I have successfuly lowered my blood pressure!

[CTyankee]

The additional drugs I was put on simply made me ditzy and I had to stop them. But I was carefully checking the sodium level in foods I was eating and saw I was consuming far too much. So I totally re-ordered my eating. Luckily, it being summer, I had a wealth of fresh fruits and vegetables available and those form a big part of my diet. I have also stopped eating frozen, prepared foods.

Yesterday I went to my doctor and he took my bp 4 times during the visit. I am at 130/70 which is where I should be (even as a young woman I had bp readings at that level). I will go back in a couple of months for a re-check (I find that I stress out if I take my own bp at home).

I'm still on the Hyzaar and Atenolol which I am fine with. And I am feeling much better!

Live and learn.

[Awknid]

1. Congratulations!

You should be proud. For me BP is related to weight gain. The moment I loose weight, my BP goes down to normal (or almost).

Keep it up!

[CTyankee]

2. I wish I could say I lost weight as a result of changing my eating habits but

so far that hasn't happened, even if it should.

I am really happy that this is all it took. I was miserable on the extra drugs. Not only that, I felt it was scary not being able to focus properly.

[tridim]

3. Good job getting off the meds and using diet...

But be careful, low sodium intake is pretty bad for your kidneys and brain.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I think you're OK at 600mg qd or so, and it's almost impossible to get lower than that.

I'm at the bottom end of the normal range as a result of my struggles with reducing it

[CTyankee]

7. Oh, I'm sure I have at least that much sodium every day.

The funny thing is that food tastes so much better to me now. The prepared stuff was beginning to taste really awful, the more I ate it. I also find that cooking from scratch is naturally lower in sodium (or at least what I am eating it is). When eating out, I find that the simpler the dish, the less salty it is. Heavier sauces seem to really load up the sodium.

I am cooking a lot more with my olive oil and sweet butter, simple fish dishes which we like a lot, and chicken with fresh ingredients.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Yup. When I do have to eat out, I carry

something called Table Tasty, which is a spice & vegetable seasoning that actually has a salty/garlicky taste (I found it on Amazon) & my own low-Na salad dressing in a little jar. I use potassium salt in some cooking, as well as potassium-based baking soda & baking powder on occasion.

Mostly, though, we cook at home.

[CTyankee]

12. thanks for the tip.

Salads are easy. I just ask for vinegar and olive oil. I like it better anyway and there is zero sodium in it.

I cook with a lot of garlic (I read somewhere that it is good for you). I replace canned tomatoes with fresh plum tomatoes as they make the best sauce. AND I cook with wine as well. It's all good!

[Warpy]

21. Normal range on your bloodwork is the target

I got used to eating low salt when my parents had to do it when I was ten. I have never been able to tolerate salty stuff like chips. It's probably a good thing since my kidneys are now conking out for real instead of staying borderline but stable.

I'm usually below the normal range, so I eat nasty processed stuff once or twice a week to get it up there.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I've been struggling to stay waaaaay low on Na too.

It's a bitch.

I've taken to baking my own bread, have found low-Na ketchup & salsa as well as no-salt-added canned tomato products, etc. I try to stay under 1000mg per day, & some days I even make it.

[Warpy]

22. I baked my own bread before an allergy to wheat popped up

and I miss it. Anyhoo, I used the NYT recipe that called for a teaspoon of salt. I found that the bread had decent flavor with only 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the yeast liked it better that way.

You do have to put some salt into it if you want it to taste like bread.

[Jackpine Radical]

23. I use potassium salt.

[Warpy]

25. I have to watch potassium intake even more than sodium intake

and fake salt is so nasty, I'd rather have no salt at all. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of lemon juice and freshly ground pepper over the years.

[CTyankee]

31. Yes! I have found that too! I hate the fake salt.

Olive oil and white Balsamic vinegar...good stuff...

[Jackpine Radical]

33. My K levels are regularly checked.

The only time they were high was due to medication, & a med change brought them down.

Actually, I don't know if it's an acquired taste or what, but I get along OK w K salt. I remember trying it years ago & thought it was really awful, but either the formula changed or I did.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. I achieved comparable results by eliminating FOX News from my cable package!

Congratulations..... seriously.

I was on atenolol at one point. MD changed me over to a different class of HBP meds. I forget why. ( Maybe it promotes memory loss. Tee-hee.)

