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Managing high blood pressure
Good Day! I just signed on with MCConnect...though I have been using the Mayo website for about a year now. The reason for my interest is my high blood pressure. Just over a year ago I went to a blood donor clinic...having given blood for over 30+ years and the young little nurse took my blood pressure and found it to be 206/92. By the horrified look on her face I could tell something was dreadfully wrong. She thought I was extremely scared/anxious about giving blood. I assured her I wasn't.
What troubles me the most is that I have been very active all my life (I am 51 years old), I am an avid runner and basketball player and I consider myself to be in relatively good shape. And my job though it is can be stressful at times it is not a crazy stressful.
Anyways, to make a long story short I am one year into this, I have had an ECG, blood work and regular doctor visits, I have been on the DASH diet and have even seen a chiropractor who insists that the answer is somewhere in my spine. My MD has me on Amlodipine and Candesartan. So I am interested in any threads of discussion related to Hypertension...High Blood Pressure...its causes and factors and anything that helps. I guess if I were to boil it down to two questions they would be...how long will this high blood pressure continue to be a problem? Will I ever get off the medication? Any discussion on these matters would be helpful. Thank you.
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Hi @ladybugmg. Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect where a large population of people interested in medical challenges share their personal information and experiences and help each of us find good questions to ask our doctors. As a long-time veteran of high blood pressure and its treatment, I found a lot of good information on the Mayo Clinic website. You too may find important answers on these web pages:
First is a good overview of hypertension and most of its variants: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/basics/definition/con-20019580.
More on your point, here is some information on contesting high blood pressure without medication: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20046974.
My hypertension comes from a rare inherited kidney mutation and may not be of much direct application to you. We'd know better about that if you care to share a little more information on your situation. For example, what are the dosages of Atenolol and Lisinopril of which you are taking a half-pill each day? Also, what is the range of your diastolic pressure? Your age also may be critical, since current standards for somewhat older persons don't count 130-140 as hypertension worthy of treating with medication at all, but only (as you hope) with lifestyle choices. Martin
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2 ReactionsThank you for responding to my query.
A little about myself: I am an independent, active 92-year old widow, living alone and still do my own housework, drive to neighborhood grocery stores, etc, and and also do errands so I am able to manage well. I live in a large home and walk from room to room frequently. I also usually walk 20 minutes a day, outside when there is no air pollution, inside otherwise. I also do deep breathing exercises a few times a week.
Blood pressure medications are Lisinopril 20 mg, 1/2 tablet daily, Atenolol 25 mg 1/2 tablet daily. The primary care physician suggested eliminatingthe Lisinopril but that increased the systolic reading. I also use three different eye drops to reduce eye pressure as I have been pre-glaucoma for the last 20 years.
The diastolic pressure ranges from 71 to 79.
When I am very active or stressed the systolic pressure can go to 150 but will often drop back to as low as the 130's after relaxing. Also if I iingest too much sodium that seems to raise the pressure so I try to control that. I don't eat red meat, only chicken breast and mostly fruits and vegetables, yogurt and other healthy foods.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
My physician had suggested that I might want to try eliminating the Lisinoprol which I did but my blood pressure went up into the 150's. He wanted to keep the systolic under 140 so I went back on it in spite of the side effects.
I recently read that drinking ginger tea could lower blood pressure so stopped taking the Lisinoprol four days ago and substituted ginger crystals after washing off the suger with hot water. It brought the systolic down to the high 140's. This morning I was able to substitute pure 100% ginger root tea with the results that the reading was 133/67(pulse rate 75). All the side effects from the Lisinoprol disapeared by this morning. I hope this information helps someone elsel.
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1 ReactionMy blood pressure went over 220 a couple of weeks ago sending me to the hospital. They run numerous tests which came out ok including EKG, MRI, Ultrasound, Bubble test, CT Scan and for a 73 year old man did pretty good. They sent me home with a bp of 170 and said it would come down. Two days later I was back in the ER with 200+ blood pressure and again sent home once it came down some. Got lots of blood pressure medicine I take but, for some reason in the morning my blood pressure shots up about 50 points and goes over 200. We load up on more bp medicine and relaxer pills and after a few hours it comes down to 130 - 150. I don't know why this is happening and the Cardiologist won't see me for another month. I just got my calcium score but he won't tell me what it is until our meeting. Can anyone give me any advice how to stop the spike in my blood pressure.
Hi my friend I suffer from low blood sugar levels and yes it's worse in the morning and then symptoms come late at night. I think you should be able to get your results when you want. Take it easy in the morning and maybe things will work out. Sorry for you
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1 ReactionMy BP was always high in the morning. When I told my cardiologist this he said to take my BP med in the evening before bed. That works for me. I only take one BP med once a day.
Hopefully this gives you some insight.
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1 ReactionWe are now waking up early to take pills then back to sleep. Has dropped by from 200 to 170. It’s a start thanks also no anxiety attack this morning.
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1 ReactionI don't understand why you cannot be given your results now rather than waiting a month. Makes no sense to me to withhold information from you.
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1 ReactionMy off-the-top advice @darrelin99 is to find another cardiologist with a good reputation and get a second opinion. A third if you need it, perhaps with a nephrologist, who probably knows more about blood pressure than any cardiologist in the state.
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1 ReactionTry cutting down on your sodium intake. For example, don’t pick up the salt shaker, avoid condiments like mustard and ketchup, and stay away from salty soups. I agree that you might want to find another cardiologist. Keep in mind that cardiologists and nephrologists don’t always agree, and ultimately you have to make your own choices. With good medical advice, you can manage your condition.