HBP (out of control)

[Shae1961]

Recently I've been having episodes of spiking blood pressure, makes my ears ring, I get a headache (sometimes burning, sometimes at back of skull), etc.  Went to GP, did 24 hr urine, CT scan of head, carotid doppler, renal scan all negative.  She sent me to my cardio, bp in office was 150/100.  Said that since all the biggies were negative he felt a lift style change was in order.  I take Avalide 150/12.5 and Atenolol 50 mg, am/pm for Avalide and he did up my Atenolol to twice a day.  He wants me to walk 30 mins a day and lose 25 lbs in 6 mos.  However, my head aches the minute I more my ears ring to.  He seems to think they are not connected.  I'm really, really terrified!  Oh and I had a heart cath in Oct 2008 all okay, but he did mention an S4 but said it would go away when the pressure comes down.  He said, "this will pass" and I asked him "before I do", he didn't seem concerned.  He is one of the best in NYS.  Can anybody give me some reassurance?  I so worried and that's probably not helping anything for sure.

[NTB]

> The ringing in your ears sounds more like an ear problem.

a thiazide can also cause the ear ringing. Maybe Shae just responds more than usual to the thiazide she's getting.

Yet, the diuretic is not controlling the BP in her case, so maybe she should ask if she can stop taking it - to get the irbesartan in Avilide alone, with the HCTZ. That's what I'd do.

Shae, do you eat lots of salt? If not, the HCTZ seems of no benefit to you and is possibly the thing that's causing the problems.

(And btw, you do need extra potassium when on a thiazide diuretic.)

[Encephalomalcia]

My husband's BP was 152/100, but it stays down now with HCTZ which is a water pill that brings blood pressure down.  His doctor wasn't too overly concerned about the blood pressure, but said that he would not want to see it high for 15 years because it can wear out the heart muscle.  Are you taking your blood pressure at home three times a day, morning, noon, and night and recording it?  That would be a good idea and then you can take it with you to the doctor to show.  My husband takes his three times in a row in the morning, three times in a row in the evening.  Sometimes it is still high, but other times it is almost normal.  The ringing in your ears sounds more like an ear problem.  Have your ears checked by the doctor and a hearing test done.  

[NTB]

Hi, Shae. Are you drinking enough water? If not, that might be causing your headaches, since you are taking a diuretic (which is in the Avilide).

It would be a simple matter to force yourself to drink water over the next two days to see if the headache situation improves. Please reply if you try that, and say how it worked out.

Whenever headache is mentioned with hypertension, I think the person might need magnesium. Magnesium is hard to get in the diet, and the amount and type that's in a multivitamin doesn't do much good. I'd recently had a headache for three weeks but it disappeared when I took magnesium.

But overall, weight loss is the single best thing you can do. I'd think that if most people lose enough weight, they can reduce or even eliminate prescription medicines for high BP.