[Pursegrrl]

Well happy freakin' new year! OK I've now got a new years resolution even though I didn't intend to...lower the BP already!

For so long my BP was a healthy 112/80. In recent years it's crept up (Dad has had it so not too surprising as I hear it's heriditary).

Since I've had it checked by my dr + my own monitoring, I can't get it under 135/90 for the life of me. That's right about in hypertension (high BP), stage 1. I guess I can't resolve the fact my resting heart rate is 64 which is pretty good but BP is high?

So, I'm now on a low dose of Lisinopril for the next month or so to see if that helps. I hear it can cause drowsiness or dizziness so to be on the safe side I'm taking it at night before I go to bed (rather than in a.m. with my vitamins), as I can't afford to be off kilter in the slightest at my new job.

Any other tips besides cutting back on salt and dropping a few pounds? I admittedly could and should do both...showing my cards here...I'm 5' 4 1/2" and 165 lbs. Sounds huge perhaps? For some reason I'm no string bean but I am a size 8/10 still at this weight believe it or not. I guess I'm just pretty solid (you can see me kinda in the avatar). Believe me this is not a post to say "oh you look great, don't lose weight." I don't need that b/c I do want to get back to a better weight even though I FEEL great and energetic. But admittedly I have packed on about 20 lbs in the last two years.

Any other advice here on BP would be most humbly welcome. TIA!

[girliceclimber]

Your plan sounds great--I think the 2 most effective ways to lower BP is reduce salt in diet and lose weight. If you and your doc agree that you can stand to lose a few pounds, then I definitely say go for it. You'll feel even better and your BP will go down. The only other advice I can think of is to take meds regularly and on time, and to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink.
Good luck, you sound like you're on the right track!

[Speedy]

You look good in your avatar, but only you know how much weight you feel you have that you don't need. But weight isn't all of it. My Mom was your hieght but weighed 250 pounds. And she never had high blood pressure.

Your salt intake is probably the problem. Lite and No Salt are great alternatives if you must salt something. And steer away from foods that are already salted. You'd be shocked at how much salt is in everyday foods.

It's okay to take your BP meds at night. I do.

Good luck. Also, try not to stress yourself out, it only raises it more.

[LVCRAZED]

I just got back from the walk-in after hrs. care & was seen for high BP. I was messing around trying on some new nail polish...dh says he feels like he's having a head-rush...not feeling too good. I tell him to take his BP. (we have a lil portable machine my dad gave me to use).

He takes his and is fine. I'm like...Maybe I should ck mine. (High BP runs in my family). It's been a tad high a few times (in the past) at the Dr. office, 132/89. But nothing major.

So, then mine says: 143/95....I freak out and take it a 2nd time: 174/99, and again 178/99 each time going up more n' more. I rest some then take it again 153/95, and one last time: 177/115

I think it got so high cuz when I saw the first set of numbers...I was like OMG!!!!!!!! So then that worked me up for the following sets of high readings. I need to try to remain calm and not work myself up so much. Ughhh..

So, we take off to the aftercare place, and I see the Dr. The nurse takes my BP and it's 160/88. (which made me feel somewhat better after seeing the previous high readings. I mean it was still high but at least it came down..) I gotta try and CHILL, I tend to stress out alot. :-( She also says I had a lil temp.

The Dr. comes in and ck's my heart, pulse, has me follow this lil light with my eyes, asks if I have had any blurriness, headaches. Then tells me to keep a record of my BP readings for a wk and to show it to my Dr. He said if the 1st number gets to 200 or over to see my dr. sooner than a wk. OR if the second number is higher than 115 and doesn't go down after resting for a half hr. and remains that way for a few days to see my Dr. sooner. He was saying lots of time patients have a high BP when at the Dr's office then go home and it drops. He said he didn't recommend meds just yet, to wait and record how I am at home....keep an eye on it for a wk. Also to watch my salt. No more than 2 grams. To ck labels for hidden salt in canned foods, etc.

