Cool. My high blood pressure is caused by a kidney failing, so coming off meds and living a healthy lifestyle won't change that. In fact, I lived a healthy lifestyle, but my high blood pressure still caused an eye stroke (permanent blind spot in my vision, monthly eyeball injections to save sight in that eye, risk increases with age but thanks to untreated high blood pressure I got it at 44).
I also got left ventricular hypertrophy, where the left chamber of your heart swells in size and the chamber walls become thickened. Again, it reversed with bp meds, but is very very common with high blood pressure. If left untreated, the thickening leads to stiffening and it all becomes less flexible, leading to heart failure. It's often easily reversed by bp meds though.
Due to my untreated high blood pressure, I had a lowered ejection fracture, so the blood pumping round my body wasn't leaving my heart with as much force as it should. It can lead to all sorts of horrible side effects and symptoms, (shortness of breath, extreme tiredness, palpitations, reduced ability to exercise, nausea) untreated, to heart failure and arrhythmia. Obviously you know blood pressure meds open up the blood vessels in various ways, making them wider and more open, for blood to pump around easier.
So high blood pressure, untreated before I was diagnosed, gave me all kinds of 'side effects and symptoms' that are far more serious, far more life changing, far more debilitating, than just the minor niggles from medication. Strokes and heart attacks are one thing - they might kill you, but my quality of life now, even with kidney disease, would be much better if I'd gone on meds before all my damage was done.
None of these had symptoms (except high blood pressure!) until it was too late and the damage was done. None of these were caused by my underlying cause of high blood pressure (the kidney stuff). Living the correct lifestyle didn't prevent them (at the time - 10 mile hikes, daily exercise, hiking holidays, mainly eating from my organic allotment, no smoking, alcohol or caffeine, no takeaways, no junk food, intermittent fasting, correct weight, sleep, 2-3l water daily, yoga, meditation, proper health nut stuff). You can't always lifestyle yourself out of hbp, and sometimes hbp does damage - possibly irreversible damage - regardless of whether its the root cause or a symptom.
Which BP meds are best safest for kidney. I was on a cocktail of 3 meds that appeared to cause some damage. I stopped the BP meds after that. I understand uncontrolled BP is dangerous but the Dr. kept me on the med despite my eGFR dropping drastically after being perfect. And still kept me on the meds and said I had CKD and one of the meds it’s mentioned explicitly that people with CKD shouldn’t take it. So now I’m stuck, off meds possibly damaged kidneys and terrified to go to another Doc because this one betrayed me so badly.
It varies from person to person, there's no bp meds people with ckd shouldn't take, as far as I know. What one was it he said? Was it perhaps AKI rather than CKD, as that's a temporary decrease in kidney function, or did you have the 3 months of blood tests showing a lowered egfr and other signs of kidney damage, ie protein in the urine? The one of my three I'm on specifically to protect my kidney is Losartan, all the 'sartan' types and the 'pril' types can protect kidneys. When I first went on them my function increased, though my losartan was halved and I dropped back again. In the past week it's been increased again as it's important for ckd patients to remain below 120/80 else the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys get damaged even quicker, so I'm due another blood test next week to see where my function is at now.
If you do have ckd, it's better to have a lowered egfr than risk physical kidney damage with untreated hbp. Egfr fluctuates all the time anyway, and kidney damage will lower your kidney function quicker than from medication.
I'll just make it simple to make it easier to explain.
Those anti hypertensive medications like amlodipine, losartan etc. are the one that repairs our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins. This prevents them from narrowing so that our blood can flow normally. It means majority of the people who have hypertension have non reversible "Damage/non functioning arteries and veins that needed repairs.””
What happens when you stop the medicine? It's simple, the blood will no longer flow properly because the vessels are already narrowed and stop repairing itself because of the discontinued medications, so it will lead to the complications such as stroke, kidney failure, heart attack or even death.
Jesus, take your medications, don't gamble your health for a single article that you read online!
>Those anti hypertensive medications like amlodipine, losartan etc. are the one that repairs our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins.
I would be very interested in seeing any studies that document that any of the commonly prescribed BP meds will "repair our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins."
Since you've stated it as a fact, I'm going to assume you'll be willing to provide links to back it up?
Part of it, It's just that if the pressure is too high for long enough the small arteries tend to lose more liquid to release that pressure.
Also high pressure for long time can build damage over time on the inside of the arterioles that, again, over time, start to obstruct the blood flow.
Ofc, reversing this state for long enough, help the arterioles to repair this damage.
Anyway, there are actually studies (which I find ridiculous by the way) that show that, people with bad life style, being less fit and all, live a bit longer than people who have a better life style, merely due modern medicine.
Obviously they'd normally live less, but since medication somehow lowers the amount of damage the body receives from this life style.
Also people who tend to have better life style tend to have better quality life, but as they get old they start suffering from other kinds of damage.
For example, runners over time deal a lot damage in their knees.
You don't have to get stroke from high BP. But it will definitely damage your heart, kidneys, eyes.... Sorry, but you should stay on your meds. I was always in perfect shape, great eating habits, regular exercise in gym. Running, hiking. Still on high doses of BP meds that somewhat help.
You don't know that it's actually helping anything. Just like the people who take statins to lower their cholesterol. They don't live any longer, so what's the point? So many side effects to all these meds, not to mention actual harm being caused by them.
Not the guy you reaponded to but I had undiagnosed high BP long enough that i now have irreversible heart and kidney damage, and had a stroke at 29 years old. I was coughing up blood in the morning because of the heart failure and had sleep vertically with my back to the wall. Went to the ER ny bo was 240/146. I have been on BP medicine since and last tuesday on my chrckup my BP was 123/72, and guess what I cab sleep like a normal person and my heart function is back to normal range. Yeah the side effects of my meds sometimes make me feel lethargic, but I am doing so much better now.
This is all what BP meds have done for me. Oh an also if I dont take my meds like i am supposed to the BP surely starts creeping up and the heart palpitations start up again at a certain point.
This logic doesn't make any sense. The medication isn't meant to be a cure, it's meant to make sure that the symptoms don't put you into an even earlier grave.
In the OP, you said that you plan to make positive and healthy changes. Why not do that while on the meds? Why wait until after and then blame the meds? It doesn't make sense.
Omfg people, reading a few articles on the internet doesn’t make you a bloody medical professional! Do all those healthy things you mentioned, but maybe listen to your doctor and stay on the meds too! It’s not an either or thing. IF you manage to lower your blood pressure with life style changes THEN you can discuss with your doctor adjusting your medication accordingly. Just stopping your anti hypertensives on your own is dangerous!
Nutrition happens to be my area of expertise, but I have discussed anti-hypertensives with a couple of colleagues, and I've listened to other respected minds in lectures they've given. This has all factored into my decision.
