High Blood Pressure???

Anyone have any experience with solutions with high blood pressure if it runs in your family??
During a routine check up I was told that my pressure was 165 over 127!!!
I eat pretty good and never touch fried foods much. I exercise weekly and do not smoke nor drink. I never drink coffee nor carbonated drinks however I am always drinking sweet tea (it is a southern thing)Anyone who has seen me will say I am in excellent shape with good muscle tone yet my pressure is acting crazy lately. I do know that my work may have some effect after almost 9 years of stress however is it that much of a factor?
High pressure runs in my family however usually shows up later in life for most of my family....I am 36 yrs old.
The doctor told me that it is amazing that I can run and exercise as I do with this high of a reading and also said that if I was not in such good physical shape otherwise I would most likely have been dead by now.
I am now taking a light dose of medication and have to return to the doc in a few weeks for an evaluation. He said it should be easy to control and did appear to be a family gene or hereditary in my case. This is the first year it has showed up for me as last time it was normal.
Does anyone here have the same problem and if so are there any concerns I should be aware of ? Maybe someone can give some good suggestions on other forms of treatment to lower this without medication. I think that I should just buy more lights to play with as this would surely relax me and lower the number by at least 20...hehe

reduce salt no caffine and exercise after ya ask dr if ya can.im on vasetec it runs in my family

I have "white coat Hypertension"

I got 160/100 when my doctor took my readings, I went home and got 120 something / 70 something.

My doctor told me to cut back on eating fried foods, salty, red meat, loose weight, exercise more and self monitoring is the key.

Geoff

The doc said I really had no immediate worry with exercising as I do this weekly anyway. I believe that the fact I do exercise and do not smoke nor drink is what has saved me thus far anyway.
I think the medication is called Cozar 50mg. and he said it was a mild dose with no side effects. He said it is what he gives to any athlete with this problem however after 4 days of taking one daily I see it changing very little.
I am not sure how much caffeine is in sweet tea as I really dont drink coffee ever so the tea would be the only real source of caffeine for me if any.
I probably do take in lots of salt however as a police officers diet is not always the best. I hardly ever eat hamburgers and opt for a Subway tuna sandwich instead. I do eat alot of meat (steaks) and cheese and dairy is also plenty for me.
I may experiment with my diet just to see if it has an effect however the doc said my blood levels were all good and my metabolism was very high with no real worries as to my food choices. I am a pretty good size guy with a six pack stomach and a body builder look so I was shocked at my readings thinking I was the picture of health. Thanks for the input Raggie and I hope all is well for you....I will keep you posted as to my results.

Geoff my readings have also had some spikes with the highest being 165 over 127 and the lowest of 135 over 70...all in the span of a day. Right now it averages about 155 over 105 as of my last reading.
My main concern is that it may effect my work and I really want to get a control on this now so as to not worry later. It began as a headache and nose bleeds with me thinking it was simply sinus trouble. I always took some form of sinus medication (Sudafed) over the counter and forgot about it. I now see my symptoms were pressure all along. Now all of my co-workers are also getting checked and some have the same problems.
I guess if it does run in my family medication may be the only option.

Try daily exercise. My cousin, who is thin and in her 30s, resolved high BP by walking up and down her basement steps everyday for exercise. Everyone is different, though. Good luck.

Yea, I'm with Geoff, you've got a bad case of white-coat-itus Do you measure it at home?

There are some problems that can cause high blood pressure in otherwise healthy feeling people, so if your blood pressure turns out to be regularly high like that and is not easily controlled with the drugs (or if you end up needing to take a lot more of the drugs than they originally thought to get it down) it may be due to kidney trouble or something else and they should really run some further blood tests.

Your kidneys do a lot of blood pressure regulation actually, they know how much blood they are receiving and if they aren't getting what they think is enough then they send out signals to increase the blood pressure. Sometimes this is due to a hardening or a blockage of the kidney arteries, but that would also be unusual in someone your age, but it can also happen for no apparent reason. If something like that is the cause then it wont respond well to the regular drugs. I'm sure there are other things that can cause it too. So if you dont get it under control easily with the drugs, make sure to follow up!

try Tai Chi. Its' soft gentle motions belie the serious exercise involved. What is more important here is the mental involvement in making your postures and movements as relaxed (no tension - as opposed to hyperTENSION) as possible.

