Blood pressure

[DanielleLeigh]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this question or not but I will give it a shot. My husband has high blood pressure and he is also a truck driver. In order to pass his DOT physical TOMORROW he has to get his blood pressure down. Does anyone know of anything that he can do before his appointment to help maybe get his pressure under where it is suppose to be? He is running about 149/93 and it has to be under 142/90 or something along those lines.....any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Danielle

[Flycaster305]

I'd agree with all the above, including drinking lots of fluid tonight.  Staying away from salt is essential, it will raise the blood pressure.  I'd restrict water or any beverage, certainly coffee several hours before the test.  When in physical rehab after heart attacks, the blood pressure drugs I take would lower my blood pressure so far that I was encouraged to drink water to raise it.

That being said, high blood pressure is an absolute guarantee of early heart trouble, and a looking at the long term, he needs to modify his diet, get exercise, etc.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Mark is right on every account.  As for how to lower it by tomorrow, without medication, he has to be as relaxed as he possibly can be for 30m before and as the BP cuff is on him and not to have anything with salt in it for a couple hours before hand.  Can't think of anything else for such a short notice.

[DanielleLeigh]

its so funny because all of the things you just mentioned NOT to do my husband IS doing. He loves the Ramen noodle soups, which are LOADED with salt, he drinks Code Red Mountain Dew (hardly EVER drinks water) and barely does any exercise. And he is not the kind of guy that can just sit down and rest either. He has to be doing something at all times. On a good note though, he does not drink.....

Thanks for the input. I will pass it along to him when he gets home from work.

Danielle

[MarkDuane]

Definitely stay tight with your doctor on the blood pressure issue - over a long period of time is can cause damage to the arteries, plus can be an indication of potential problems inside like heart decease. Nothing to mess with.

I am not a doctor, but to answer your question you can try a salt-less diet for a while (adding no salt and eating foods very low in salt), drink plenty of water, avoid soda and alcohol, get lot's of rest, and get out and walk a lot.