Anyone got high blood pressure....

[slick]

I've very familiar with this and I've had HBP for years now. Ask your doctor if you can try a diuretic (water pill) first. I will make you pee more but it gets rid of excess water in your body. I think it's alot easier on your body than BP pills. I take two pills for my HBP - Atenolol and Cozaar - each once a day and they have done wonders.

[carole]

Thanks everyone, yes Slick my mother was put on diuretics when she was about my age, very mild one i believe, i did not know if they still did that, hey does it help you loose weight then? lol, would be nice plus wouldn't it? I heard they can deplete the potassium out of your'e body,well i love my bananas, so i guess i will just have to eat more of them, yum.

I am not that overweight, but i am sure if i lost what i need to it might benefit my BP,but the exercise i am not good at, i really need to up that one for sure to see if it all helps.

I am willing to try these first, i think i would tell the doc to give me six months and see if there is a change, if not, then i will opt for the meds i guess reluctantly though.

[sirrahbed]

Yup - in our family in seems to be hereditary and may be related to thyroid?? My bloodpressure is due to kidney disease and so I take medication. I had hoped that the weight loss would help me but it did not in my case. My current med is Micardis. Have been on a few others too.

Glad you are on to this possible problem early Carole!

[pomtzu]

I am fortunate and do not have HBP altho everyone in my family had/has it. How is your cholerterol by the way?
A little story about my brother who had HBP - he hated taking meds of any kind so didn't take what his doctor prescribed for him. He wasn't overweight and was VERY active and looked like the picture of health. But at the age of 59 he suffered a massive stroke which he never recovered from - never worked another day in his life - was confined to first a wheel chair and then bed - and passed away at 64 due to complications. Don't let this happen - if your doctor wants you on meds - then you really should be taking them! Good luck!

[Freedom]

Dad and mom both have / had HBP. Dad uses Diovan, as someone else mentioned He has not side effects. And yes it often goes along with hypothyroid, which may well be part of the weight issue.

My brother (only sib) also has HBP, but it not taking any meds for it.

I have low blood pressure, go figure. Not low enough to need meds for it, but slightly below normal ALL the time.

[Logan]

I have it too and take 3 medications every day. One is a diuretic (Lasix) and I take that in the morning. It offsets some of the side effects, fluid retention, that results from taking the BP meds. I take Lotrel and Clonidine every night at bedtime. My BP has never been high again since I started taking the medication. Carole, I do remember that I had a few dizzy spells the first week I was on the Lotrel. Had to be careful about standing up too quick or bending over, but my body adjusted and I can't tell the difference now.

My doctor contends that no matter what, I'll probably always be on the BP meds. Mine went up when I turned 40. But, he said the only way that he would consider taking me off is if I got into a regular exercise program and lost weight, neither of which I have done. I think I would probably lose weight if I would exercise more!

[jazzcat]

I have slightly high blood pressure and have bad symptoms from it. I get ringing in my ears and pressure in my head like a migraine when it goes up. My dr. put me on the water pill Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and it has worked great for me for years. Even when I lost weight and was exercising every day I still needed it but sometimes it would drop too low so we just lowered my dose. Worked great.

My husband has high BP and takes Diovan with a diuretic in it. It's been working well for him but boy I can tell when he forgets his pill - he is cranky! He's lost weight and still works out every other day and it's made no difference on his BP. He still needs the meds.

BTW, it runs in both our families and we started taking meds for it in our mid to late 30s.

[lizbud]

I've very familiar with this and I've had HBP for years now. Ask your doctor if you can try a diuretic (water pill) first. I will make you pee more but it gets rid of excess water in your body. I think it's alot easier on your body than BP pills. I take two pills for my HBP - Atenolol and Cozaar - each once a day and they have done wonders.

I have HBP too & am not overweight. I take Atenolol & 1/2 of a water pill
every day per Doctor's orders. The scary thing with HBP is you can't tell
you have it by symptoms. There aren't any.

I too, hate taking any medication if I can get by without it, but HBP is too
dangerous to ignore.

[Grace]

I too, hate taking any medication if I can get by without it, but HBP is too
dangerous to ignore.

Absolutely!! And once you start any medication, don't stop without your doctors approval. That's what happened to Cindy McCain. She stopped taking her meds for hypertension - didn't check with her MD. Then she had a stroke. Fortunately for her, it was a mild stroke.

[carole]

Yes i am taking it seriously,will make an appointment to see about it soon.