Dealing with High Blood Pressure
Dasham41
Posts: 3 Member
Is anyone else dealing with this? Any good tips, tricks, etc. to get it down naturally? I've been trying for a month now. Literally cutting out salt, drinking more water, more fruits and veggies, definitely planning my meals out and trying to get a decent amount of exercise in (it's been crazy weather here in Cali) but it has remained high or barely coming down and my doctor has now put me on Lisinopril. I'm on day 4 of taking it and really don't want to remain on it. I need HELP!
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Is anyone else dealing with this? Any good tips, tricks, etc. to get it down naturally? I've been trying for a month now. Literally cutting out salt, drinking more water, more fruits and veggies, definitely planning my meals out and trying to get a decent amount of exercise in (it's been crazy weather here in Cali) but it has remained high or barely coming down and my doctor has now put me on Lisinopril. I'm on day 4 of taking it and really don't want to remain on it. I need HELP!
What is your height and weight?0 -
High blood pressure can be due to lots of different reasons, including being overweight and too inactive but also it just being high due to genetics. If you're overweight and you don't really move a lot then you can try tackling your blood pressure this way. Hey, being not obese and being more active is good anyway.3
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Stressing out about high blood pressure can help elevate it even further, much like telling my irate wife to "calm down." Plus, is a month enough time to notice a significant difference? I ask because I really don't know, but since losing weight or getting stronger/fitter can take a long time, why not blood pressure?2
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And you don't even have to be obese to raise BP, just overweight. Alcohol consumption is a biggie also.High blood pressure can be due to lots of different reasons, including being overweight and too inactive but also it just being high due to genetics. If you're overweight and you don't really move a lot then you can try tackling your blood pressure this way. Hey, being not obese and being more active is good anyway.
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Was just diagnosed with high blood pressure. I had surgery in May and spent about 8 months lying on the sofa all day. I'm sure inactivity contributed A LOT to mine! I don't know how to alter my diet to help. I'm following this post hoping for some good suggestions.2
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Genetics matter. Think about your family history, especially among people in your direct line of ancestry who may have had high blood pressure even when not overweight or inactive. With some family history like that, odds increase that medication may be part of the long-term solution, I suspect.
Personally, I had high blood pressure, but was overweight, just over the line into class 1 obese (mid-180s pounds, mid-80s kilograms) at 5'5". I didn't have a lot of family history of high blood pressure among healthy-weight parents, grandparents, etc.
For me, just losing weight dropped my blood pressure into the normal range, and it's stayed in that range ever since (as I've stayed at a healthy weight). It actually started reaching the normal range after I lost only about half the total I needed to lose to get to a healthy weight.
As a couple caveats, I was already pretty active, and already eating a fairly nutritious set of foods (just too much of them, and too many treat foods in addition). I don't know whether I would've had to add exercise or improve nutrition to get good BP control if those things hadn't already been true.
I can't give much advice about genetically high BP, because I don't have experience. All I can do is tell you mine. Like you, I don't like taking non-recreational drugs if I can avoid them, so I'm happy with these results. I hope you can achieve similar outcomes.
Best wishes!4 -
Look into the Mediterranean Diet. I was able to come off blood pressure medication with following this diet (with exercise).3
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I have a relative who began taking a bunch of different medications after a heart attack several years ago. He quit drinking, lost some weight, became more active, and no longer needs any of the medications except one - the one for high blood pressure.
I don't like taking medicine unnecessarily. But sometimes it *is* actually necessary. It might be a strategy you use for now until it's no longer needed. Did your doctor give you advice on behavior changes and how long you need to stick with them to see noticeable results? It's going to be a matter of months and years, most likely, not days or weeks. You might be able to reduce dosage after a while even if you can't stop entirely.2 -
Doctors are too quick to prescribe without looking at the reasons for the high BP
Weight
Diet
Exercise
Alcohol
If those are all in check then it’s most likely genetics….1 -
When I started my journey at 388 pounds my BP was 148/101
Fast forward a year later and 157 pounds lighter and my BP at my check in last month was 108/64. No pills, just ate right and exercised.9 -
When you say 'more fruits and veggies' how much?
I had high blood pressure when in my 20s. Very much did not want to end up on meds. did a lot of research into it on the British Blood pressure association website at the time.
Up shot was - cut out the salty snacks/don't add any salt. And 7-10 portions of fruit & veg a day.
I organised myself to hit that every day. This did 2 things - increased intake of the good stuff that has a positive impact, and it drove out other things so I lost a bit of weight.
Next monitoring visit they weren't worried (high side of normal rather than over. Genetic tendency to it, brother was fitness fanatic and in perfect shape and was in same position)
Since then it has remained in the normal zone.
So if current levels are less I'd aim for that and see what happens, might not work the same of course but it also won't do any harm.2 -
Well, the doctors of myfitnesspal have spoken. Geez, you guys.
Dasham41, I think you know all the things to do and you're trying them. I know meds suck and I hope you are able to get off them at some point. Good for you for trying to be healthier, eat better and get exercise. That will serve you well.2 -
Rest and reducing stress directly affects blood pressure. If you have a high stress job, find ways to leave is at work and do something to relieve yourself from it except for drinking alcohol. Exercise, hobby, time with family, etc. Exercise is important not only for health, but the reduction of stress is increased.