I hope your bp improves.

edited

Check out any herbal things you may consume for any unintended side effects... My father used to drink (IIRC) Licorice tea to relax, and it turned out that it increases blood pressure.

-Bill

Sorry to hear of your new health problems.

The first thing to is to stop trying to "figure out" what caused it, if
it is an inherited problem.
I spent alot of time beating myself up trying to determine what I did
wrong to "give" me diabetes. It wasn't until my mother, father, and
sister were diagnosed that I realized it was genetic and not my fault.

The second thing is to follow your Dr's treatment without cheating on your
medication.
My wife's uncle thought he could skip his meds by taking a bunch of
homeopathic treatments. He did this without consulting his doctor and
dropped dead this last Christmas.
So, follow you doctor's instruction and avoid further complications.

Take care

I purchased an FDA approved device called a "respirate" to lower my blood pressure. It's a small CD size device with headphones that guides you through breathing exercises that in turn reduces your stress/blood pressure level. My initial BP at the Dr.'s office was 180/100 (I have issues with Dr.'s so it's always high at the office). After using the non-drug respirate for 3 months my pressure is now down to about 127/78. You may not completely get off of medication but the respirate could lower your dosage significantly. The only drawback to the respirate is the price - about $300. I love mine and wouldn't give it up for any price. Best of luck with your BP.

In high school I was 120/60. As my chronic pain came on and went from walking to wheelchair it went up. 200/150 was the highest and at that, your head feels funny and you feel like you are in a vacuum chamber. When the lower number goes up you start to feel it, the higher number, I havent felt anything.

I was given a beta blocker and some pills to remove water from my system, week supply. I was just having some bad time in my life and the doc helped to get it under control with a short supply of medication.

Now a days, I average around 140/80 with 50 pulse. Doc said that was borderline, but not to worry considering my size. He seemed to think and led me to believe that being more active, over weight this was ok and way better than past bp readings. He said pain could be one reason it was higher in the past.

I would recommend buying a BP meter and taking it hourly, or best you can. Write it down and see if you see a pattern. Write down what you eat medication taken. Second, ask doc for medication to lower it, alpha, beta, channel blockers, ED medication, water pills. Tell him you want to try it, test it. Even thoes ED drugs help to lower your BP. One thing I was told was to avoid certain cold medicines, caffenine, diet pills or over doing it. To breath when lifting weights. When you hold your breath, that makes your BP shoot up.

Mine started going up about your age, despite regular exercise (I was a varsity soccer player in college, jogged and did other stuff after college, and my BP was marginal even then), little to no alcohol, no caffeine, no tobacco, etc, etc. I assumed that it was a combination of "white coat syndrome" and a certain amount of job related stress - I started doing high-stakes commercial litigation in my early 20s as a full-time thing.

It turns out, I just had the genes for it. I finally threw in the towel in my late 40s, and let my docs start prescribing the damned pills. Most hypertension patients end up taking at least two of them. It took my docs about a year and a half to hit the right combination. My BP now is far lower than it ever was after adolescence - low 120s over mid 60s (I still have white coat syndrome - I really hate going to docs - I have an ex-wife who is a doc, and really got to know too many of them too well as a result). And now I drink moderately (the occasional martini, scotch, fine old burgundies - one, maybe two drinks three or four days a week), I smoke the occasional cigar, etc, etc. As Dow used to advertise - I am enjoying better living through chemistry . . . .

Many men are concerned about, * ahem *, dysfunction (yes, _that_ dysfunction) as a result of taking BP meds. It has never been a problem for me, and I'm told that while this was an issue 30 or 40 years ago, the drugs have gotten much better, and have far fewer side effects. I know at least a dozen guys on BP meds, and none of them have that problem, or even a reduction in capability, if they are to be believed (and I do believe them). The only thing I have ever noticed is that if I have been relaxing (watching TV in a recliner, for example) for several hours,if I then stand up too fast, I might get a bit light-headed for a second or two. Otherwise, nothing.

The problem with BP is that it is insidious, and can cause a lot of permanent internal damage (kidney damage, retinal damage, etc) without your being aware of it, should you leave it untreated.