When I got home I took my BP again and it was 126/83. Whew! Much better!

So, I gotta keep my eye on the salt, and keep a diary of my BP readings. He said to do it twice a day 12 hrs. in between (am/pm). Also gonna make an appt. with my Dr. in a wk to show her my BP diary. See what she says and what she thinks we should do depending on what my BP is over the next 7 days. (If for whatever reason my BP readings are too high, then I'll see her sooner!!)

Good Luck to the OP on your BP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[x joie]

I don't really have advice but I do wish you good luck in lowering your blood pressure! High blood pressure runs in my family so this is another wake up call for me that I should start caring about these things. My grandfather lowered his blood pressure by lowering salt intake (and actually changing his diet drastically, eating loads of veggies and fruits as opposed to meat/rice) and walking for an hour a day.

[Tammy518]

I've got high blood pressure too. Mine has been very resistant to meds, but is finally leveling out. I've been on Verapamil for a long time. That wasn't working so the doc added a water pill. That still didn't work, so she added a small dose of lisinopril every day and that's finally done the trick. My cholesterol is high too even though I eat fairly healthy. Heart disease runs in my family, so I guess I'm doomed!

I'm like you, a bit overweight for my height, but not terribly so. My doctor keeps saying even losing 20 pounds will help, so I'm working on it and I've lost about ten so far. I've never been big on salt; I cook with it but rarely salt at the table. So if you use a lot of salt, try to cut back on that. The other thing I've done is all but cut caffeine out since that can raise your BP. I mainly drink water all day, and I drink maybe one or two cups of half caff coffee in the mornings. I don't drink a lot of soda, but I did switch to caffeine-free Coke.

[LVCRAZED]

^Ya, my Dr. told me to quit caffiene early last yr. which I did. I've drank decaf coffee ever since.

I stopped drinking cokes then also. (which I only drank 1x a wk). Started only having sprite/7up which are caffiene free (1x a wk) when we go out to eat. Lately, over the last 5 mons. I've ordered a lemonade, instead of the sprite/7up. We don't buy coke...only water, apple juice, sunny D, milk. So, I've stayed away from caffiene as much as possible.

There has been a few times I've gone to peoples houses and had a coke. But that's rare. Yesterday though....I had some coke we had bought for some company we had a few days ago that was left over. Ugh...maybe that made me jittery and led to the high BP?? Who knows? Ok, no more of that!

[Pursegrrl]

Wow, thanks for all your posts and stories, ladies! It does help to know I'm not alone and that just b/c other things are healthy (my resting heart rate around 64 and my cholesterol 204...just a teeny high b/c GOOD cholesterol is REALLY good), doesn't mean that other things can't get out of whack.

I dropped 35 lbs about 4 years ago (over 6 months) by walking, including hills, 5 miles a day, every day. Admittedly 20 of those lbs are back...grrr...

OK, time to check the salt intake for starters. And I also hear to watch booze intake too. I used to have a glass of wine or two after work every night but recently switched to no alcohol during the M-F workweek. Cutting out caffeine? Well, I'll try one thing at a time here, LOL.

One final note: today 1/04 after 2 days on this I had to go to my gyno for a follow up exam. BP was....drum roll...123/75!! And that's with being in a dr office awaiting a not so fun gyno procedure! So, lisinopril is working already!

Cheers!

[Irishgal]

Get more ice time!

[Pursegrrl]

^^ here here, Irish!! I'm back to only two nights hockey a week...Sunday night games and a late Wednesday night team practice. As you know I used to be on the ice 3-4 nights a week a few years ago...now it's either ice or treadmill...

Cheers!

[Label Addict]

BP systolic over 140 or diastolic over 90 is classed as stage 1 BP it's not too bad it can be easly fixed with dietry changes

the first reading (120 - 140) is very easily altered by stress i.e if your nervous about test

[LVCRAZED]

I did a search and found this interesting article on High BP and exercise. Thought I'd share...