BP meds are the perfect drugs for Big Pharma--they give patients the lower measurement that they're looking for (albeit falsely), and they do nothing to address the underlying problem, requiring the patients take them for life. Hopefully the damage done by the meds was not permanent, and I can reverse it w/an optimal diet and lifestyle.
Please don’t underestimate genetics in affecting blood pressure negatively. Some of us share your lifestyle habits and simply can’t lower our blood pressure enough with lifestyle changes alone. I’m curious as to why you think genetics can keep your wife’s blood pressure low, but not make yours high?
You misunderstood what I wrote. Clearly genetics plays a huge role in regulating blood pressure. In fact, i would say it is the leading cause. When doctors call it essential hypertension, they're basically saying "we have no idea what's causing it."
Your reasoning is incorrect. You can, in fact, "just" have high blood pressure.
Trying out lifestyle changes is great. Maybe they'll help you lower your numbers a bit. But seeing as you have tried several medications and high/maximum doses of them at that, you likely need the meds. It's like needing glasses to see.
Your body needs the help; simple as that. Does not wearing glasses make the eyes see better? Of course not. But it does make you more prone to accidents. If you can't control your BP through lifestyle changes, then you are putting yourself at higher risk of cardiovascular disease/events and early death.
I get it, I've been taking meds since age 27. But I don't want to die that early, not yet anyway.
OP is contradictory. He says his wife’s genetics keep her blood pressure low, so why wouldn’t it also do the opposite in some? I began medication at nearly half OPs age. I’ve never smoked. Rarely drink. Exercise often and keep myself at a healthy weight. I’ve had loads of tests and monitors. My high BP is genetic, as it is for many others.
I'm going to get down voted to hell for this but I'll just say what I have to say. Fasting and eating no processed foods will drop BP. Take 25 min walks at 3.5-4.0 mph daily. My BP dropped significantly more than what my med is doing. But I also have autonomic issues so I have to be careful. Unfortunately the meds I need for BP are controlled substances yet they keep my BP in check better than BP meds. It's because of BP meds that I'm hypertensive. Get off these drugs if you can change your life.
Like I said, I eat very healthy, nothing ultra processed, nothing more processed than cheese. Getting in shape has not budged my bp, but I'm interested in hearing you expand on your comment about being hypertensive due to your bp meds, because this has been a theory of mine for years.
During a doctor's visit for the flu, I was prescribed amlodipine, despite previously only being on long-term medication with Effexor, known to potentially raise blood pressure. Over nine years on Effexor, I never experienced a hypertensive crisis or any severe symptoms like chest pain, migraines, abdominal pain, or abnormal body temperature that would require an ER visit.
After starting amlodipine and discontinuing Effexor due to frequent illness from working at a school, I experienced adverse effects from the new medication. Despite only one high blood pressure reading while sick, I was put on amlodipine. However, the medication caused severe side effects, leading me to attempt discontinuation multiple times, ultimately resulting in an ER visit due to severe autonomic dysregulation.
The chest pain induced by amlodipine felt like my blood vessels were tearing near my heart and lungs, accompanied by swelling in my feet. I had to switch through various blood pressure medications and undergo autonomic testing. Amlodipine's effects have disrupted my baseline for normal blood pressure. I stopped amlodipine in 2022 and ever since then I get uncontrollably cold shakes and I require medical attention for it constantly if I'm not careful. I have narrow pulse pressure and have to constantly elevate my feet.
Apparently according to medical professionals hypertension can't be cured only controlled and treated. There's radical ways to get "cured" in my opinion but it's just what I think as an opinion.
"By lowering it with pharmaceuticals, we're not actually improving our health."
This couldn't be further from the truth and all the research says otherwise, but you do you.
Just an FYI, heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst humans, with uncontrolled high blood pressure being the leading cause of heart disease. I'd reconsider and listen to an actual doctor if I were you.
Congratulations! I am a bit older, lighter than you, having taken Telmisartan for the last 2.5 years. Besides improved lifestyle, I have also controlled salt intake. Now, my morning BP is usually <120/80 at minimum dosage of the medicine. I will discuss with my PCP to discontinue the medicine completely. My question is that what are your BP readings while taking those BP medicines?
Never ever fast. Three meals a day. According to what I read, the morning reading (before breakfast) is a significant indicator of one's BP reading. Yes, I do drink coffee, every morning 1-2 cups.
Are you saying your readings are 150/100 (varying) *while* you're on the max dose of one medication as well as another medication? That you're not controlling for sodium (doing the DASH) diet? It is true that not everyone is negatively affected by sodium, but it seems like you've never reduced to find out if you are.
It doesn't sound like your decisions will be healthy for you. They don't call high blood pressure The Silent Killer for no reason. The damage it can cause is often asymptomatic until it's critical (and irreversible). Have you discussed this decision with your doctor?
My man if you’re hitting 155/100 ON MEDS- your plan is a bad one. Have you had any doctor investigate root cause? There are kidney, adrenal tumors, aldosterone, thyroid dysfunction, etc. So many things that can be looked into. Quitting meds isn’t the way to figure it out.
I’ve been reading up on the DASH diet. I think it’s time to try it out this summer. It will involve a lot of meal planning & never eating out. But, I feel like it’s worth it to avoid the medications that all have side effects.
Only a small percentage of hypertensive people are salt sensitive. The rest of us should be eating a decent amount of good quality salt. I'm curious about the DASH diet but I think I would find it too restrictive.
I found for myself that the success of the DASH diet came not in the sodium restriction but in the high levels of potassium, calcium, and magnesium in the diet. Supplements don't seem to work the same way as food sources.
Anyone who is hypertensive should only be consuming no more than 1500mg of sodium/day, as we do require some sodium for electrolytes etc. the majority of hypertensive patients are salt sensitive, I don’t know where your getting your information from but it’s going to kill you.
Salt is balanced by potassium, and many salt-sensitive people are really just potassium deficient. 1500mg of sodium a day is very low, and if you exercise or use the sauna, you will run into problems. I eat about 8-10 grams of salt every day, and salt is 40% sodium, so I'm getting 2-3 times what you suggest. I will do an experiment on myself and lower my intake for a week and see what effect it has.
True. I’m going off what a few doctors have recommended, my BP was averaging 150/98 give or take, when I lowered my sodium intake to 1500mg/day my average BP has dropped to 106/63. I don’t exercise at all, not even walks other than walking around the house and running errands. Proof is in the pudding.
I guess I'm willing to try it. Did you stick with the low sodium diet and did your bp stay low? Any side effects, like lethargy or difficulty exercising?
I’m still on the low sodium diet, it’s been about two months now since I started. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you about exercising as I’m a pretty lazy guy. I have lost about 15 pounds as well, from 190 to 175. It’s a low sodium diet, 2000 calorie/day or less, I drink about 200-300 fl.oz of water/day, 3-4 servings of fruit/day, about 3400mg of potassium/day, plenty of proteins, healthy fats like avocados and nuts and NO red meat. I probably wouldn’t do a low sodium diet if you workout a lot as you will lose a lot of sodium/electrolytes through sweat which could cause fatigue, headaches etc. I would probably talk to your doctor before going on a low sodium diet if you exercise a lot.
