SaintDragon Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 (edited) I have been measuring my BP for a month now under a doctors orders... 3 times a day for the last month to see if a lifestyle change and eating habits would lower it. I have been doing my part, but today pulled a 150 over 80...not good and it doesn't seem to be getting any lower:rolleyes: He said this is extremely common, but needs to be addressed as it can cause stroke and heart attack.. Combined with my friend diabetes, it is very critical..my risk is a lot higher.... nice..NOT. Looks like I'm going to need meds for it..... great... I'm an official old F*cker now! complete with a gray patch of hair and my very own daily meds planner.....yeeee hawwwww:D Please talk about your BP experience here... Why not discuss this common problem? Edited April 8, 2010 by SaintDragon Added some stuff
Fouts Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 BP is a silent killer, good to hear you're aware of it and hopefully can get it under control, maybe without meds. Take plenty of EFA's.
Meaplus3 Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 Saint, Try not to worry about this too much. If there is one good thing about it.. it's that meds can control it. Do you know how many people on this planet are on BP med's.. a ton. So, do not feel alone. How has your sugar been? Mea:)
SarahRose Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 What is your diet like? How much sodium is in your diet? Are you overweight? How much caffeine and alcohol do you consume? How much exercise are you getting. Is it always 150/80 everytime you take it?
JamesM Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 (edited) First off, the fact that you are taking your BP so continuously and worrying about it probably keeps it higher than if you were not. Me...about six months ago, I went to the doctor and he took my blood pressure as usual and found it was almost 160 over 80. So he told me to watch my it. And I measured it and worried about it. The next few days and weeks I measured in the 150s and 140s over 70 something. I began reading on how to lower blood pressure as I was obsessing about it. By the end of a month, my BP was in the 130s and when I went to my doctor, it was down to around 120 over 70. Now when I measure it, it is around 115 over 70ish. As weird as it sounds, I know that much of my high BP was due to anxiety about my heart and other issues. Once I began to realize that there was things I could do to change these things, my BP went down. I know it is not always this easy, but I also know it is not as hard as it seems. Part of your high blood pressure could be from anxiety of the diabetes diagnosis. Part of it could be for real. Either way while 150 is high, it is not astronomically high. It can be reduced with little changes. Read. Read. Read. A couple of books for you to read about BP and cholesterol are... The Blood Pressure Cure http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Pressure-Cure-without-Prescription/dp/0470124164 The Cholesterol Cure http://www.amazon.com/New-8-Week-Cholesterol-Cure/dp/0060564601/ref=pd_sim_b_1 While I don't expect you will do everything immediately in the books, it will give you a starting point. I found them very helpful. Since reading these books (which I own), I can say that I have added quite a few things from them. I even eat dark chocolate every day (which may or may not be wise for you). I eat fruit two or three times a day as compared to zero times before. I try to add as many exercises in a day as I can (and I mean extra walking like parking as far from the store entrance as I can, etc.). There is no question that the two biggest things that you can do are exercise and diet. It is imperative that you do walking every day. It is also very important for you to watch your diet. Make changes little by little. For me the biggest way I can solve a problem is by research. It is the number one way that I can reduce my anxiety about something. BP is easily changed with little steps. Edited April 8, 2010 by JamesM
Author SaintDragon Posted April 8, 2010 Author Posted April 8, 2010 Thanks ya'll lmao. I'll be alright...I'm a big baby when it comes to these things, specially heart stuff. I was hoping all this diet I have been doing and trying to cut down my anxiety would of payed off, but it didn't and it's quite a bit of let down.
Author SaintDragon Posted April 8, 2010 Author Posted April 8, 2010 First off, the fact that you are taking your BP so continuously and worrying about it probably keeps it higher than if you were not. Me...about six months ago, I went to the doctor and he took my blood pressure as usual and found it was almost 160 over 80. So he told me to watch my it. And I measured it and worried about it. The next few days and weeks I measured in the 150s and 140s over 70 something. I began reading on how to lower blood pressure as I was obsessing about it. By the end of a month, my BP was in the 130s and when I went to my doctor, it was down to around 120 over 70. Now when I measure it, it is around 115 over 70ish. As weird as it sounds, I know that much of my high BP was due to anxiety about my heart and other issues. Once I began to realize that there was things I could do to change these things, my BP went down. I know it is not always this easy, but I also know it is not as hard as it seems. Part of your high blood pressure could be from anxiety of the diabetes diagnosis. Part of it could be for real. Either way while 150 is high, it is not astronomically high. It can be reduced with little changes. Read. Read. Read. A couple of books for you to read about BP and cholesterol are... The Blood Pressure Cure http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Pressure-Cure-without-Prescription/dp/0470124164 The Cholesterol Cure http://www.amazon.com/New-8-Week-Cholesterol-Cure/dp/0060564601/ref=pd_sim_b_1 While I don't expect you will do everything immediately in the books, it will give you a starting point. I found them very helpful. Since reading these books (which I own), I can say that I have added quite a few things from them. I even eat dark chocolate every day (which may or may not be wise for you). I eat fruit two or three times a day as compared to zero times before. I try to add as many exercises in a day as I can (and I mean extra walking like parking as far from the store entrance as I can, etc.). There is no question that the two biggest things that you can do are exercise and diet. It is imperative that you do walking every day. It is also very important for you to watch your diet. Make changes little by little. For me the biggest way I can solve a problem is by research. It is the number one way that I can reduce my anxiety about something. BP is easily changed with little steps. Thank's JamesM.... you're always very helpful. I bookmarked those links...thank you