By all means, try the lifestyle modification thing, and if it works for you, great. But don't kid yourself about this. If you can't get your BP down that way, most ricky-tick, listen to your doctor (however hateful that may be to you), and take the damned drugs. You'll live longer. And probably better as well.

newo said:

The problem with BP is that it is insidious, and can cause a lot of permanent internal damage (kidney damage, retinal damage, etc) without your being aware of it, should you leave it untreated.

Click to expand...

Agreed, Ive met a few folks in rehab who had blood vessels rupture in their eyes filling that clear fluid with blood and making them totally blind to seeing junk floating before their eyes. Also a few with nerve damage. High BP is about as bad as high blood sugar. The bad part is if you have a blow out in your brain or stroke. You can recover but maybe lucky with little to no lost of brain fuction or loose the use of half of your body and brain.

True BP medication can give you ED, but the ED medication was actually tested to reduce BP. Some ED medication cautions about lowering your BP too much. I think Clialis is one.

Also, first week of taking a BP medication you will have a head ache, but that will go away. Likewise if you quit taking it.

Don't take Sudafed, or any other allergy/sinus/cold medication, without your doctor's approval. Very dangerous, if you have high blood pressure. There are a few which don't raise your blood pressure, and are safe. Check with your doctor first.

It may take a while to find the right blood pressure medication for you. Took me over a year, to find the correct combination, without serious side effects. I remember one that made me appear and feel, as if I were drunk. Another caused serious constipation. I MEAN SERIOUS! Yet another caused a cough which got so bad, I was bringing up blood. Just remembered there was one which shut down my kidneys. Patches don't work for me, but that may not be a problem for you. Patches didn't stay on as long as they were supposed to.

Once you find the correct medication, or combination of medications, stick with them. Don't cheat. High blood pressure has serious complications, if untreated.

oldgrandpajack

Thanks for the help on this and I am on day 4 of taking a pill called Cozaar 50 mg. for the pressure. So much of what you all are saying now makes sense to me after learning of my pressure.
I have had headaches for some time now and sometimes nose bleeds as well. I assumed it was sinus trouble and took some sinus stuff over the counter and forgot about it. I now now most of the sinus stuff was helping to raise my levels.
I have also been sleeping many hours lately however when I wake up I feel as if I have not slept at all. I know now that improper sleep will also lead to pressure problems. I have also noticed my vision to sometimes seem just a little off at times. I now know that a high enough reading will effect the small vessels in the eyes and can cause some vision trrouble.
It is so strange how sudden things can start and I am lucky I have to get regular check ups for work as I would never have known. My blood tests all showed normal with high testosterone levels and low cholesterol. I have normal organ functions and about 7 % body fat level. I foolishly assumed I would always be ok as I exercise so much and try to look the part of a healthy person.
The scary thing is that the doc said you often see some athlete drop dead suddenly and just cause you live and look healthy does not always mean you are immune from things. He said it is called the silent killer for a reason so I am taking it serious.
It does run in my family however I am considering all options to help control it. I do not mind medication if I have to take it however I just wanted to rule out all other lifestyle habits first. I wanted to make sure it was not something I was doing to make it so high.
I know see this is a very common problem for many persons of all ages and health. I think all will be well however I appreciate all the input on this topic.
The funny thing is that the doc said I most likely have forgot what it actually feels like to feel good. I have been going along daily chasing bad guys and hitting the gym as usual. I thought I did feel ok however he said I would be shocked at the difference if I could get the numbers to about 120 over 70. I am looking forward to trying this medication and will keep you all posted as to the results....Thanks again

Just remembered another medication you want to avoid.

Eye drops, that make the red go away. They have a vaso-constrictor (sp?) in them, and will also raise your blood pressure.

oldgrandpajack

"I have also been sleeping many hours lately however when I wake up I feel as if I have not slept at all. I know now that improper sleep will also lead to pressure problems."

Do you snore enough to wake others or even yourself? Since you are in such good shape it is less likely that you have sleep apnea but it does happen to the physically fit. A sleep study would likely find what ever the problem is.

"The funny thing is that the doc said I most likely have forgot what it actually feels like to feel good."

This is, from what I understand, common especially with tough minded people that drive hard to the paint everyday. Unless I feel really bad, I get up and get after it. The first time I woke up with good BP and good sleep I felt like doing cart wheels to work.

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- Jeff

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