc

Hey guys! I just joined yesterday and looking for some good news...I am a 30 yr old male 6'1 270 lbs. I have been on Amlodipine since March of 2017. As of late my bp has been running 150/95. I went to my doctor yesterday b/c I was getting concerned and basically my blood pressure being elevated was making me feel really weird. So....yesterday happened. As I was saying, I went to my doctor and he gave me yet another medication. This time a beta blocker. I left that doctors office so mad at myself b/c I have a wife of 5 years and a 18 mo old little girl at home and I am pretty sure that all of the BP stuff is self inflicted. I am sick of all this medicine and I'm ready to make the change that I have needed to make for sometime. I just wanted to reach out and see if you guys could share some of your success stories about getting off BP meds. I almost felt completely hopeless yesterday afternoon as I left and went to the pharmacy. That being said, how long did it take you guys to get off the meds once you started eating right and exercising regularly? I know this will not happen overnight but just needing some encouragement to be quite honest. Thanks in advance!

alicebhsia

i've been on a beta blocker for awhile now. my doctor doesn't like it (a different doc put me on it) but i have a super high heart rate too and the beta blocker lowers both my bp and heart rate. i've cut down my dose by half recently all since i started working out more often. so that would be my advice. if you aren't working up a sweat regularly try it, it might help. also be warned i'm on metoprolol and it made like half my hair fall out. it's so f-ing thin now compared to before. so i'm not off them completely but a lowered dose is better than nothing. and don't let them stack pills on you. if the amlodipine isn't working i'd stop taking it personally. i took 10mg of lisinopril before i tried the beta blockers and my bp went down to about 130/90 but my doctor upped it to 20mg and my hair started falling out in clumps way worse than on the metoprolol. so be careful taking these meds they can have major side effects. going on beta blockers is the worst because stopping them suddenly can make your symptoms worse than before you started them, but then they call high blood pressure the silent killer and who wants to have a stroke? so it's like you get trapped on them. if you just started taking them i would ask your doctor about an alternative. also i've found using a salt alternative called No Salt to be helpful also. I bought it at Walmart. It's potassium something and tastes sort of salty.

5838fish623

I agree @alicebhsia getting on bp meds that work and don't have serious side affects can be a challenge.

QueenBee2018

I’m down 33 lbs and on half the med. 6 months in. Some people will be able to go off completely, some may not. Getting healthy will definitely make your life better! Welcome

loben410

I’m down 50 pounds and my bp has not budged. It really depends on the cause of your high bp. Mine is heredity. Can’t change it. But losing weight is ALWAYS in your favor. Stay on top of your meds and talk to the doctor a lot! If you don’t think they are doing the right thing, question it. I personally go to a nephrologist because they deal with hypertension. Definitely worth checking out your options. Good luck!

Andy10725

I start to take bp med at 27. Very depressed when I first found out about it. At 31, my dose was up again and was still not able to keep it under control. Vomit and headache every other day was pretty normal. On med, I was still averaging 145. Off med I would be 170. At the same time, I got phase 2 fatty liver too. My back then 1 year old went screaming for mommy one day when I crawl to toilet and puked. He thought I was dying. That's when I started to take this whole situation seriously. Started off doing the basic thing. Just low sodium and light exercise. Still on med after that and thing hasn't improved much. Then came across keto when I was searching for things on fatty liver and d coded to give it a try. The result was amazing! After 2 weeks on it, I was feeling rather dizzy after taking and bp med. went to the doctor again to check and turned out my bp had dropped dramatically that I don't need to take med. This is when I decided to lose weight for good and join mfp. (Also surprised when I came and realized the number of people use keto for weight lose). Any how, did insanity and cico for 3 months and dropped 30ish lb. Went back to normal diet now and continue with cico and still repeating insanity. I am now down 40lb after 7 months. BP piled up at 6 different occasions during these time mostly from sleep deprivation when training my son to sleep along. Other than that everything has been green light health wise. Did a full body check up a month ago, and my liver situation had improved a lot too.

lbowenj

Don't beat yourself up cause your on bp meds... You should calm down... try not to stress over it... I am on a beta blocker cause my heart rate is too high -also on a stupid water pill ???? but it keeps my bp down too - lol - but I'm new to keto and have lost 6 pounds and I believe that losing some of this excess weight is part of what I need to do to get off my bp meds

John772016

No need to feel hopeless, there are several folks on here who have been in the same situation, including me.

In February 2016, I was diagnosed as having extreme High Blood Pressure & being Pre-diabetic. I was with a new Family Doctor and actually saw the colour drain from his face as he saw my BP results and he started asking me if I was having any chest pain.
I was placed on two BP drugs immediately.

My Cardiologist listed off what I could do to help myself:
1. Stop smoking (I smoked approx. 1/2 pack a day at least)
2. Start exercising (I wasn't doing any)
3. Lose weight (at 6Ft, I weighed 264.4lbs)

In seven months my Cardiologist was suprised that I had:
1. Quit smoking.
2. Started exercising.
3. Lost weight.

With all my test results back (Sept 2016), I was told I no longer needed any medication - both my blood pressure and my blood sugar were solidly normal.

I didn't actually start logging with MFP until May of 2016, but by the end of 2016, I had lost 100 pounds in total and have been maintaining my weight since.

My blood pressure is still normal, no need for any meds.

vingogly

Cross posted in Motivation and Support.

GOT_Obsessed

Keep at it. I was in the pre hypertension area then started to fear getting put on BP meds. So Oct. 1st I joined a gym. About a 6 weeks later I started eating better. My BP has improved greatly since I got my act together.

(The picture does not show the highest numbers from earlier on but they were not in the green or yellow.)

You can do this.

twoisplenty

I'm in the same boat. Started on Coversyl and my heart rate just wouldn't come down. I'm 38 yrs old. Resting HR was 95 and the moment I exerted myself in anyway, it shot up. I was walking at 3 mph on a treadmill and it shot to 187. Back to the doctor I go, and like you,placed on a Betablocker (metroprolol). That seems to have helped quite a bit.

Don't feel bad about it. Be happy that you are on medication that helps you stay active so you can exercise safely Then maybe you can come off it further down the road.

Some people are just predisposed to high BP others it's weight related. Really watch your sodium intake!