Blood pressure

ariscus99 · June 12, 2008

So my doc has had me on blood pressure medicine for the last two months, and it hasn't helped at all, my bp has hovered right around 135/95 plus or minus 10. I went back in for another checkup today and he said give it another 3 or 4 MONTHS. I was wondering what kind of BP you all had prior to your surgery and what you used to bring it down? I've already waited 6 months I really dont want to wait another 3 or 4 more. I've already had all my other pre op tests done and they were all more then satisfactory.

brown bear · June 12, 2008

I had the same problem until I tried skipping the coffee. My blood pressure a couple of days ago (2 weeks pre-op) was 112/73! From 160/90 before meds and 140/80 after meds but while still drinking coffee. I knew caffeine was a factor but I never knew it made such a huge difference.

ariscus99 · June 12, 2008

How low did you get it before they approved surgery? This is my final road block and it is the biggest so far.

Lunabeane · June 12, 2008

I have high blood pressure and was not denied surgery. I take 160mg of Diovan and 12.5mg of hydrochlorothiazide daily to keep my blood pressure under control. On a good day my BP is 135/72 but it often goes higher. I agree about the consumption of caffiene...mine is much higher on days that I drink more than 2 cups of coffee. I would inquire about different blood pressure meds...as the first script that I had (can't remember what it was) wasn't nearly as effective as the Diovan. Are you exercising? Physical activity often decreases blood pressure. In addition to exercise you might want to decrease the amount of sodium that you are taking in and take note of any over the counter medications that you are taking.

Causes of High Blood Pressure

In most cases of high blood pressure, the American Heart Association says there is no one identifiable cause. This kind of high blood pressure is called primary hypertension or essential hypertension. It is usually a combination of factors, such as:

Weight. The greater your body mass, the more pressure there is on your artery walls. That's because more blood is produced to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues in your body.
Activity level. Lack of physical activity tends to increase heart rate, which forces your heart to work harder with each contraction.
Tobacco use. Chemicals in cigarettes and tobacco can damage artery walls.
Sodium intake. Excessive sodium in the diet can result in Fluid retention and high blood pressure, especially in people sensitive to sodium.
Potassium intake. Low potassium can result in elevated sodium in cells, because the two balance one another.
Stress. Stress can raise blood pressure.
Alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol intake can, over time, increase the risk of heart disease.
Age. The risk of high blood pressure increases as you get older.
Family history. High blood pressure often runs in families.

Natural Remedies for High Blood Pressure

Lifestyle changes and natural remedies may help to control high blood pressure, but your doctor may also recommend medication to lower high blood pressure. It is important to work with your doctor, because untreated high blood pressure may damage organs in the body and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, brain hemorrhage, kidney disease, and vision loss. See a drawing of a hypertensive heart.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

There is some evidence that the supplement coq10 may help to reduce high blood pressure.

A 12 week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 83 people with systolic hypertension examined the effect of coq10 supplements (60 mg twice daily). After the 12 weeks, there was a mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of 17.8 mm Hg in the Coq10-treated group.

Another study conducted at the University of Western Australia looked at the effect of CoQ10 on blood pressure and glycemic control in 74 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 100mg CoQ10 twice daily, 200mg of the drug fenfibrate, both, or neither for 12 weeks.

CoQ10 significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure(mean reduction 6.1 mm Hg and 2.9 mm Hg respectively). There was also a reduction in HbA1C, a marker for long-term glycemic control.

To learn more about CoQ10, read the Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) fact sheet.

Garlic

In a meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials of garlic supplements, three trials showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and four in diastolic blood pressure. Researchers concluded that garlic powder supplement may be of clinical use in patients with mild high blood pressure.

Garlic supplements should only be used under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner. Garlic can thin the blood (reduce the ability of blood to clot) similar to aspirin. Garlic may interact with many drugs and supplements such as the prescription "blood-thinners" drugs such as Coumadin (warfarin) or Trental (pentoxifylline), aspirin, Vitamin E, gingko. It is usually recommended that people taking garlic stop in the weeks before and after any type of surgery.

To learn more about garlic, go to the articles about garlic.

Hawthorn

The herb hawthorn is often used by traditional herbal practitioners for high blood pressure.

In a randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers in Reading, UK, 79 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomized to receive either 1200 mg of hawthorn extract a day or placebo for 16 weeks. Medication for high blood pressure was used by 71% of the patients.

At the end of the 16 weeks, patients taking the hawthorn supplement had a significant reduction in mean diastolic blood pressure (2.6 mm Hg). No herb-drug interactions were reported.

Fish oil

Preliminary studies suggest that fish oil may have a modest effect on high blood pressure. Although fish oil supplements often contain both DHA (docohexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), there is some evidence that DHA is the ingredient that lowers high blood pressure. Learn more about fish oil.

Folic acid

Folate is a B Vitamin necessary for formation of red blood cells. It may help to lower high blood pressure in some people, possibly by reducing elevated homocysteine levels.

One small study of 24 cigarette smokers found that four weeks of folic acid supplementation significantly lowered blood pressure. Learn more about folic acid.

juliegeraci · June 12, 2008

My blood pressure is 110/90

jkhawk8 · June 13, 2008

My blood pressure was around 145/85 to 150/85 fairly consistently before my surgery. Two weeks after, and every checkup since, it's been between 112/60 to 122/70. I don't recall having a big issue about it before surgery. I wasn't put on any medication prior to surgery to bring it down.

Are there other cardiology issues your doctor has concerning you?

Jan

ariscus99 · June 16, 2008

Are there other cardiology issues your doctor has concerning you?

No thats one of the more annoying things; I'm a firefighter so I'm actually in halfway decent shape and I'm pretty tall at 6'5" so my 350#'s isn't as taxing on my body as it is on some, and every Dr. I've been to so far has told me I'm in the best shape of just about any candidate they've seen. So this one doc holding everything up is getting old, I'm tempted to go to a different doc. I had someone tell me that this particular dr specializes in hypertension and that could be reason he is being so protective about it, I dont know what to do, he is very adamit about keeping me on this one medication and thats it, I asked him to prescribe me something different but he wont. Any ideas, or anyone know a good doc in the inland empire that wont be this way?

lessofme · June 17, 2008

My BP's been high for over 10 years now, was banded 15 months ago with BP around 180/88 (I take 2 meds currently)...but it's dropped nicely since loosing almost 50 lbs. It's now around 135/75. I had to provide my BP history, so they knew the high BP was not a new development, maybe that's the difference. No one was too concerned though, good thing!