blood pressure

[tschock]

To make a long story short...
I have been having palpitations etc for a few months now. Have been to ER because I fainted, chest pains, etc.
Holter monitor on Oct 3rd.
Went to doctor's today to find out the results...they STILL haven't sent him anything!
He DID notice that my blood pressure is a wee bit too high, but doesn't want to give me meds until the heart results are back...he says mid November for sure...ugh.
Of course, all of this is causing anxiety...the not knowing thing.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to lower blood pressure naturally?
Herbs? Diets? That sort of thing.
The only thing he told me was to avoid coffee and stress...uh huh...coffee I can do, but avoid stress? How the heck do you do that?

[vrao]

tsshock,

Above comments are valid. I would like to add one more. Have you tried slow breathing execrise. It is good for heart as well as good to releave the stress. If you cannot do this I would suggest buying the hypnosis cd and play it before you go sleep. This will calm your mind and body.

Since you are having toddler , please do take extra care with any sudden lifts.

All the best.

Vidhya

[tschock]

I'm thinking he didn't mention exercise because I have a toddler...and we all know how busy they can be...and mine is VERY busy. lol

I guess I'll have to look this stuff up huh? Didn't know it caused so many problems.
Been feeling MUCH better since giving up coffee and other caffeine related items...never liked chocolate much anyway. lol

Thanks so much erijon!
As always, your answers are much appreciated.

[erijon]

If he didn't mention exercise, it could be because they  feel it wasn't a good idea right now, you should check with them.

High BP can cause damage to arteries and other organs like the kidneys and eyes. Also, it can lead to stroke. It needs to be taken seriously. Fortunately, it is usually easy to control with meds.

[tschock]

He never mentioned anything about exercise...I told him that up until about 2 months ago, I used to take my two year old for a stroller ride around town once a day. That's about 5 miles a day. Then I started getting short of breath. Then, one day, about a month and a half ago, I was walking home and I saw red, started getting chest pains, worse palpitations, dizzy, nausea, anxious, and then fainted.
Went to a walk in clinic, saw the doctor there, told him what happened, told him that I had been getting palpitations for the past 2-3 months...he checked my blood pressure, listened to my heart, told me that he could feel and hear something going on, said my bp was high, wrote me a note and told me to go straight to the hospital. He asked if I had a ride or if I needed him to call an ambulance...I called hubby...ambulance's are too expensive.
Went to hospital, sat there for 8 hours, they hooked me up to EKG or whatever it's called ( after the 8 hours had past...good thing I didn't die), they got ONE of the flip flop things that my heart had been doing on their tape thing...then they sat me there for another 7 hours...a lady doctor came in and said something about too much blood coming in from the top of the heart at one time ( or some such thing that I couldn't grasp after being awake for 21 hours) took some blood, sent me home with a note to call the heart monitor clinic for a Holter monitor...and then they called me back several weeks later to come in to be hooked up.
So it was a fruitless trip to the office today because the results weren't in...all I learned was that my bp was high, but he won't  prescribe anything until the results come in...and he figures that will be in November some time. He never said to watch my diet, ( except for the coffee) and told me that he's glad that I finally had those infected teeth pulled out.
Told me to buy more ensure if I'm not eating solids yet...told him that the dentist figures I'll be able to eat Christmas dinner...joy.
Living on homemade soup/ensure for past 2 months...want steak and lobster with a side of fresh carrots. lol

So exercise is key huh? Why would he not mention that?
I have such little amounts of energy that getting dressed is about all I can handle lately.
Maybe it's time to look for a new doctor? We have so few around here that there are literally long waiting lists to get a family doctor. I only got this one last year...was going to walk in for past 5 years, after my old doctor moved.
No salt, mild exercise...anything else?
Why is high bp dangerous anyway? Just because of the fainting?
Sorry...too new to this bp thing. lol

[erijon]

Basic rule of thumb, if it comes from a bag, a box or a drive up window it likely has too much salt. Also, sodas will sneak up on you. An average serving has 70 mg of sodium, that's a bunch.

Has he allowed you to do some mild exercise? Exercise has a huge impact on BP, but only with the doc's OK.

Hope this helps,

Jon

[tschock]

Thanks ed34. I never do add salt, but never really thought about the salt in packaged goods.
Good thing I had all those teeth removed...means I had to give up my Cheezie diet. lol
Just looked at the back of the bag that I never got to before the tooth removal...holy hannah! I never knew they added that much salt to food!

Was just looking at some canned juice as well...salt in juice? Who would have thunk? Is there anything that they don't add salt to? Good thing that I normally make meals from scratch. Not too big on additives...they make me ill...mostly headaches and such.
Anything else I should know about my new found condition? Aside from standing up slower than a tortoise?
I told my doctor that if I stood up any slower I would be frozen in place.
He never told me to "watch" for anything...never told me what other things I may or may not experience either...just said that it was high and that he would give me meds once the test results came back...that and to avoid coffee...also mentioned that the fainting and seeing red is all part of it...but nothing other than that.
Thanks again!

[ed34]

salt is a good one. Don't add any to food and read how much is in the packaging you buy.