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I can speak to genetic hypertension. My father had it as a young man, not overweight (not particularly active although his job wasn't entirely sedentary), ended up on meds. I grew up accustomed to reduced sodium because of his hypertension.
In my early 30s my bp started creeping up above normal. Not overweight, a non-drinker, sedentary job but lightly active (think dog walking), still low sodium and a smoker. Quit smoking and bp didn't budge. Ended up on a med. The years go by, another med is added. Eventually the dosage of that one needs to be doubled. Menopause comes along and I deliberately become more active. By this time I've also transitioned to a pescetarian diet that is at least 50% fruit and veg. Bp still creeps up and I'm now on a third med. That keeps it in the 130/94 range, still not normal by any means but acceptable.
The moral of the story is that sometimes you can do everything right but still require medication to control blood pressure.8 -
Is anyone else dealing with this? Any good tips, tricks, etc. to get it down naturally? I've been trying for a month now. Literally cutting out salt, drinking more water, more fruits and veggies, definitely planning my meals out and trying to get a decent amount of exercise in (it's been crazy weather here in Cali) but it has remained high or barely coming down and my doctor has now put me on Lisinopril. I'm on day 4 of taking it and really don't want to remain on it. I need HELP!
I'm assuming that if you did not need to lose weight, you would have mentioned that weight is not a factor. If I'm wrong, check out the other parts of the article.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/hbp_low.pdf
"...Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing high blood pressure. In fact, your blood pressure rises as your body weight increases. Losing even 10 pounds can lower your blood pressure—and losing weight has the biggest effect on those who are overweight and already have hypertension."1 -
Is anyone else dealing with this? Any good tips, tricks, etc. to get it down naturally? I've been trying for a month now. Literally cutting out salt, drinking more water, more fruits and veggies, definitely planning my meals out and trying to get a decent amount of exercise in (it's been crazy weather here in Cali) but it has remained high or barely coming down and my doctor has now put me on Lisinopril. I'm on day 4 of taking it and really don't want to remain on it. I need HELP!
Hi, fellow High BP here, 4 weeks isn't long enough to see a real drop, 4 days of the bp meds deffo isn't, look to 8 weeks for lifestyle changes and the medication to see a reduction, I was like you, no way am I taking them long term, I was prescribed them at the mid pandemic era and it was a low dose, when docs did a review 2 years later it was higher than it had been at the start, you don't say your level and people may say the docs are quick to prescribe but if you were at crisis lvl considering high BP is the world's biggest killer id Trust your doc rather than the advice here, smoking, salt, genetics, alcohol all play their part as does inertia and obesity however not everyone overweight with a sedentary lifestyle will
have high BP, give it time, there's no magic wand, my highest btw was 182/109, mine regularly now is 100/72, wish u the best2 -
I'm hypertensive and a month isn't long enough to bring it down naturally in most cases. Losing excess weight is a big one, and that takes time. Regular exercise and a healthful diet also help, but it takes time for those benefits to compound and really make a dent. Refraining from or substantially limiting alcohol is also a big one. It's possible that you may need to be on the medication for a time but as you lose weight and gain fitness that need may go away as was the case with my step dad when his BP got too low.
On the other hand, heredity also plays a big roll. Both my dad and my grandad on my father's side were hypertensive...for my dad it made sense as he didn't really exercise, ate a poor diet, and was substantially overweight. My grandad on the other hand was lean, walked 3 miles every day, played a couple of rounds of golf per week (no cart) and did one armed pushups. He was hypertensive and refused medication and it ended up killing him at 72 when he had a brain aneurism.
My hypertension is largely hereditary and I'm on meds regardless of my weight, diet, or level of fitness level. Even when I was endurance road riding and riding 100+ miles per week, hitting the weight room consistently, eating well, and about 20 Lbs lighter than I am right now I could only keep it in the normal range with meds.5 -
I have mildly high BP. My doc doesn't want to make me take meds for it. He told me to buy an automated cuff and measure my BP in the morning before I get out of bed.
As @AnnPT77, @cwolfman13, @kshama2001, @JaysFan82 (wow, dude, excellent work!), and others report: controlling your weight, getting regular exercise, limiting alcohol, limiting salt, getting good sleep, has all worked brilliantly for me.
When I'm successful at the above, my BP goes into the normal range. When I'm not, it reads high. It's a nice little reminder that clean living pays off!
@ninerbuff has a very good point about stress. The best thing (for me) are low-stress social activities with family or friends. We all got out of the habit during COVID, but, hey, bring back game night. Have a dinner party (remembering the thing about alcohol and salt. There's no advantage if your fun relies on booze and salty snacks. Sadly!
) Whatever makes you forget about work and laugh a little-- that's the thing!
About exercise: I believe-- without that much evidence-- that aerobic exercise is the key. So long as you're "otherwise healthy," getting that HR up really helps. Weightlifting seems to help as well (I've read a paper...), but I suspect it's most effective if you do some huffing and puffing. That seems to loosen up the old blood vessels!
Wishing you great success!3 -
I am very salt sensitive, and also stress sensitive. Stress matters! That’s what I learned getting my borderline HTN back into normal range. Your mileage may vary.0
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