hypertensive and probably an insomniac

[GailSakurai]

Hi my name is Gail, 27 yrs
Its been 9 months since I've been diagmosed with hbp and my dr prescribed losartan 50mg. So far my bp is now in normal readings, used to be a 145/100 and sometimes higher.
My only unresolved issue now is that I cant sleep. I thought my hpb had to do with, expected to be sleeping better once my bp was controlled, but its still a problem.
Before I used to take benadryl to make me drowsy and I only take it if I had work the next day so I can have a full night of rest. I also tried teas, bananas and hot milk, gave up coffee and dark chocolates. I did talk to my dr about it, my bp had gone higher and he says it also has to do with stress and the environment I live in, he recommended meditation and better diet. (He did not want to change my prescription yet until my next visit and see my recorded readings from home.)
Im a vet tech, the animal hosp is a very stressful place, and I do love my job, its very rewarding. My co worker had told me many times to quit for health reasons and stick with art (Im also an artist), but honestly art does not provide a stable weekly check.
So my question is what should I do to get that 8 hrs of sleep every night? Should I exercise more during the day? Change my mattress? Is there an specific diet than can help balance the chemistry in my body?
Any recommendations are appreciated :)

[GailSakurai]

Thank you and happy new year!
I'll be seeing my dr soon and will ask about those medications.

[Jerry_NJ]

First I hope you can adjust yourself to the rewards of helping make animals better and even well as a balance on the sad times that the animal hospital is unable of the owner can not afford treatment.  On balance, the good you can accomplish is what you have to focus on.

As for high blood pressure, I assume your med, on I have never heard of, is a beta blocker. BBs can have an affect on sleep, but I think mostly on causing so called vivid dreaming - for me trouble mares is a better description.  

The above noted, there are several generic BBs out there that are of minimum cost, and that is good even if you have prescription insurance.  Given you problems ask you doctor about Metoprolol and Atenolol beta blockers, both cost only pennies a day to take.  I now use Atenolol and like its longer half life.  

It may be that you can get help using a sleeping pill they are also available in generic and affordable   I rarely take a sleeping pill and it does make me sleep, but may make dreaming worse in my case, not sure on that point

As part of reducing stress, make yourself very regular on time, wake and go to bed at the same times, don't get into emotional games before bedtime (here I mean watching murder or horror tales on TV or elsewhere, books.... there are other things too, I'll not elaborate here).  Get as much bright light as possible during daytime and dark and quiet at sleep time.  Get exercise, work may be enough give you profession.

Hope you were able to have a Merry Christmas and I wish you a happy new year with many nights of restful sleep.