SarahRose Posted April 8, 2010 Posted April 8, 2010 First off, the fact that you are taking your BP so continuously and worrying about it probably keeps it higher than if you were not. Me...about six months ago, I went to the doctor and he took my blood pressure as usual and found it was almost 160 over 80. So he told me to watch my it. And I measured it and worried about it. The next few days and weeks I measured in the 150s and 140s over 70 something. I began reading on how to lower blood pressure as I was obsessing about it. By the end of a month, my BP was in the 130s and when I went to my doctor, it was down to around 120 over 70. Now when I measure it, it is around 115 over 70ish. As weird as it sounds, I know that much of my high BP was due to anxiety about my heart and other issues. Once I began to realize that there was things I could do to change these things, my BP went down. I know it is not always this easy, but I also know it is not as hard as it seems. Part of your high blood pressure could be from anxiety of the diabetes diagnosis. Part of it could be for real. Either way while 150 is high, it is not astronomically high. It can be reduced with little changes. Read. Read. Read. A couple of books for you to read about BP and cholesterol are... The Blood Pressure Cure http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Pressure-Cure-without-Prescription/dp/0470124164 The Cholesterol Cure http://www.amazon.com/New-8-Week-Cholesterol-Cure/dp/0060564601/ref=pd_sim_b_1 While I don't expect you will do everything immediately in the books, it will give you a starting point. I found them very helpful. Since reading these books (which I own), I can say that I have added quite a few things from them. I even eat dark chocolate every day (which may or may not be wise for you). I eat fruit two or three times a day as compared to zero times before. I try to add as many exercises in a day as I can (and I mean extra walking like parking as far from the store entrance as I can, etc.). There is no question that the two biggest things that you can do are exercise and diet. It is imperative that you do walking every day. It is also very important for you to watch your diet. Make changes little by little. For me the biggest way I can solve a problem is by research. It is the number one way that I can reduce my anxiety about something. BP is easily changed with little steps. Yes this is what happens to me. I have white coat syndrome. I can take it and it will be borderline high and then if I take some deep breaths for a few minutes and take it again it goes down to normal. I found caffeine, salt, sugar increased it too.
Author SaintDragon Posted April 9, 2010 Author Posted April 9, 2010 gettsin Taco Bell tonight.....hahhahah
JamesM Posted April 9, 2010 Posted April 9, 2010 gettin Taco Bell tonight.....hahhahah Ask for Denise.
Author SaintDragon Posted April 9, 2010 Author Posted April 9, 2010 Ask for Denise. :laugh: I like how you corrected my "gettsin" it was intended to be gettsin...
carhill Posted April 9, 2010 Posted April 9, 2010 I have white coat syndrome. I can take it and it will be borderline high and then if I take some deep breaths for a few minutes and take it again it goes down to normal.Sometimes, your body can be extraordinarily responsive to stress stimulus and/or produce unusually high or long-lived quantities or cortisol and/or adrenaline, hormones which increase heart rate and contract blood vessels. Probably not medically correct, but I call it an 'abnormal' stress response. Similar issues can affect blood glucose levels, markedly during trauma. IMO, it's worthwhile to track not only your relaxed vitals, but those under stress. When I was a caregiver, I checked mine at the same time I checked mom's, so had a regular schedule. Stress damn near killed me. Everything from high BP to arrhythmia to borderline diabetes. Once I placed her, things slowly returned to normal. Only thing left is ringing in my ears (tinnitus). My doc told me to go on a low sodium balanced diet, exercise and do meditation (or at least quiet time). Managed to avoid meds so far... Oh, also, regular and satisfying sex seemed to mitigate the issues as well
SadandConfusedWA Posted April 9, 2010 Posted April 9, 2010 My reactions to stress are extreme and unhealthy. At the doctor's office my BP is around 150/90 and HR about 110. I absolutely hate going to a doctor and have some kind of phobia. It gets annoying when they get worried about high BP and want to do further tests and I know those stats are only that way because I am anxious. About 20mins after I leave the doctor's office my HR is down to 70 and BP 110/70. I also have this kind of response to pretty much any kind of stress (giving public presentations, having to lead a meeting at work, even going out to social settings I am not comfortable with). My whole family is like this and the only way to lead a relaxing life would be to never do anything. I am worried about the long term damage but not sure how to fix it and still function normally.... I went through a period of benzo addiction which helped enormously with reducing the feeling of stress/anxiety but then when I wanted to quit the meds, I started having panic attacks (which I have never had before). Now I am kind of back on benzos which is not great but I feel SO GOOD on them.
Author SaintDragon Posted April 9, 2010 Author Posted April 9, 2010 Actually my health problems could work in my favour. They are much better alternative to a suicide note and hocking back a bunch of exhaust fumes. Just let it take us down by taking the meds and shoving them into the sink then just go crazy and be happy eating Arbies until it's all over and done. Natural cause of death,,,,no harm to family. Depressing thought eh?...
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