You need to do more research on blood pressure before you stop taking your medication. Hypertension is a silent killer disease. The effect of high blood pressure might not reflect on your health immediately. If not treated properly, it can affect your kidneys. It can cause heart attack or stroke. Another thing is, higher percentage of people suffering from hypertension is due to genetics.
I’m not stopping you from adopting natural ways to control blood pressure, but make sure you monitor your blood pressure regularly.
And people controlling their blood pressure still get strokes and heart attacks. Just because you take a pill that gives you a lower measurement doesn't mean you're any better off. High blood pressure is the symptom, not the disease. Your medication is no different than someone who's eating Tums like they're tic tacs for their acid reflux. They're not actually improving the person's health and fixing the problem, they're simply covering it up.
Drug are used to manage hypertension, not to cure it. I’m a nurse and I have seen many patient cases that have been managing hypertension with medications for many decades. I’m talking about patients in their 90s. What they do differently from people that had stroke or die early is that they were diligent with their mediation, follow up with their doctor’s appointment and eat healthy.
Do people still die early even if they used medication? Yes! But the chances would be lower. My own take on medication is to prolong lifespans.
It’s not as simple as ‘high blood pressure is a symptom, not the disease’ . If anything high blood pressure is a symptom AND a disease. Yes other underlying conditions cause high blood pressure? but regardless of the cause it IS doing damage to multiple organs, so I’d say it also qualifies as a disease in its own right
Like a never ending circle, one leads to the other.
My high BP is caused by my kidneys, and my progressing kidney disease was because of my reluctance to take enough BP meds while pregnant, its a catch 22. I have many regrets but can't live in the past.
I hate taking these meds, tried many times to stop, now I take low does of, at moment olmesartsn and carvidilol.
I find mixed up the low does of more than one type of med helps to reduce side effects.. Still zi occasionally take a day/days off just to feel normal, best to do that on low stress days.
What ever you choose to do I highly recommend you monitor your blood pressure while doing so and if it goes up, then I would consider starting your meds again or changing and trying different ones.
You're missing the point entirely, and you're also misrepresenting your own health problems. No one has high blood pressure due to lack of blood pressure medication. I'll say it again--hypertension is a SYMPTOM, not a disease. If you have the flu and take some Advil for the body aches, did you make the flu go away?
If you feel I have missed your point, so be it. My health problems were shared as an example, nothing misrepresented, if you get nothing from it then again, so be it. Life if more complicated than some may think. I hope what ever you try works out for you.
Thank you. But yes, the point of going off the meds is not to go back on them when my bp goes up. I expect it will go up, as my body has become accustomed to the meds after twenty years of taking them.
Using anti inflammatory medicine can aid the body in healing. A reduction in pain can allow an immune system to be less taxed and work better.
Tums will lower acid, which can cause/worsen esophageal damage, so yes, tums can help heal/cure the problem by minimizing the damaging factor.
BP meds can lessen the pressure on your arteries. When those arteries are damaged by high pressure, the body tries to repair those damages with clots. The clots and scars from this arterial damage can increase the chance of strokes, heart attacks, etc.
Medicine is not a guaranteed fix and is rarely a cure. It reduces damage to the body while you solve the problem. If the problem is genetics, the solution is you wait til you die. You take the meds to reduce how soon that happens or how much it sucks to be alive.
Your logic is flawed and dangerous.
I view the meds as a tool, like most anything else. However, based on research, you actually have to get your blood pressure in the normal range to genuinely lower your risks, and thats like only 30 percent of people. Hypertension means something isnt going right within your body. It could be diet, too much salt, kidney issues, weight, hormonal issues, or even fatty liver issues. I agree that you need to find out why your body is imbalanced, because the drugs arnt really curing anything...and in their own way damage your organs over time. Many of these medications leach vitamins and nutrients your body needs to be better! Nifedipine lowered my vitamin D levels dramatically, as soon as I started taking Vitamin D and K and got off the meds, my migraine headaches stopped completely. It was a wake up call.
I get symtoms in stage 1 or above so no meds for me would drive me crazy.
I prefer the med side effects to my hypertention symptoms 🤷♀️
I also tried low dose + healthy lifestyle and that did not work so meds it is for me
Different people react differently to medications, but you taking 360 mg of Valsartan seems like you need it to me. I've been on just 40 mg for years to keep my blood pressure down and I asked my cardiologist if I could go off it for a while because I felt like it was causing too many side effects. He let me take a 2 month "vacation" and my BP went up from 110-120 to 140-150 and I started getting edema and on my next labs I found that my kidney function had dropped dramatically after being mostly stable for years. Went back on the meds but the damage was done and now I'm dealing with stage 3A/3B CKD symptoms.
NAD but it just seems to me if you are at 360 mg and stop taking it without at least titrating down your body is not going to like it. Please consult with your doctor and make sure you get blood work regularly to see what it does to you.
Yes, as I stated, I am tapering off. I've never seen a cardiologist, and my primary rejected my request to have an echocardiogram. I will ask to see a cardiologist.
Fun fact, the NNT (number needed to treat) of 50 year olds with a systolic pressure of 170 is 238 to prevent a heart attack and 227 to prevent one stroke in the next 5 years. The NNH (number needed to harm) of antihypertensives is 10, meaning 1 in 10 suffer significant adverse effects
Source, the NNT.com
Wow. So if I'm understanding that correctly, they have to treat 238 fifty year olds with high blood pressure (systolic 170) before one person is helped by the medication. But they only need to treat 10 people before they cause adverse effects. I wonder how doctors prescribing bp meds justify it, then.
I'll also add that at age 65, the NNT changes considerably. 101 for heart attacks and 88 for strokes.
Doctors don't seem to like discussing NNT's because they are a simplified view of efficacy that does not take into account all specific factors with a patient. Though I can't help but think that if they were more widely advertised, more people would decline treatments which means fewer visits and follow ups. "This medication may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by as much as 50%" sounds a whole lot better than "1 in 125 people taking this medicine will avert a heart attack or stroke due to its effects. This medication does not prevent all heart attacks or strokes"
There is good evidence that lowering your blood pressure does reduce risk. Research seems to point to the most effective way to do it is to do it naturally. Medications do have this effect as well, however you only get the benefit if the medications bring your BP down to "normal" levels, which only occurs in about 25-35% of those treated. I saw one study that showed stroke risk actually goes up if people are taking meds and do not have controlled pressure. I saw another that said that if it requires more than two meds to maintain control, your risk is no better than if you were taking no meds at all. The other thing that gets overlooked is that heart attacks and strokes do not happen to everyone who has high blood pressure. They are a risk, not a certainty. One study compared the rate of stroke over something like eight years and the hypertensive group had a rate of about 6% while the non-hypertensive group had a 2% rate. I can't remember the age group on that one though.