-----------------------------

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hig...essure/HI00024



High blood pressure and exercise: Why activity is key
High blood pressure and exercise are closely related. Learn how small changes in your daily routine can make a big difference.

The risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) increases with age. And like it or not, you get older every day. But you don't need to sit back and wait for high blood pressure to strike. Get moving! Regular exercise can help prevent high blood pressure, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. And if your blood pressure is already high, exercise can help you control it.

How exercise helps
How are high blood pressure and exercise connected? Regular physical activity makes your heart stronger. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort. And the less your heart has to work, the less force, or pressure, that's exerted on your arteries.

Becoming more active can lower your blood pressure by an average of 10 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). That's the same effect as some blood pressure medications. For some people, it's enough to reduce the need for blood pressure medication.

If your blood pressure is at a desirable level — less than 120/80 mm Hg — exercise can keep it from rising as you age. And there's more. Regular exercise also helps you maintain a healthy weight, another important way to control blood pressure.

The caveat? You need to keep it up. It takes about one to three months for regular exercise to have a stabilizing effect on blood pressure. The benefits last only as long as you continue to exercise.

What counts?
Flexibility and strengthening exercises are an important part of an overall fitness plan, but it takes aerobic activity to control high blood pressure. And you don't need to spend hours in the gym every day to benefit. Simply adding moderate physical activities to your daily routine will help.

Any physical activity that increases your heart and breathing rates is considered aerobic. Mowing the lawn, raking leaves or scrubbing the floor counts — as long as it takes effort. Other common forms of aerobic activity include climbing stairs, walking, jogging, bicycling and swimming.

Aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week. If you can't set aside that much time at once, remember that shorter bursts of activity count, too.

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(re: to where I bolded the article): I started thinking...WAIT! I've been exercising regularly since July 07 and have been cking my BP here and there and it has been good.

Here are a few readings: July--115/70, 119/86.....Sept--120/79....Dec 7th--117/76....all good BP readings. Nothing like its been the last few days.

Well, the last few wks. since my kids have been on Xmas Vacation I've taken some days off from my regular exercise schedule. Which is....50 mins on my elliptical machine. So...according to the article "the benefits last as long as you continue to exercise." Hmm...

Maybe that's why I've kept my BP under control all the exercise I had been doing. I sorta took a break with Xmas and all. I'm going to start again on Mon. and continue logging my BP readings to show to the Dr. when I see her in a few wks. and also see if it goes down with the exercising.

[stacmck]

Are you on birth control pills? Birth control pills that contain estrogen can raise your BP as well.

But the 123/75 is great!

[Zophie]

My dad has high bp, and while he has gained some weight in recent years, he didn't have extra pounds when he first started having troubles with his bp. He used to be a runner. He just I guess has high bp and has to take meds.

Be careful if you are on bp meds that might be a diurhetic that you don't over exhert yourself sweat a lot and drink a lot all together. My dad was taking his meds and running in the heat and then went and drank beer while sitting in a hot jacuzzi cranked up all the way for a long, long time, much longer than recommended. The next day his sodium level dropped and he almost died. So be very careful about that if you are taking those meds.

I take bp meds, though not for bp. I have hormone problems and my meds happen to be bp meds (spironolatone.) They do make me a little dizzy sometimes and at first I got some headaches from them, but I don't even notice it now. I just have to be sure to drink a lot of water and of course I pee a lot.

[Pursegrrl]

Originally Posted by stacmck

Are you on birth control pills? Birth control pills that contain estrogen can raise your BP as well.

But the 123/75 is great!

I am on very low dose BC. My primary doc says this is no problem (she knew about potentially high BP when prescribing my BC) but my gyno says be careful, this could put you at risk of stroke.

I have not been on BC for years up until just about 6 weeks ago...so my BP was already high even before starting BC.

I will just keep a close eye on everything and will be following up with my primary doc next month to check on everything...

Thanks for all your support and good wishes!