# high blood pressure



## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

im 45, female, and just a little overweight
last Wednesday i was sent to the doctor from work with a BP of 164/110, by the time i got to the doctor 45min, it was 177/113. blood tests, ekg, and ct scan were all normal. Been on meds since, today BP is 140/97 doctor still not happy. Giving up salt, went to decaf coffee. still have to quit smoking, and other ideas on what i can do to help get it down? I return to work tomorrow, nervous, scared its going to rise again.


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## ELOCN (Jun 13, 2004)

You have to cut your salt intake way, way down. Unfortunately, salt is in almost all foods at the grocery stores, not to mention fast-food places. Of course you can cut out salt by cooking everything from scratch. Thank goodness some foods are now being made in low-salt varieties: some of the Campbell's canned soups are lower salt -- look for "Healthy Request." We also like Stove-Top stuffing, and you can get it in a low-salt variety.


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

I had the same problem. I am on med's and trying to implement the DASH diet. http://dashdiet.org/


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## culpeper (Nov 1, 2002)

Believe it or not, smoking is actually helping to keep your BP a little lower! Tobacco is a herb like any other - it has its beneficial uses - but it's not a herb I would recommend for any purpose! Trying to give up right now will only increase your stress levels, so for now, concentrate on reducing that BP.

The meds you are taking will work. You'll need to get frequent check-ups with your doctor who can decide whether or not to increase the dosage. 

Forget 'cutting down' on salt. Eliminate it completely, cold turkey. After about a week, you won't notice that it's gone, and you'll be pleasantly surprised to notice the real flavour of food. After that, if salt is added to food, it will taste quite awful and all you'll notice is the salt. 

You can use a salt substitute, for which there are many recipes. Use them as a guide only - omitting ingredients or substituting them to suit your own taste-buds. Here's a sample:

Herbal Salt Substitute (1)
1/4 cup dried parsley
1/4 cup dried savory
1/4 cup dried savory
1/4 cup dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried marjoram

Grind all ingredients together.

Herbal Salt Substitute (2)
3 tablespoons dried basil
3 tablespoons dried marjoram
3 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons dried thyme
4 1/2 teaspoons dried chives
2 1/2 teaspoons dried paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

Grind all ingredients together.

One easy way to eliminate vast amounts of salt from your diet is to avoid take-away or pre-packaged foods. Remember that many soft drinks (cola etc) contain added sodium.

I have noticed that most American recipes for cakes, cookies and other baked goods include salt in the ingredients. It simply is NOT needed, so omit it. You won't notice that it's missing.

Below are several herbal remedies for high BP. It is very important that you discuss these with your doctor BEFORE you use them. Herbs can and do interfere with conventional medications. Some of these herbs may be unsuitable for you if you have other health conditions, too.

High blood pressure results in part from a sodium-potassium imbalance caused by too much salt consumption. Bananas and whole wheat bread are rich in potassium to balance sodium levels.

To reduce blood pressure, add grind Olive leaves into a cup of tea and drink. Or mix chopped olive leaves with meal.

High blood pressure results in part from a sodium-potassium imbalance caused by too much salt consumption. Bananas and whole wheat bread are rich in potassium to balance sodium levels.

Eat plenty of Beans in your regular diet â all kinds of Beans. Also Broccoli, Garlic, Grains, Grapes, Tomato, Mango and Asparagus. These will help to lower blood pressure.

Eat plenty of berries â Blackberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Elderberries, red and black Currants etc to lower blood pressure.

Slice a raw Beetroot and squeeze fresh Lemon juice over it so that all surfaces are wet; refrigerate overnight and eat one slice per day. Your blood pressure should drop dramatically very quickly. (This can be dangerous - talk it over with your doctor before trying it - and make sure someone is with you if you do decide to try it.)

Eat 2 Apples a day. The pectin in apples helps to lower high blood pressure.

A tea made from Yarrow leaves, alone or with Hawthorn berries and/or Lime blossom will regulate blood pressure if taken regularly.

A tea made from the fresh or dried flowers of Motherwort, taken regularly, will help to lower the blood pressure.

Crush 2 teaspoons dried Watermelon seeds. Put them in a cup of just-boiled water and let them steep for 1 hour. Stir, strain and drink the tea 30 minutes before each meal.

Combine 30g Raspberry leaves and 2 cups boiling water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drink 1 cup a day, hot or cold.

Add 15g Yarrow leaves and/or flowers to 500ml water to make a tea, and take 1 cupful per day.


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## Randy Rooster (Dec 14, 2004)

Lose weight - exercise


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## Dwayne Barry (Jan 9, 2009)

As the other poster said "exercise", probably not as beneficial for blood pressure as it is for improving some other cardiovascular disease risk factors, but then again, it's likely to improve your health in multiple other areas as well. Closest thing we have to a panacea and it's more or less free!