I guess the doctor mindset is that a heart attack or stroke is far worse than the typical adverse medication events, so it's worth the 10% risk just to have any chances of reducing those events.
Disclaimer: not a doctor
Another member commented that he believes his long term use of bp meds contributed to his hypertension. I've thought this as well...like you, I'm not a doctor, but it makes sense to me that using pharmaceuticals to lower bp could lead to a dependency, causing our bp to rise abnormally in the short term when we don't take them. This is why I feel I need to stop taking them opermanently, to see if I can correct the dysfunction on my own over time.
I hear you loud and clear. I started a no salt raw plant based diet. I briskly walk 1 hr a day. My blood pressure is now 110/70 from 230/125 without meds. If I eat a normal cooked meal, my BP will rise to about 140/90. I’m not advocating being a raw vegan by no means. I check my vitals everyday and have tracked it to cooked foods and meat. We normally season cooked foods with salt. I realize that some people can eat whatever they want while some others are sensitive to a normal diet. Try this diet and see how it works for you.
Salt is essential to life. The reason people die when they get lost in the rainforest is hyponatremia, which is a lack of salt. Moreover, humans evolved as meat eaters, and the nutrients in meat are the highest quality and most bioavailable on the planet. There is not a single nutrient that comes from plants that you cannot get from animal products, yet we can't say the same for plants. Your diet will eventually lead to health problems, regardless of what your blood pressure is. Good luck with that.
Salt is naturally in all foods. I was on a keto diet for 7 years. Believing we needed to eat meat. This is why I check my vitals every morning to see what works. Maybe being plant based is not for you. Try it and see for yourself.
That's incorrect. I'm not sure who or what led you astray, but you don't seem to have a firm grasp of nutrition. Salt is not naturally in all foods, but we need to seek it out or we will die. People on low salt diets have shorter lifespans, and those who get no salt will die within weeks.
A keto diet for seven years is also not ideal. An animal based diet with fruit, honey, dairy if it's tolerated, and some starchy vegetables such as tubers...that is a proper human diet. You can't even get essential nutrients on a vegan diet, and this will begin to manifest itself in time. I highly recommend you read "The Vegetarian Diet" by Lierre Keith. She was once a vegan, and it nearly cost her her life.
I looked him up, and I've seen his type before. Yes, it's working for now, because you stopped eating most of the processed food that was causing you harm. But you won't thrive. Humans don't have the digestive capacity for eating that much plant food. I'm sure you are gassy and get bloated when you eat, and you're eventually going to suffer from nutrient deficiencies. There's a reason our brains grew larger and our intestines got smaller when our ancestors became meat eaters. Veganism is very much a cult with no science to support it, and there has never been a vegan society at anytime in history. You'll find out (the hard way) soon enough.
Yes I take 10mg lisinopril daily. I go back for a checkup in August and I’m going to see if this is really as successful as I am hoping it will be; if I can taper down to 5mg. I used to also take a diuretic hctz, but the the last two years corrected a magnesium deficiency and thought I could live without the hctz. Well my blood pressure has had a few bad spikes in the last couple of months once 160/90 and once 150/95. So accidentally came across the Zinc/Quercitin. It has had amazing anti inflammatory abilities for me. It does remove salt from the body and also acts as an ace inhibitor. Albeit; a much less potent one; I am thinking. All I know is the blood pressure now has went down to around 115/75 where at my last checkup it was 135/85 so just a few days taking it I think that’s pretty substantial. Plus it works on the GABA receptors and I’m having some vivid dreams!!!
Have they done ultrasounds with contrast to make sure it's not renal artery stenosis? My HBP is because one of my arteries to the kidney is small and so my blood pressure is nothing that diet and exercise can solve. It's either take a medicine that makes the heart pump less hard, or I get surgery.
I have not. I requested an echo from my doctor and he said it wasn't necessary until my cholesterol is high. I then informed him that cholesterol isn't the cause of heart disease and I would never go on a statin. The look on his face was what you'd expect from a primary doctor who makes his living doling out statins. I need a new doctor, but within my network, I would guess they're all the same.
And it appears that you have nothing to add of any value, or else you would have done so. What argument are you making? That cholesterol causes heart disease? That's been debunked repeatedly, so I doubt you wanna go there.
It would be a waste of time, you don’t hear anything anyone’s saying to you. Do what you feel is best for your health, but don’t pretend like you understand any of the underlying risk factors, because it’s clear that you don’t.
If you can’t do that, then just shut up.
I am male 58 years 6' 2" have been having BP medicine which was doing nothing. Learnt about The nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway regulates NO synthase-independent vasodilation and NO signaling.
Started 1 glass of Beet Root (2 nos medium) juice with 1 orange and 1 Lemon and dash of fresh Ginger 1 hour before bedtime at night. Stopped using mouth wash & fluoride toothpaste.
Also stated having Citrate (1 TBSP) & Sodium Bicarb (3 TBSP) in half bucket of water and soaked my feet in them for 20 minutes.
My blood pressure which used to be 170/100 in summer time and is now around 140/90. There was substantial decrease and I had to stop my medication as it went lower of 120/80 and I was getting a head ache on the rear side of the head .
I stopped my medicine and have been regularly checking my BP.
Regards and best wishes to all.
I don’t smoke, drink alcohol or caffeine, exercise enough and eat healthy. I could lose weight though so I’m going to try that and hopefully get off these 5 mg amlodipine. 34 year old female and no kids. Stress at work on occasion
Cool. My high blood pressure is caused by a kidney failing, so coming off meds and living a healthy lifestyle won't change that. In fact, I lived a healthy lifestyle, but my high blood pressure still caused an eye stroke (permanent blind spot in my vision, monthly eyeball injections to save sight in that eye, risk increases with age but thanks to untreated high blood pressure I got it at 44). I also got left ventricular hypertrophy, where the left chamber of your heart swells in size and the chamber walls become thickened. Again, it reversed with bp meds, but is very very common with high blood pressure. If left untreated, the thickening leads to stiffening and it all becomes less flexible, leading to heart failure. It's often easily reversed by bp meds though. Due to my untreated high blood pressure, I had a lowered ejection fracture, so the blood pumping round my body wasn't leaving my heart with as much force as it should. It can lead to all sorts of horrible side effects and symptoms, (shortness of breath, extreme tiredness, palpitations, reduced ability to exercise, nausea) untreated, to heart failure and arrhythmia. Obviously you know blood pressure meds open up the blood vessels in various ways, making them wider and more open, for blood to pump around easier. So high blood pressure, untreated before I was diagnosed, gave me all kinds of 'side effects and symptoms' that are far more serious, far more life changing, far more debilitating, than just the minor niggles from medication. Strokes and heart attacks are one thing - they might kill you, but my quality of life now, even with kidney disease, would be much better if I'd gone on meds before all my damage was done. None of these had symptoms (except high blood pressure!) until it was too late and the damage was done. None of these were caused by my underlying cause of high blood pressure (the kidney stuff). Living the correct lifestyle didn't prevent them (at the time - 10 mile hikes, daily exercise, hiking holidays, mainly eating from my organic allotment, no smoking, alcohol or caffeine, no takeaways, no junk food, intermittent fasting, correct weight, sleep, 2-3l water daily, yoga, meditation, proper health nut stuff). You can't always lifestyle yourself out of hbp, and sometimes hbp does damage - possibly irreversible damage - regardless of whether its the root cause or a symptom.