Good luck in the winter when those cheap veggies go sky high.

[CTyankee]

9. well, in winter I'll be relying on bags of frozen plain vegetables and fruits.

And I sometimes rely on a just a plain baked potato for lunch.

Don't get me started on memory loss. It was bad enough but the meds made it a lot worse.

[underpants]

8. Good news!

I thought you were going to say that you stayed out of GD for a while

[CTyankee]

11. My husband says I watch Morning Joe in the morning, then I go on DU and then

I am pissed off for the rest of the day!

[Jackpine Radical]

14. It's the interactive effect.

Cut out Morning Jerk.

[CTyankee]

15. I knew you'd say that!

[Skittles]

13. I pretty much live on boxed frozen foods

and my blood pressure top number when I donate platelets each month is rarely three digits......go figure

[CTyankee]

16. That's not fair!

[Skittles]

24. I am a chronic insomniac

Does that help?

[Cleita]

17. When my DH was on dialysis, regulating his salt actually

could make a difference in his BP. I had to take his BP four times a day which was an indicator if he was getting enough dialysis. Sometimes is BP got too low and I had to give him salty broth to raise it. Otherwise he was prone to fainting.

One thing that concerns me is that BP is often the canary in the coal mine that indicates something else is going on in your health. In my husband's case it was the first sign that his kidneys were starting to fail. I hope your primary care doctor has given you a thorough screening to make sure there isn't another health problem lurking underneath there.

[CTyankee]

18. I was actually hospitalized overnight for observation when I got the first, very

high, reading. I went to the ER and they ran all the tests, which were normal. They normalized the bp with lopressor and I was sent home with a prescription for Norvasc, which was to be taken with my other two bp meds. It made me dizzy. Then the doc told me to take an additional one half dose of Atenolol. Same dizziness. Then he prescribed Verapamil, and I was dizzy, then half a dose of Verapamil and I was still dizzy. Now back to Hyzaar and Atenolol but now with a very low sodium diet. And it's good...

It was a bad stint of time...

[Cleita]

19. Well, I'm happy it worked out for you.

I can't take any of those meds either because of the dizziness too. They just pull the BP down too low. I find diet and in my case some pretty vigorous exercise does the job. Have you tried walking it off or doing some treadmill at the gym?

[CTyankee]

27. I don't because I have spinal arthritis. I am still battling it.

that's a problem for me right now....

[Warpy]

20. Yeah, I did that, too

I didn't change my diet or increase my activity, it just sort of went away, almost landing me on the floor many times in the process.

Lowering salt intake to the RDA is a good idea. Mine is below it, so there are times I need to eat it to get that sodium level back up. Today it will be a Stouffer's dinner. Tomorrow, back to potato soup and salad.

ETA: The atenolol is still lowering your blood pressure. I don't think it's that unusual to be able to drop one med or more as lifestyle changes take effect.

I was on rather a large dose of an ACE inhibitor. When I got down to half a tab of the smallest dose, I just said to hell with it.

[CTyankee]

29. I"ve been on the combined Hyzaar and Atenolol for several years now with no

adverse results. Now I am back to normal. thank goddess...

[CTyankee]

30. I'm good with my current dose. No dizziness.

It's still a problem of course but I navigate it. OK for now.

[elleng]

26. Excellent!

Great to hear this, yank!

[CTyankee]

28. thanks. it was good news!

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. what were you taking that you stopped taking?

I am a little confused, since you are still taking 2 BP meds....??.

Having said that...I have cut down on the dosage of my BP meds, experimented with that dose for 4 months, and then saw the doc, who was willing to go along with the plan.
BP meds give me blurred vision, low energy and screw with my concentration.

Like you, I am hoping to find a happy minimum.

[CTyankee]

34. sorry, it is a bit confusing...it is the added meds that made me dopey. The ones

I regularly take, atenolol and Hyzaar, are (and have been) fine. But once I had that extremely high bp reading, the doctor added, first Norvasc, which made me feel funny and then had me up the atenolol to one and a half tabs, then that didn't work and he added verapamil, and that was also a problem. In the meantime, I drastically cut my sodium intake so when I went back this past week, my bp was good.

I didn't have the blurred vision you mention but I did have the low energy and inability to focus attention properly.