Have you lowered your blood pressure?

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gottagetitoff11
gottagetitoff11 Posts: 122 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was wondering if anyone has lowered their blood pressure after changing their eating habits. How long did it take and what were you eating to get it lowered. Im just looking for advice on how to lower mine.

Thanks
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I've always have had low blood pressure because I exercise at least an hour a day. I had a bout of elevated blood pressure, however, when I had tendinitis in my neck and was in a huge amount of pain. The tendinitis is gone now and my blood pressure is normal, but not low like it once was. I think the exercise does help a lot with blood pressure and so does normal body weight.
  • lindarpolk
    lindarpolk Posts: 70 Member
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    I already drink a lot of water and don't have a lot of sodium in my diet, which do help. I normally eat a low fat, low carb diet. I told my doctor I have been losing weight and exercising, so I asked what I could do to start cutting back on my medicine. She said I could stop taking it and see if my BP stays low. But since there was one day that I didn't have it and it was high, I want to have her refill it for me at half the dosage. I've been taking half a pill since the first of the month, and my BP is staying down.

    First of all, I would say ask your doctor what you need to do to start cutting back on it. He/She will probably say drink a lot of water, limit sodium intake, exercise and lose weight. WebMD says to have a lot of complex carbohydrates, too.
  • LoraMartyn
    LoraMartyn Posts: 41 Member
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    Exercise, diet and losing 30 pounds helped me get off all BP medication, it was an unexpected surprise!
  • gottagetitoff11
    gottagetitoff11 Posts: 122 Member
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    lindarpolk wrote: »
    I already drink a lot of water and don't have a lot of sodium in my diet, which do help. I normally eat a low fat, low carb diet. I told my doctor I have been losing weight and exercising, so I asked what I could do to start cutting back on my medicine. She said I could stop taking it and see if my BP stays low. But since there was one day that I didn't have it and it was high, I want to have her refill it for me at half the dosage. I've been taking half a pill since the first of the month, and my BP is staying down.

    First of all, I would say ask your doctor what you need to do to start cutting back on it. He/She will probably say drink a lot of water, limit sodium intake, exercise and lose weight. WebMD says to have a lot of complex carbohydrates, too.

    Really drinking lots of water helps. I never knew that. Thanks
  • flrancho
    flrancho Posts: 271 Member
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    Yep. I started following a Mediterranean Diet and my blood pressure went back to normal (and has stayed there) within months. I even got to come off my blood pressure medication.
  • Shadowmf023
    Shadowmf023 Posts: 812 Member
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    My blood pressure has been low since I lost most of my weight a few years back, and started exercising 90 minutes a day. I also cut back a lot on sodium during that time, and upped water (originally to minimize water weight fluctuating the scale).

    Now it's gotten to a point where I need to drink salted water once a day to combat the dizzyness. (I never added it back because I can't stand salty food anymore)
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,892 Member
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    I've always had low blood pressure. In fact, when I'm slender, it is quite low. When I gained weight it did go up a bit to about the middle of the normal range. When I lost the weight, it dropped back down again.

    But I also exercise daily and have done pretty much my entire life, even during the few years I did gain weight.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,979 Member
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    Not long ago, I had borderline high blood pressure (around 130/80) but have since developed very low blood pressure (as low as 105/57 but typically 110/60 per my home BP monitor) which I attribute to weight loss (196 to 173) resulting from calorie counting, strength training and increased cardiovascular activity (spin biking and rowing).
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,981 Member
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    I lowered mine by increasing my activity level (mostly just walking at the time, although I've added other activities since the initial drop in weight and BP) and lowering my calorie intake to create an energy deficit and lose weight. I saw a real improvement after the first six weeks, when I had only dropped about 5% of starting weight, and then continued improvement as I went on to lose 15% of my starting weight.

    I didn't really "change my eating habits" in the sense that most people use that phrase. I was already consuming a diet with lots of veggies, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, along with a range of nonfat to full-fat dairy, eggs, and occasional meat/poultry/seafood, plus treats. The problem wasn't what I was eating. It was how much I was eating. (And it wasn't that much in excess. The amount I had gained over about 10 years, since I was last at a weight where I had no measurable weight-associated health problems, worked out to an average extra 25 calories a day.)

    I guess I was a little more conscious of trying to include good sources of potassium (bananas, kiwis, avocados, potatoes), magnesium (spinach, beans, baking cocoa, dark chocolate), and calcium (dairy, fortified vegan "dairy" products, dark greens, sardines with bones), and I did drink red wine a little more frequently (going from a couple of glasses a month to maybe a couple of glasses a week, although I've kind of dropped back from that, and my blood pressure has stayed at levels that don't worry me or my doctor). Overall, I don't think it was a big shift on the frequency I was eating any of those things, but maybe when you count all of them, it did have a mild impact on my overall diet.