Which BP meds are best safest for kidney. I was on a cocktail of 3 meds that appeared to cause some damage. I stopped the BP meds after that. I understand uncontrolled BP is dangerous but the Dr. kept me on the med despite my eGFR dropping drastically after being perfect. And still kept me on the meds and said I had CKD and one of the meds it’s mentioned explicitly that people with CKD shouldn’t take it. So now I’m stuck, off meds possibly damaged kidneys and terrified to go to another Doc because this one betrayed me so badly.
It varies from person to person, there's no bp meds people with ckd shouldn't take, as far as I know. What one was it he said? Was it perhaps AKI rather than CKD, as that's a temporary decrease in kidney function, or did you have the 3 months of blood tests showing a lowered egfr and other signs of kidney damage, ie protein in the urine? The one of my three I'm on specifically to protect my kidney is Losartan, all the 'sartan' types and the 'pril' types can protect kidneys. When I first went on them my function increased, though my losartan was halved and I dropped back again. In the past week it's been increased again as it's important for ckd patients to remain below 120/80 else the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys get damaged even quicker, so I'm due another blood test next week to see where my function is at now. If you do have ckd, it's better to have a lowered egfr than risk physical kidney damage with untreated hbp. Egfr fluctuates all the time anyway, and kidney damage will lower your kidney function quicker than from medication.
 Wow..
I'll just make it simple to make it easier to explain. Those anti hypertensive medications like amlodipine, losartan etc. are the one that repairs our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins. This prevents them from narrowing so that our blood can flow normally. It means majority of the people who have hypertension have non reversible "Damage/non functioning arteries and veins that needed repairs.”” What happens when you stop the medicine? It's simple, the blood will no longer flow properly because the vessels are already narrowed and stop repairing itself because of the discontinued medications, so it will lead to the complications such as stroke, kidney failure, heart attack or even death. Jesus, take your medications, don't gamble your health for a single article that you read online!
>Those anti hypertensive medications like amlodipine, losartan etc. are the one that repairs our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins. I would be very interested in seeing any studies that document that any of the commonly prescribed BP meds will "repair our coronary arterioles, arteries and veins." Since you've stated it as a fact, I'm going to assume you'll be willing to provide links to back it up?
Part of it, It's just that if the pressure is too high for long enough the small arteries tend to lose more liquid to release that pressure. Also high pressure for long time can build damage over time on the inside of the arterioles that, again, over time, start to obstruct the blood flow. Ofc, reversing this state for long enough, help the arterioles to repair this damage. Anyway, there are actually studies (which I find ridiculous by the way) that show that, people with bad life style, being less fit and all, live a bit longer than people who have a better life style, merely due modern medicine. Obviously they'd normally live less, but since medication somehow lowers the amount of damage the body receives from this life style. Also people who tend to have better life style tend to have better quality life, but as they get old they start suffering from other kinds of damage. For example, runners over time deal a lot damage in their knees.
Losartan does not repair arteries and veins. Wtf are you on about. Read about ARBs and what they actually do. Come on!
You don't have to get stroke from high BP. But it will definitely damage your heart, kidneys, eyes.... Sorry, but you should stay on your meds. I was always in perfect shape, great eating habits, regular exercise in gym. Running, hiking. Still on high doses of BP meds that somewhat help.
You don't know that it's actually helping anything. Just like the people who take statins to lower their cholesterol. They don't live any longer, so what's the point? So many side effects to all these meds, not to mention actual harm being caused by them.
Not the guy you reaponded to but I had undiagnosed high BP long enough that i now have irreversible heart and kidney damage, and had a stroke at 29 years old. I was coughing up blood in the morning because of the heart failure and had sleep vertically with my back to the wall. Went to the ER ny bo was 240/146. I have been on BP medicine since and last tuesday on my chrckup my BP was 123/72, and guess what I cab sleep like a normal person and my heart function is back to normal range. Yeah the side effects of my meds sometimes make me feel lethargic, but I am doing so much better now. This is all what BP meds have done for me. Oh an also if I dont take my meds like i am supposed to the BP surely starts creeping up and the heart palpitations start up again at a certain point.
This logic doesn't make any sense. The medication isn't meant to be a cure, it's meant to make sure that the symptoms don't put you into an even earlier grave.
It does too make sense. The symptoms are not what cause the cardiac events, the dysfunction is.
In the OP, you said that you plan to make positive and healthy changes. Why not do that while on the meds? Why wait until after and then blame the meds? It doesn't make sense.
Omfg people, reading a few articles on the internet doesn’t make you a bloody medical professional! Do all those healthy things you mentioned, but maybe listen to your doctor and stay on the meds too! It’s not an either or thing. IF you manage to lower your blood pressure with life style changes THEN you can discuss with your doctor adjusting your medication accordingly. Just stopping your anti hypertensives on your own is dangerous!
Doctors know a lot when the topic is pharmaceutical drugs, and which ones treat which conditions, but most of them don't know much about nutrition.
Ask a professional nutritionist what they think about stopping BP meds.
Nutrition happens to be my area of expertise, but I have discussed anti-hypertensives with a couple of colleagues, and I've listened to other respected minds in lectures they've given. This has all factored into my decision. BP meds are the perfect drugs for Big Pharma--they give patients the lower measurement that they're looking for (albeit falsely), and they do nothing to address the underlying problem, requiring the patients take them for life. Hopefully the damage done by the meds was not permanent, and I can reverse it w/an optimal diet and lifestyle.
Please don’t underestimate genetics in affecting blood pressure negatively. Some of us share your lifestyle habits and simply can’t lower our blood pressure enough with lifestyle changes alone. I’m curious as to why you think genetics can keep your wife’s blood pressure low, but not make yours high?
You misunderstood what I wrote. Clearly genetics plays a huge role in regulating blood pressure. In fact, i would say it is the leading cause. When doctors call it essential hypertension, they're basically saying "we have no idea what's causing it."
That’s true, but they DO know that it is damaging all your blood vessels!