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Be VERY aware of the labels on your BP meds. If you take Lisinopril, overdosing on potassium (typically by using the potassium based "fake" salts) can be deadly. Work at lowering it slowly and monitor yourself regularly.


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

Walking. They say to walk 4000 extra steps a day.


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## Dwayne Barry (Jan 9, 2009)

rean said:


> Walking. They say to walk 4000 extra steps a day.


Some other guidelines people might find useful. Most health benefits of exercise are achieved (or at least you reach the point of diminishing returns) when you burn ~1000 calories a week doing aerobic exercise. A good way to estimate this is that you burn roughly 100 calories per mile of walking/running. So you need to cover ~10 miles per week. If you're doing "brisk walking", you're probably covering 3 to 4 mph, so you need to walk somewhere between 2.5 and 3 hours per week. Preferably broken up into 5 or more sessions.


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## Michele of MI (Jul 8, 2009)

Taking Omega 3 fish oil supplements supposedly helps. My mom says that it made a difference. She takes medication too though.


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Potassium scares me. Mom had leg cramps. She got it in her head to take Potassium. Took supplements and ate a lot of bananas. Potassium levels went sky high and she had a heart attack. Consequently 3 mos later she died. She was 85; but I lost my best friend when I lost her.


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## GoatsRus (Jan 19, 2003)

Busybee....I have HBP and have what they refer to as white coat syndrome. It just means that when you see the Dr. (white coat) coming at you with the BP cuff, your pressure goes up. Get yourself a good home BP monitoring cuff. You'll be more relaxed in your own home and can monitor it between Dr. visits. Give the meds a few days to see if they help and QUIT worrying (I know that's easy to say). Sometimes it takes a few different tries to get the right meds.


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## rxkeith (Apr 13, 2009)

become versed in eating a diet that promotes health, and healing. dr john mcdougall is a dr whose patients actually get healthy, and off medication.
his website is www.drmcdougall.com sign up for his free newsletter. i was hypertensive from my early 20s, and on medication until my early 40s. finally got off the med by eating a 90-95% vegetarian diet.
do watch the sodium intake. salt will add about 10 pts to my systolic for a few days if i have too much.
lose the extra weight. mcdougall can help with that.
stop smoking. easier said than done, i know. my wife quit, she said it was hard at first, but worth it.
stay away from fast food, and restaurants in general. 
buy foods that don't require a label listing ingredients like a cabbage, carrots, apples, broccoli, oats.............you get the picture.
30 minutes of exercise a day, something you like to do, and needs to be appropriate for your state of health and physical condition.
the changes i made didn't happen overnight. it took a few years, and being willing to take the next step to get to where i am at now. my blood pressure is not at the ideal range of below 120/80, but its low enough to not require medication. i take my bp several times a week at work. the monitor is right outside the pharmacy door.

good luck


keith


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

busybee870 said:


> im 45, female, and just a little overweight
> last Wednesday i was sent to the doctor from work with a BP of 164/110, by the time i got to the doctor 45min, it was 177/113. blood tests, ekg, and ct scan were all normal. Been on meds since, today BP is 140/97 doctor still not happy. Giving up salt, went to decaf coffee. still have to quit smoking, and other ideas on what i can do to help get it down? I return to work tomorrow, nervous, scared its going to rise again.


To take the pressure off of your salt intake restriction, your doctor may prescribe spironolactone. That's a diuretic that has some interesting properties; such as allowing your body to retain potassium, and is easy on the renal system. If you take spironolactone daily you can eat a more normal diet with respect to salt while keeping your blood pressure down.

Spironolactone is inexpensive enough that it should qualify for $4 prescriptions at Wal-Mart, and other competing pharmacies. You might ask your doctor about it.


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

wow thanks everyone for your help, this is really scary, when you thought you were of good health. I got sent home from work again yesterday, work read 134/108, then the doctor got 140/100. I have an emt next door, she reads it for me too, so its a more relaxed atmosphere. Anyway I have been cutting my salt, trying to read labels on sodium content. Docotr increased my meds and said if i get sent home again we will do a stress test. he said there are meds he can give me along with the BP but he doesnt want to give me so much meds my BP drops really low and i dont want to get up in the morning. Im still scared and will keep reading your posts and trying to get it down. Thank you all for all your help. I turn to HT for alot of things this was one of the most important, thanks for being there.


