Water retention when trying to quit blood pressure/water pills

nighthawk584
nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
edited September 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
Since losing nearly 70 lbs, my blood pressure started bottoming out making me extremely dizzy and shaky. I quit both pills cold turkey to see if things would improve ..yeah, spare me the lecture on this one I KNOW I KNOW. I see my Dr in a month for 6 month follow up and labs. After stopping both meds , everything was good for 4 days but then the water started to build up and I gained almost 5 lbs overnight in water weight. I went back on the BP pill that had water pill combined and now 4 days later, that 5 lbs of water is back off and my blood pressure is consistently around 105/68. At my heaviest weight, my BP would be 140/85 even taking the pills. So, BIG IMPROVEMENT :)

My question for those who have been on BP meds and or water pills, how long did it take your body to adjust after stopping meds? How did your Dr ween you off the pills? I'm hoping to be completely pill free this year.

Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    since your BP med has a diuretic in it, of course there will be a change.

    the water weight will eventually level off (barring any underlying health issues) but it may take a week or two.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    since your BP med has a diuretic in it, of course there will be a change.

    the water weight will eventually level off (barring any underlying health issues) but it may take a week or two.

    thanks for answering. Were you on pills and how did your Dr ween you off them? that is what I really want to know.
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
    edited September 2019
    Rhumax67 wrote: »
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls

    thanks but according to BP charts, anything under 100 on the top # and under 60 on the bottom # is too low. I'm at a good reading right now.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Perhaps your Dr. can prescribe a diuretic as a separate pill and you can titrate down on that. I would call and discuss it. Maybe there is even an OTC diuretic you can use so you don't go cold turkey.

    How long it takes you to get used to not taking the diuretic will depend on which one it is and what its half-life is. Generally you can expect anything from a few days up to a month.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Perhaps your Dr. can prescribe a diuretic as a separate pill and you can titrate down on that. I would call and discuss it. Maybe there is even an OTC diuretic you can use so you don't go cold turkey.

    How long it takes you to get used to not taking the diuretic will depend on which one it is and what its half-life is. Generally you can expect anything from a few days up to a month.

    Thanks for suggestion.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Rhumax67 wrote: »
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls

    How is that too low? That looks optimal to me based on my doctor's comments. Mine is normally around there or even a touch lower.

    I believe being below 90/60 is technically low blood pressure. From my experience though 95/58 had me 'wobbly' on my feet so that is too low for me.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Rhumax67 wrote: »
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls

    How is that too low? That looks optimal to me based on my doctor's comments. Mine is normally around there or even a touch lower.

    I believe being below 90/60 is technically low blood pressure. From my experience though 95/58 had me 'wobbly' on my feet so that is too low for me.

    you are right, I said below 100, but now I remember it being below 90. I was around 95ish over 56 at my lowest reading and was extremely light headed.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I have researched the OTC diuretic thing myself as an escape route but I haven't found anything reliable. I am on a separate med so I can cut the dosage down (or cut the pill) when I feel I am ready to give it a shot. Considering I just gained over 6 pounds in 24 hours of water I am obviously not quite ready yet.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Rhumax67 wrote: »
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls

    How is that too low? That looks optimal to me based on my doctor's comments. Mine is normally around there or even a touch lower.

    I believe being below 90/60 is technically low blood pressure. From my experience though 95/58 had me 'wobbly' on my feet so that is too low for me.

    90/50 is the minimum allowed by most organizations for donating blood so 105/68 is definitely well in the healthy range.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    cheryldumais wrote: »
    I went off cold turkey just like you did but under docs orders and the water took a couple of months to stabilize. I will warn you though that after two years I am back on the meds because although I managed to maintain my weight my high blood pressure came back. I'm bummed out about it but the headaches were killing me. I did however take up vaping during that time frame which I think caused it and now that I've quit vaping my BP is on the low side, lol. Might be another adjustment in my future.

    I have a feeling this is what I am looking at too when I come off of it. I can probably go to a half dosage of my HCTZ for a month or so but after that it will just take time to stabilize. I am hoping to give it a try in a few more months.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    cheryldumais wrote: »
    I went off cold turkey just like you did but under docs orders and the water took a couple of months to stabilize. I will warn you though that after two years I am back on the meds because although I managed to maintain my weight my high blood pressure came back. I'm bummed out about it but the headaches were killing me. I did however take up vaping during that time frame which I think caused it and now that I've quit vaping my BP is on the low side, lol. Might be another adjustment in my future.

    I have a feeling this is what I am looking at too when I come off of it. I can probably go to a half dosage of my HCTZ for a month or so but after that it will just take time to stabilize. I am hoping to give it a try in a few more months.

    Yeah, my water pill was a pretty small dose. I was on 2 doses of the Vasotec per day but the indapimide was such a tiny pill that it couldn't have been real strong. Just the same my weight went up a fair bit when I quit taking it.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,992 Member
    cheryldumais wrote: »
    I went off cold turkey just like you did but under docs orders and the water took a couple of months to stabilize. I will warn you though that after two years I am back on the meds because although I managed to maintain my weight my high blood pressure came back. I'm bummed out about it but the headaches were killing me. I did however take up vaping during that time frame which I think caused it and now that I've quit vaping my BP is on the low side, lol. Might be another adjustment in my future.

    thanks for info, and bummer you had to go back on pills! So that is why I was getting bad headaches the last couple days. I figured it was a side effect .. now back on the one pill, the headaches are gone.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Rhumax67 wrote: »
    I would call the doc now - he may want to change your med - 105/68 is too low & you have symptoms - the doc will want to prevent things like falls

    How is that too low? That looks optimal to me based on my doctor's comments. Mine is normally around there or even a touch lower.

    I believe being below 90/60 is technically low blood pressure. From my experience though 95/58 had me 'wobbly' on my feet so that is too low for me.

    90/50 is the minimum allowed by most organizations for donating blood so 105/68 is definitely well in the healthy range.

    And really, where lower largely becomes a problem, as I'm learning from personal experience, is if you're working out and that makes you hypotensive. I run low, but lately I'm literally running low when I run -- which in turn is making me dizzy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    I'm still on BP meds, but my doctor took me off of the diuretic due to other complications. I put on around 6 Lbs of water over a couple of days...took over a month for everything to stabilize.
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    nighthawk584 wrote: »
    Since losing nearly 70 lbs, my blood pressure started bottoming out making me extremely dizzy and shaky. I quit both pills cold turkey to see if things would improve ..yeah, spare me the lecture on this one I KNOW I KNOW. I see my Dr in a month for 6 month follow up and labs. After stopping both meds , everything was good for 4 days but then the water started to build up and I gained almost 5 lbs overnight in water weight. I went back on the BP pill that had water pill combined and now 4 days later, that 5 lbs of water is back off and my blood pressure is consistently around 105/68. At my heaviest weight, my BP would be 140/85 even taking the pills. So, BIG IMPROVEMENT :)

    My question for those who have been on BP meds and or water pills, how long did it take your body to adjust after stopping meds? How did your Dr ween you off the pills? I'm hoping to be completely pill free this year.

    You were dizzy & shaky - you have symptoms & that's the problem not the actual number.What do you have to lose by calling the doctor now? Explain the dizzy shaky thing, if he says see you in a month, then it's OK
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    BTW, congratulations on the weight loss!!!!
  • squiffiegirl
    squiffiegirl Posts: 14 Member
    Have you considered natural diuretics such as coffee, cucumber, lemon, watermelon and celery? Vitamin B complex is also a diuretic.

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