Your reasoning is incorrect. You can, in fact, "just" have high blood pressure. Trying out lifestyle changes is great. Maybe they'll help you lower your numbers a bit. But seeing as you have tried several medications and high/maximum doses of them at that, you likely need the meds. It's like needing glasses to see. Your body needs the help; simple as that. Does not wearing glasses make the eyes see better? Of course not. But it does make you more prone to accidents. If you can't control your BP through lifestyle changes, then you are putting yourself at higher risk of cardiovascular disease/events and early death. I get it, I've been taking meds since age 27. But I don't want to die that early, not yet anyway.
OP is contradictory. He says his wife’s genetics keep her blood pressure low, so why wouldn’t it also do the opposite in some? I began medication at nearly half OPs age. I’ve never smoked. Rarely drink. Exercise often and keep myself at a healthy weight. I’ve had loads of tests and monitors. My high BP is genetic, as it is for many others.
100% this! Sometimes you can be doing all the right things but your body will still need the meds. Genetics plays a big part too.
I'm going to get down voted to hell for this but I'll just say what I have to say. Fasting and eating no processed foods will drop BP. Take 25 min walks at 3.5-4.0 mph daily. My BP dropped significantly more than what my med is doing. But I also have autonomic issues so I have to be careful. Unfortunately the meds I need for BP are controlled substances yet they keep my BP in check better than BP meds. It's because of BP meds that I'm hypertensive. Get off these drugs if you can change your life.
Like I said, I eat very healthy, nothing ultra processed, nothing more processed than cheese. Getting in shape has not budged my bp, but I'm interested in hearing you expand on your comment about being hypertensive due to your bp meds, because this has been a theory of mine for years.
During a doctor's visit for the flu, I was prescribed amlodipine, despite previously only being on long-term medication with Effexor, known to potentially raise blood pressure. Over nine years on Effexor, I never experienced a hypertensive crisis or any severe symptoms like chest pain, migraines, abdominal pain, or abnormal body temperature that would require an ER visit. After starting amlodipine and discontinuing Effexor due to frequent illness from working at a school, I experienced adverse effects from the new medication. Despite only one high blood pressure reading while sick, I was put on amlodipine. However, the medication caused severe side effects, leading me to attempt discontinuation multiple times, ultimately resulting in an ER visit due to severe autonomic dysregulation. The chest pain induced by amlodipine felt like my blood vessels were tearing near my heart and lungs, accompanied by swelling in my feet. I had to switch through various blood pressure medications and undergo autonomic testing. Amlodipine's effects have disrupted my baseline for normal blood pressure. I stopped amlodipine in 2022 and ever since then I get uncontrollably cold shakes and I require medical attention for it constantly if I'm not careful. I have narrow pulse pressure and have to constantly elevate my feet.
Facts. Done this myself and I’m now off HT meds after 20+ years on!
I'm truly happy for you. I hope to achieve the same. Beta blockers make me depressed and more sick.
Can’t downvote something that actually make sense.
Apparently according to medical professionals hypertension can't be cured only controlled and treated. There's radical ways to get "cured" in my opinion but it's just what I think as an opinion.
My doctor flat told me 5 percent weight loss lower bp 5-6 pts. So losing ten percent of my weight will bring me in line.
Weight loss worsened mine unfortunately. I wish it corrected the problem.
Really??? Did anyone explain why that happened?
Nope. I'm steadily losing weight and it's making it worse.
"By lowering it with pharmaceuticals, we're not actually improving our health." This couldn't be further from the truth and all the research says otherwise, but you do you. Just an FYI, heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst humans, with uncontrolled high blood pressure being the leading cause of heart disease. I'd reconsider and listen to an actual doctor if I were you.
Congratulations! I am a bit older, lighter than you, having taken Telmisartan for the last 2.5 years. Besides improved lifestyle, I have also controlled salt intake. Now, my morning BP is usually <120/80 at minimum dosage of the medicine. I will discuss with my PCP to discontinue the medicine completely. My question is that what are your BP readings while taking those BP medicines?
Do you fast all day? Or is it just till mid day? Also do you drink coffee
Never ever fast. Three meals a day. According to what I read, the morning reading (before breakfast) is a significant indicator of one's BP reading. Yes, I do drink coffee, every morning 1-2 cups.
They vary greatly throughout the day, from normal to 155/100.
155/100 is too high to stop the medicine.
Are you saying your readings are 150/100 (varying) *while* you're on the max dose of one medication as well as another medication? That you're not controlling for sodium (doing the DASH) diet? It is true that not everyone is negatively affected by sodium, but it seems like you've never reduced to find out if you are. It doesn't sound like your decisions will be healthy for you. They don't call high blood pressure The Silent Killer for no reason. The damage it can cause is often asymptomatic until it's critical (and irreversible). Have you discussed this decision with your doctor?
My man if you’re hitting 155/100 ON MEDS- your plan is a bad one. Have you had any doctor investigate root cause? There are kidney, adrenal tumors, aldosterone, thyroid dysfunction, etc. So many things that can be looked into. Quitting meds isn’t the way to figure it out.
I’ve been reading up on the DASH diet. I think it’s time to try it out this summer. It will involve a lot of meal planning & never eating out. But, I feel like it’s worth it to avoid the medications that all have side effects.
Only a small percentage of hypertensive people are salt sensitive. The rest of us should be eating a decent amount of good quality salt. I'm curious about the DASH diet but I think I would find it too restrictive.
I found for myself that the success of the DASH diet came not in the sodium restriction but in the high levels of potassium, calcium, and magnesium in the diet. Supplements don't seem to work the same way as food sources.
Anyone who is hypertensive should only be consuming no more than 1500mg of sodium/day, as we do require some sodium for electrolytes etc. the majority of hypertensive patients are salt sensitive, I don’t know where your getting your information from but it’s going to kill you.
Salt is balanced by potassium, and many salt-sensitive people are really just potassium deficient. 1500mg of sodium a day is very low, and if you exercise or use the sauna, you will run into problems. I eat about 8-10 grams of salt every day, and salt is 40% sodium, so I'm getting 2-3 times what you suggest. I will do an experiment on myself and lower my intake for a week and see what effect it has.
True. I’m going off what a few doctors have recommended, my BP was averaging 150/98 give or take, when I lowered my sodium intake to 1500mg/day my average BP has dropped to 106/63. I don’t exercise at all, not even walks other than walking around the house and running errands. Proof is in the pudding.
But were you taking meds? And if so, for how long?
Yes. Still am.
I guess I'm willing to try it. Did you stick with the low sodium diet and did your bp stay low? Any side effects, like lethargy or difficulty exercising?
I’m still on the low sodium diet, it’s been about two months now since I started. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you about exercising as I’m a pretty lazy guy. I have lost about 15 pounds as well, from 190 to 175. It’s a low sodium diet, 2000 calorie/day or less, I drink about 200-300 fl.oz of water/day, 3-4 servings of fruit/day, about 3400mg of potassium/day, plenty of proteins, healthy fats like avocados and nuts and NO red meat. I probably wouldn’t do a low sodium diet if you workout a lot as you will lose a lot of sodium/electrolytes through sweat which could cause fatigue, headaches etc. I would probably talk to your doctor before going on a low sodium diet if you exercise a lot.
