High Blood Pressure

[Cory255]

My Dr keeps telling me I have high blood pressure, and hasn't suggested to do anything.  Is this something I should be worred about?  What can I do to get it back to normal?

[portann]

Cory, if you can afford it, why not consider buying a home blood pressure kit?

My BP monitor is very good and my doc even checked it against hers and was surprised at how spot on it was.

I think it's better for me having one at home.  I'm on BP meds and trying to reduce my dose effectively, so my doc doesn't mind, as long as I watch my numbers.

Because of family history, my doc wants me at 115/75.

I got the kids BP monitors for Christmas, as lousy as that may sound. :)  Everyone checked out okay except my older son, who's considered the superhealthy one by us all.

That was a shocker to him - like, really, he just could NOT believe it. So now he's made some changes and at least he's conscious of the situation.

In that way, you and he are both lucky, that you now know and can do something about it, while you're young, His readings were the same as yours, 140/90.

Good night and good luck and have fun exercising.

Susan

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[Cory255]

Yea, today is my fifth or sixth month post tx date.  I won't be going thru tx again for a while if there was any confusion about this.  My exact blood pressure is 140/90.  I've been lifting weights and excercising quite a bit here lately.  We'll see if this helps any.

[spectda]

Drinking lots of water is important. Too much water especially with not enough salt can kill you by stopping your heart. I know that's not what you meant you are doing, but some people take things to the extreme.

I remember a couple of years ago there was a radio station that had a water drinking contest. The winner would receive a free xbox. Once of the contestants trying to win for her kids died from water poisoning. I had no Idea that could happen until I heard about that.

i guess extremes of anything can be harmful!

[Diane12855]

I tend to have the low end of "High Blood Pressure" and I have noticed that if I drink lots of water, it goes down. It increases the viscosity of the blood, so the heart doesn't have to pump as hard to get it through the vessels. It also lowers my heart rate. Since you are on tx, the tendency to dehydrate is there anyhow, so why not try increasing the water to see if that helps?

[spectda]

Doctors offer medication very quickly for high.
blood pressure these days. Weight,Diet, exercise and heredity have some of the greatest impacts on your blood pressure. Knowing how high it is would help. If you were in immediate danger because it was so high I would imagine they would have prescribed drugs asap.

[RobertBeWell]

Diet and exercise definetly work. I was on BP meds for about 10 years... then I got serious about my health. Started eating right, exercise 5 times a week, dropped 20 pounds... no more need for BP meds. Been off em for 6 years now.

So:

1. Exercise if possible, check with doc.
2. Lose weight, if needed
3. Don't eat too much sodium (careful, this stuff hides everywhere)

For a lot of folks, these simple things may do the trick. I know there are other factors that cause HBP, but this is an excellent start, and it certainly can't hurt.

[Cory255]

I think you're right, diet and exercise could work, it may not be enough to lower my blood pressure.  They first started to notice my high blood pressure six months into hep c tx, and it has stayed that way ever since.  I haven't thought much about it until now.    

[FlGuy]

Has the doc told you how high?  I don't think that you can ascribe the BP to hcv. You might talk to the doc to get recommendations which are likely to include diet, exercise and possibly BMI considerations.  You mentioned in an earlier post that you had been taking a variety of food supplements.  Are you still taking them and have you researched the BP implications of each?  If necessary, there are effective meds out there but most docs will suggest other 'behavioral' solutions first - at least I hope so.