    Just a caveat that if your BP issues are mainly genetic, you may not be able to control it through diet and exercise alone. This is something you should be discussing with your doctor, not just the Internet :smile:
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    Lost weight and keep my sodium >2300 mg a day. I still have HBP, though it's lower than OMG DEATH HBP.
  • Nightmare_Queen88
    Nightmare_Queen88 Posts: 304 Member
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    Yes I have. Mine was always pretty high before, but now it's I almost have low blood pressure. The only thing I can think of that helped was lowering the amount of sodium I consumed in a day. Plus I no longer eat fast food which I believe has helped a lot. :)
  • Return2Fit
    Return2Fit Posts: 226 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Yes, I lowered my blood pressure from 190/110 - highest ever....to 115/75

    Also, my resting heart rate is under 60 BPM.
    When I was fat, every number that should have been down was up...and every number that should have been up was down.

    All of that went away when I changed my eating habits and exercise routines. I lost over 100 pounds total, but my numbers all fell into the "normal" ranges after losing 60 pounds of that weight.
    Most doctors are afraid to tell their patients their conditions are self-inflicted. They're paid well to treat symptoms - not causes.

    I took control of my health and will never go back to being fat and sick.

  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    edited August 2016
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    After 22 years of BP meds I'm free! I watched sodium and lost 55 pounds. Eliminated alcohol for most of the loss, I'll have a couple of drinks weekly now, no coffee for many months but now one cup daily. In the big picture it's mostly about weight and some exercise, walking was all I did.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    Mine is now normal after many years but I'm not sure whether it's because of the weight loss or because I stopped taking a medication I had been on. I had been on Lexapro for about maybe 15 years and had always had borderline elevated BP. Always assumed it was because of my weight. I stopped taking Lexapro around the same time I got serious with diet, fitness, exercise and my BP went down. And Lexapro can cause elevated BP in a small percentage of patients. So I don't know which one it was. Possibly a combination of both factors. Either way, I'm glad it's normal now.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I dropped from about 140/90 to about 110/70 by losing a ton of weight and doing some cardio (HIIT for 20 min 3x per week). Never really changed the types of foods I eat, just how much/often.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    It was the significant weight loss itself that did it.
    I promised to continue monitoring my BP weekly in case it creeps up again.
  • CorneliusPhoton
    CorneliusPhoton Posts: 965 Member
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    For those of you who have gone off of medication, did you have any blood pressure rebound when you first went off (as in, did your blood pressure go up)? I am taking a low dose of HCT, but my doc once said that it is really hard to wean off of, even if you get your act together healthwise. My BP went from crazy to borderline with my weight loss, and dropped into normal after starting IF during maintenance. I hope to get off of the meds soon. This is the last one I need to kick!
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    CorneliusPhoton wrote: »
    For those of you who have gone off of medication, did you have any blood pressure rebound when you first went off (as in, did your blood pressure go up)? I am taking a low dose of HCT, but my doc once said that it is really hard to wean off of, even if you get your act together healthwise. My BP went from crazy to borderline with my weight loss, and dropped into normal after starting IF during maintenance. I hope to get off of the meds soon. This is the last one I need to kick!

    No I didn't have any issues going off. However my BP prior to stopping both diltiazem and lisinopril was very low like 85/50 both times. I stopped lisinopril first as the diltiazem was given for Tachacardia. Eventually as I dropped more weight it got too low again and I dropped off the diltiazem. It did go from too low to almost normal as I dropped off.

    I did monitor mine multiple times daily. As long as you are working with your Doc it will be fine.
  • jhmomofmany
    jhmomofmany Posts: 571 Member
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    I developed severe hypertension AFTER losing weight through diet and exercise. No family history or risk factors, and I'm only in my thirties. I've seen a few specialists who have no idea why. Just unlucky, I guess.
  • LaceyBirds
    LaceyBirds Posts: 451 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I'm 60, and had high blood pressure for several years and was on Hydrochlorothiazide and Diltiazem, and Metoprolol for fast heart rate. I've lost 93 pounds from my highest weight and am off all those drugs. My blood pressure is currently normal to low-normal, with Systolic ranging from 101 to 118, usually somewhere in between, and Diastolic ranging from 59 to 65, usually around 61 or 62. Heart rate is usually from mid 60s to low 70s.

    I had run out of Metoprolol a few times, and within a day my heart would start beating fast and very erratically, so when I went off I did a taper over six weeks, and have been fine since discontinuing it in December/January. I also cut back on the HCT but, as they were capsules, I could only wean by taking them every other day, then every two days, etc. I've been off of them since July 3rd - I started taking my blood pressure every day, and it really spiked within the first two weeks of discontinuation, which made me nervous and I almost went back on them. But by the end of the second week, it went back down, and has been normal to low-normal ever since.

    I never added salt to my food, so that was not a problem, but I used to eat a lot of deli sandwich meat and pickles, which have tons of sodium, so I cut those out. I also buy Amy's low-sodium soups and chili when I eat canned food, and cut out most canned food besides that. I also don't eat a lot of eggs or bacon or sausage, or chips, so that cuts out a lot of sodium. I even switched from McIlhenney's Chipotle Tabasco to regular Tabasco because the Chipotle has tons more sodium - 35 vs. 130 mg. per teaspoon, respectively. I try to keep my sodium at 1500 mg. per day, which is the recommended amount for people with high blood pressure or over the age of 50.

    I don't exercise.

    Hope this helps.

    ETA: Doc took me off of the Diltiazem a couple of years ago, and put me on Metoprolol instead.

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