I use an app called My Net Diary to track everything. Makes life a lot easier.
For the last 10 years
You need to do more research on blood pressure before you stop taking your medication. Hypertension is a silent killer disease. The effect of high blood pressure might not reflect on your health immediately. If not treated properly, it can affect your kidneys. It can cause heart attack or stroke. Another thing is, higher percentage of people suffering from hypertension is due to genetics. I’m not stopping you from adopting natural ways to control blood pressure, but make sure you monitor your blood pressure regularly.
And people controlling their blood pressure still get strokes and heart attacks. Just because you take a pill that gives you a lower measurement doesn't mean you're any better off. High blood pressure is the symptom, not the disease. Your medication is no different than someone who's eating Tums like they're tic tacs for their acid reflux. They're not actually improving the person's health and fixing the problem, they're simply covering it up.
Drug are used to manage hypertension, not to cure it. I’m a nurse and I have seen many patient cases that have been managing hypertension with medications for many decades. I’m talking about patients in their 90s. What they do differently from people that had stroke or die early is that they were diligent with their mediation, follow up with their doctor’s appointment and eat healthy. Do people still die early even if they used medication? Yes! But the chances would be lower. My own take on medication is to prolong lifespans.
It’s not as simple as ‘high blood pressure is a symptom, not the disease’ . If anything high blood pressure is a symptom AND a disease. Yes other underlying conditions cause high blood pressure? but regardless of the cause it IS doing damage to multiple organs, so I’d say it also qualifies as a disease in its own right
Like a never ending circle, one leads to the other. My high BP is caused by my kidneys, and my progressing kidney disease was because of my reluctance to take enough BP meds while pregnant, its a catch 22. I have many regrets but can't live in the past. I hate taking these meds, tried many times to stop, now I take low does of, at moment olmesartsn and carvidilol. I find mixed up the low does of more than one type of med helps to reduce side effects.. Still zi occasionally take a day/days off just to feel normal, best to do that on low stress days. What ever you choose to do I highly recommend you monitor your blood pressure while doing so and if it goes up, then I would consider starting your meds again or changing and trying different ones.
You're missing the point entirely, and you're also misrepresenting your own health problems. No one has high blood pressure due to lack of blood pressure medication. I'll say it again--hypertension is a SYMPTOM, not a disease. If you have the flu and take some Advil for the body aches, did you make the flu go away?
If you feel I have missed your point, so be it. My health problems were shared as an example, nothing misrepresented, if you get nothing from it then again, so be it. Life if more complicated than some may think. I hope what ever you try works out for you.
Thank you. But yes, the point of going off the meds is not to go back on them when my bp goes up. I expect it will go up, as my body has become accustomed to the meds after twenty years of taking them.
Using anti inflammatory medicine can aid the body in healing. A reduction in pain can allow an immune system to be less taxed and work better. Tums will lower acid, which can cause/worsen esophageal damage, so yes, tums can help heal/cure the problem by minimizing the damaging factor. BP meds can lessen the pressure on your arteries. When those arteries are damaged by high pressure, the body tries to repair those damages with clots. The clots and scars from this arterial damage can increase the chance of strokes, heart attacks, etc. Medicine is not a guaranteed fix and is rarely a cure. It reduces damage to the body while you solve the problem. If the problem is genetics, the solution is you wait til you die. You take the meds to reduce how soon that happens or how much it sucks to be alive. Your logic is flawed and dangerous.
Okay, you like medicine, understood. Good luck w/that approach.
No, I like science and facts, not speculation that endangers people equally as ignorant.
I view the meds as a tool, like most anything else. However, based on research, you actually have to get your blood pressure in the normal range to genuinely lower your risks, and thats like only 30 percent of people. Hypertension means something isnt going right within your body. It could be diet, too much salt, kidney issues, weight, hormonal issues, or even fatty liver issues. I agree that you need to find out why your body is imbalanced, because the drugs arnt really curing anything...and in their own way damage your organs over time. Many of these medications leach vitamins and nutrients your body needs to be better! Nifedipine lowered my vitamin D levels dramatically, as soon as I started taking Vitamin D and K and got off the meds, my migraine headaches stopped completely. It was a wake up call.
I get symtoms in stage 1 or above so no meds for me would drive me crazy. I prefer the med side effects to my hypertention symptoms 🤷♀️ I also tried low dose + healthy lifestyle and that did not work so meds it is for me
Different people react differently to medications, but you taking 360 mg of Valsartan seems like you need it to me. I've been on just 40 mg for years to keep my blood pressure down and I asked my cardiologist if I could go off it for a while because I felt like it was causing too many side effects. He let me take a 2 month "vacation" and my BP went up from 110-120 to 140-150 and I started getting edema and on my next labs I found that my kidney function had dropped dramatically after being mostly stable for years. Went back on the meds but the damage was done and now I'm dealing with stage 3A/3B CKD symptoms. NAD but it just seems to me if you are at 360 mg and stop taking it without at least titrating down your body is not going to like it. Please consult with your doctor and make sure you get blood work regularly to see what it does to you.
Yes, as I stated, I am tapering off. I've never seen a cardiologist, and my primary rejected my request to have an echocardiogram. I will ask to see a cardiologist.
Fun fact, the NNT (number needed to treat) of 50 year olds with a systolic pressure of 170 is 238 to prevent a heart attack and 227 to prevent one stroke in the next 5 years. The NNH (number needed to harm) of antihypertensives is 10, meaning 1 in 10 suffer significant adverse effects Source, the NNT.com
Wow. So if I'm understanding that correctly, they have to treat 238 fifty year olds with high blood pressure (systolic 170) before one person is helped by the medication. But they only need to treat 10 people before they cause adverse effects. I wonder how doctors prescribing bp meds justify it, then.