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

One place to check sodium; storebought raw pork and chicken. We recently started watching salt intake too. I was quite surprised when I looked at the nutritional panel on a bag containing raw chicken and saw it had over 200 mg sodium per serving!!! Same thing with many pork cuts. I figure meat will probably have SOME sodium, but 200 mg seemed rather high for 4 oz. of chicken. I checked the label and the meats had been "enhanced" with "broth" or some such liquid. I don't buy much pork but we eat quite a bit of chicken, so I started reading the labels very carefully and look for birds that aren't treated with "broth" or/and are advertised as being "no salt added." I've found both types at the same store.


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## suzfromWi (Jun 1, 2002)

I too have an elevated BP at times. I take 1/2 a water pill a day. I am trying to keep it down by myself, so I dont have to go on BP meds. Heres what I am doing .No 1. trying to lose a bit of weight...2. cutting out salt 3. I take fish oil supplements and cinnimon capsules. This all seems to be helping. Your numbers are higher then mine and you want to find out whats going on. Especially if its a sudden change...They worry more about the bottom number being so high...I also have a BP cuff here at home and check it at different times during the day. You want to sit at rest a spell before you check. I think the smoking thing could be wrong. Seems to me it would raise it. I gave that nasty habit up 6 yrs ago...Good luck and take this very seriously, as it seems you are....


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Last summer I had a Bp reading of 174/93 which really came as a surprise. A couple more tests in the same range spurred me to action. I upped my exercise but also switched to a vegan diet with no wheat or corn (so much easier than it sounds). Within 10 weeks my Bp was down to 120/78 and has stayed down.


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

yesterday I went home before work started, it was 140/96, they send you home at 100 so i was close, but i felt awful, headache, dizzy, nausea, weak. I had only been on the new med for 3 days. Im hoping after the weekend the new meds will have better effect. I have thought about the vegan thing, really really hard for me, im from Louisiana originally and a meat eater. Im trying though, i got some "nu-salt", not great but better than most. gone to decaf coffee, trying to drink fruit juices instead of soda, watching sodium intake, im really checking labels too.


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## Panhandler (Mar 23, 2010)

Watch your sugar intake also. Drinking juice is like drinking soda so try and drink more water.Add fresh lemon juice to water and add little sugar,honey,or splenda,stevia. Citrus juices shouldnt be consumed with BP meds. Give 2-3 hours after or before taking meds. Lots of hidden salt out there ,so we have to be cautious. Stay far away as possible from processed and fast foods as said before in thread.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

busybee870 said:


> im 45, female, and just a little overweight
> last Wednesday i was sent to the doctor from work with a BP of 164/110, by the time i got to the doctor 45min, it was 177/113. blood tests, ekg, and ct scan were all normal. Been on meds since, today BP is 140/97 doctor still not happy. Giving up salt, went to decaf coffee. still have to quit smoking, and other ideas on what i can do to help get it down? I return to work tomorrow, nervous, scared its going to rise again.


You might research the amino acid carnitine. A shortage of carnitine can raise blood pressure. 

[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&hs=qwI&rls=en&ei=uVnhS-ubIo3w9gT_zfiNAw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CCAQBSgA&q=hypertension+carnitine&spell=1[/ame]


Magnesium also has a positive effect on blood pressure in some instances. You can get extra magnesium simply by soaking your feet in Epsom salt each night or taking a supplement.

[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&hs=VHy&rls=en&q=hypertension+magnesium+deficiency&aq=1&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=hypertension+magne&gs_rfai=[/ame]

Fish oil is also a wonderful anti-inflammatory substance that helps lower blood pressure.
[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&hs=afd&rls=en&q=hypertension+fish+oil&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=[/ame]

Another unusual reason for hypertension is sleep apnea. If you snore a lot or ever wake up gasping for air, you might ask your doctor about a sleep study. Sleep apnea causes resistant hypertension, but it is usually higher than your readings. 

I have the same problem as you do, and once I started going to an alternative health counselor, my blood pressure dropped. 

My last suggestion is to stop all use of aspartame. It is actually a neuro-toxin, so your body tries to "set it off" by retaining fluids. That raises blood pressure. If you drink a lot of diet sodas, and you have swelling in your ankles and feet, it is probably from the aspartame.
[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&hs=Vdd&rls=en&q=hypertension+aspartame&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=[/ame]


Good Luck. I'm just sharing things I have learned from my experience. I hope it helps you.


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

thanks for all the help, im absorbing evryones ideas and will try ro use them . I have heard of magnesium being an issue 

I did not know i couldnt drink citrus with BP meds Thanks

I have started using cinnamon Thanks for that tip

i will be readfing Mcdougals site as well, 

thanks for evreyones help in this, I was really scared when this happened, it made me very aware now, i have always taken care of my kids, dont take as good of care of myself i guess. You all have such good ideas , I cannot thank you enough. The good news is..... since i started applying all of your help, my blood pressure has dramatically gone down, todays reading 118/ 84 yay!!!!!! I love you guys!!!


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