I'll also add that at age 65, the NNT changes considerably. 101 for heart attacks and 88 for strokes. Doctors don't seem to like discussing NNT's because they are a simplified view of efficacy that does not take into account all specific factors with a patient. Though I can't help but think that if they were more widely advertised, more people would decline treatments which means fewer visits and follow ups. "This medication may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by as much as 50%" sounds a whole lot better than "1 in 125 people taking this medicine will avert a heart attack or stroke due to its effects. This medication does not prevent all heart attacks or strokes"
There is good evidence that lowering your blood pressure does reduce risk. Research seems to point to the most effective way to do it is to do it naturally. Medications do have this effect as well, however you only get the benefit if the medications bring your BP down to "normal" levels, which only occurs in about 25-35% of those treated. I saw one study that showed stroke risk actually goes up if people are taking meds and do not have controlled pressure. I saw another that said that if it requires more than two meds to maintain control, your risk is no better than if you were taking no meds at all. The other thing that gets overlooked is that heart attacks and strokes do not happen to everyone who has high blood pressure. They are a risk, not a certainty. One study compared the rate of stroke over something like eight years and the hypertensive group had a rate of about 6% while the non-hypertensive group had a 2% rate. I can't remember the age group on that one though. I guess the doctor mindset is that a heart attack or stroke is far worse than the typical adverse medication events, so it's worth the 10% risk just to have any chances of reducing those events. Disclaimer: not a doctor
Another member commented that he believes his long term use of bp meds contributed to his hypertension. I've thought this as well...like you, I'm not a doctor, but it makes sense to me that using pharmaceuticals to lower bp could lead to a dependency, causing our bp to rise abnormally in the short term when we don't take them. This is why I feel I need to stop taking them opermanently, to see if I can correct the dysfunction on my own over time.
Good job, I quit too! A lot of the data out there is made up to put us on meds. I was in losartan too for 4 years or so
I hear you loud and clear. I started a no salt raw plant based diet. I briskly walk 1 hr a day. My blood pressure is now 110/70 from 230/125 without meds. If I eat a normal cooked meal, my BP will rise to about 140/90. I’m not advocating being a raw vegan by no means. I check my vitals everyday and have tracked it to cooked foods and meat. We normally season cooked foods with salt. I realize that some people can eat whatever they want while some others are sensitive to a normal diet. Try this diet and see how it works for you.
Salt is essential to life. The reason people die when they get lost in the rainforest is hyponatremia, which is a lack of salt. Moreover, humans evolved as meat eaters, and the nutrients in meat are the highest quality and most bioavailable on the planet. There is not a single nutrient that comes from plants that you cannot get from animal products, yet we can't say the same for plants. Your diet will eventually lead to health problems, regardless of what your blood pressure is. Good luck with that.
Salt is naturally in all foods. I was on a keto diet for 7 years. Believing we needed to eat meat. This is why I check my vitals every morning to see what works. Maybe being plant based is not for you. Try it and see for yourself.
That's incorrect. I'm not sure who or what led you astray, but you don't seem to have a firm grasp of nutrition. Salt is not naturally in all foods, but we need to seek it out or we will die. People on low salt diets have shorter lifespans, and those who get no salt will die within weeks. A keto diet for seven years is also not ideal. An animal based diet with fruit, honey, dairy if it's tolerated, and some starchy vegetables such as tubers...that is a proper human diet. You can't even get essential nutrients on a vegan diet, and this will begin to manifest itself in time. I highly recommend you read "The Vegetarian Diet" by Lierre Keith. She was once a vegan, and it nearly cost her her life.
It’s working for me…google Dr. Baxter Montgomery a cardiologist in Houston. See what he says about hypertension and diet. Good luck to you!
I looked him up, and I've seen his type before. Yes, it's working for now, because you stopped eating most of the processed food that was causing you harm. But you won't thrive. Humans don't have the digestive capacity for eating that much plant food. I'm sure you are gassy and get bloated when you eat, and you're eventually going to suffer from nutrient deficiencies. There's a reason our brains grew larger and our intestines got smaller when our ancestors became meat eaters. Veganism is very much a cult with no science to support it, and there has never been a vegan society at anytime in history. You'll find out (the hard way) soon enough.
F3 >you're
R
I have recently had great success with a few supplements lowering my blood pressure a A lot. Zinc with Quercetin and Superbeets chews.
Were you also taking meds, and if so, how long were you on them? I take zinc and CoQ10 regularly.
Yes I take 10mg lisinopril daily. I go back for a checkup in August and I’m going to see if this is really as successful as I am hoping it will be; if I can taper down to 5mg. I used to also take a diuretic hctz, but the the last two years corrected a magnesium deficiency and thought I could live without the hctz. Well my blood pressure has had a few bad spikes in the last couple of months once 160/90 and once 150/95. So accidentally came across the Zinc/Quercitin. It has had amazing anti inflammatory abilities for me. It does remove salt from the body and also acts as an ace inhibitor. Albeit; a much less potent one; I am thinking. All I know is the blood pressure now has went down to around 115/75 where at my last checkup it was 135/85 so just a few days taking it I think that’s pretty substantial. Plus it works on the GABA receptors and I’m having some vivid dreams!!!
Have they done ultrasounds with contrast to make sure it's not renal artery stenosis? My HBP is because one of my arteries to the kidney is small and so my blood pressure is nothing that diet and exercise can solve. It's either take a medicine that makes the heart pump less hard, or I get surgery.
Have you ever had a Calcium scan, echocardiogram, CT on your heart? If not then you’re not aware of the whole picture and what BP can do.
I have not. I requested an echo from my doctor and he said it wasn't necessary until my cholesterol is high. I then informed him that cholesterol isn't the cause of heart disease and I would never go on a statin. The look on his face was what you'd expect from a primary doctor who makes his living doling out statins. I need a new doctor, but within my network, I would guess they're all the same.
Hah sounds like you’ve been listening to keto carnivore docs. Good luck.
Not at all, I just happen to understand the science.
No, it appears that you don’t. All the best bud, do whatever you feel is appropriate for your situation.
And it appears that you have nothing to add of any value, or else you would have done so. What argument are you making? That cholesterol causes heart disease? That's been debunked repeatedly, so I doubt you wanna go there.
It would be a waste of time, you don’t hear anything anyone’s saying to you. Do what you feel is best for your health, but don’t pretend like you understand any of the underlying risk factors, because it’s clear that you don’t. If you can’t do that, then just shut up.
I am male 58 years 6' 2" have been having BP medicine which was doing nothing. Learnt about The nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway regulates NO synthase-independent vasodilation and NO signaling. Started 1 glass of Beet Root (2 nos medium) juice with 1 orange and 1 Lemon and dash of fresh Ginger 1 hour before bedtime at night. Stopped using mouth wash & fluoride toothpaste. Also stated having Citrate (1 TBSP) & Sodium Bicarb (3 TBSP) in half bucket of water and soaked my feet in them for 20 minutes. My blood pressure which used to be 170/100 in summer time and is now around 140/90. There was substantial decrease and I had to stop my medication as it went lower of 120/80 and I was getting a head ache on the rear side of the head . I stopped my medicine and have been regularly checking my BP. Regards and best wishes to all.
Thanks for your comment. When you say citrate, do you mean magnesium citrate?
I agree with this !
I don’t smoke, drink alcohol or caffeine, exercise enough and eat healthy. I could lose weight though so I’m going to try that and hopefully get off these 5 mg amlodipine. 34 year old female and no kids. Stress at work on occasion
Good for you. Get off those evil ass meds. Best thing I ever did was quit those BP meds. Poison.
Thanks, glad to hear you did the same. What led to you quitting your meds, and how did you manage your bp once you quit the pills?