Does anyone treat high blood pressure without pharmaceutical drugs?

[northcoast]

How do you do it and what type of health care professional do you see? I keep reading about lavender being good for high blood pressure but obviously don't want want to self treat.

 

After about 6 months for prehypertension, my blood pressure is now a little high.  Yesterday, the doc put me on doxazosin, no other options or discussion yesterday.  It was 150/89 while before it was around 132/85.  Prior to 6 months ago it was low & good.  FWIW, I'm 47 & eat fairly healthy but probably could find ways to cut salt & increase veggies & fruit a bit while having meat & carbs.  I am on no other meds but have a history of paternal grandparents with stroke and my mom has high blood pressure.  I probably just hit the genetics lottery.

 

So how do you treat your high blood pressure?

[Alte Veste Academy]

Exercise!

[Lawana]

Magnesium. Natural Vitality Natural Calm.

[gardenmom5]

cut sugar  (all forms - including honey, stevia, agave, etc.)

cut any other junky food

exercise is very important - walking works

red yeast rice (I've had two seperate DOs - can prescribe rx -  tell me that one)

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by gardenmom5

[magnificent_baby]

I would recommend the DASH diet. It's been around a long time and tons of resources for support. If you google it, you can find the website. As a previous poster mentioned, exercise. 

 

I am curious why your provider started you on that medication as it's not first line therapy for hypertension. 

[MysteryJen]

I was able to lower my bp with losing a few pounds and exercising. However, the bp continued to inch up over time, despite exercise and maintaining my weight. Since my mom and grandmother all had high bp in their early forties, I have been on meds for almost two years. My beta blocker does double duty for bp and a recently discovered arrhythmia.

 

Don't feel like a failure if you need meds. I did for a long time and it was counterproductive to my mental health.

[Lady Florida.]

High blood pressure is called the silent killer for a reason. I wouldn't mess around with unproven methods like herbs. Some doctors will tell their patients to try making diet and lifestyle changes first. That's what dh's doctor did, and when that didn't work his doctor put him on medication. Dh's is probably genetic. 

 

 

Well, if it's genetics, as mine is, I combine a heart healthy diet with exercise and do all I can to keep stress levels down. And then I take atenolol. I don't fully believe there are herbs or certain foods that can effectively control blood pressure totally. so I choose both. I don't waste time with woo. It's up to you to speak to your doctor about options, tho, and pretty silly to leave his office with a prescription and no discussion. He's not in charge, you are.

 

Yes to the bolded. If it was me, I'd make another appointment and discuss it with him. I would have done so initially, but you can't change what you've already done, or didn't do in this case. Go back and talk to him. Find out why he went straight to meds, and find out if he feels you can safely try lifestyle changes first.

 

The bottom line though, is what I opened my post with. Don't mess around with high blood pressure. It's not an innocuous condition.

 

ETA: If you do end up trying to go without meds, get yourself a good home BP monitor and check it regularly. Also stay in contact with your doctor. 

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by Lady Florida

[northcoast]

Maybe I should edit to add I do exercise.  Thank you for the advice so far.  Keep it coming.  

 

MysteryJen I think hit the nail on the head for me.  But I will discuss things with my doc when I go back in a month.  A pp is right that I am in charge of my health.  The doc did say diet wouldn't help be much based on what it is now.

[Laurie4b]

I was on blood pressure meds for 5 years and now am not. This is what I did:

 

Look at the DASH diet and see how yours measures up.  First priority is to increase fruit and veges to a minimum of 5 per day and a goal of 9. 

Especially if you carry weight in your stomach, lose weight. Many people see a benefit at 5% of their body weight. ( I lost 30% over 5 years.)

Exercise. Really exercise. 

To lose weight, you need to get enough sleep. 

[Lady Florida.]

  The doc did say diet wouldn't help be much based on what it is now.

 

It sounds like perhaps he wants to try and get it lowered first and as high as it was, medication is the best way to do that. If it's low enough when you go back, then discuss coming off the medicine and keeping it low with diet and exercise.

[arnold]

Exercise that is hard enough to make you winded and sweaty

[Lawana]

Also, if you haven't done so already, acquire a blood pressure monitor and log your results. Knowing what your numbers are when you are not at the doctor's office will help you know how much of a problem you really help.

 

And I don't agree with the notion that diet cannot help. Perhaps the provider meant that in their experience, people tend not to follow through with diet changes. Whether or not you are interested in pursuing that option is up to you, even if your doctor didn't suggest it.

[sbgrace]

I also have a family history of hypertension and strokes. I have several relatives with strokes in their 50's and early 60's. I am in my 40's, and found out last year I had pre-hypertenstion that was very close to the hypertension level.

 

I saw some research and decided to try Coq10 (purchased from epic 4 health online; my son's geneticist said that brand matters and to go with that specific company's products). This seems to help me a lot. In fact, I got down to normal. 

 

I also began taking magnesium, try to eat high potassium foods daily, and I've cut salt. Salt doesn't affect everyone, but it does seem to affect me. I quit the coq10 for a while and went back to pre-hypertension, though not as high as it was. The coq10 seems to be doing more than the rest for me.

 

My dad got his hypertension down with weight loss through diet. He did weight watchers. He gained the weight back over a few years and is now on blood pressure meds.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by sbgrace

[wapiti]

For some people, high blood pressure is secondary to insulin resistance issues, sometimes subclinically (e.g., my dad was diagnosed with high blood pressure 6 years before he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes).

[northcoast]

Thank you again for all the good info!

 

I think I should watch my bp more on my own & log it as someone mentioned.  Today the machine at Walmart said I was 113/76 and I haven't been on medication for 24 hrs yet.  So something is going on that I don't have a handle on yet and I didn't know to communicate to my doc.   I figured after being a certain level in Nov & Dec and then yesterday being high that meds were the only answer.  Since diet & exercise are good my doc didn't think that the small changes left to make would help enough.  Sure I can eliminate some salt but it wouldn't be enough to get me down to a safe bp level.  My cholesterol is good at this point.  I'll look into the Dash diet that a pp mentioned among other things.  I haven't done much in the way of alternative treatments and so will have to look into Coq10.   Lots to learn that is for sure! 

[Alessandra]

This is a helpful thread. Does anyone have advice about choosing a bp monitor, or specific recommendations?

[Lawana]

I was told that the Kroger brand is made by the name brand manufacturer, but sells for a significantly lower price. It is the kind I have and have been using for the last 4years or so.

[crazyforlatin]

My cardiologist uses supplements in the management of hypertension, in addition to conventional medications. There are many supplements with strong evidence behind them. Which to try depends on the person, as they have different mechanisms for lowering blood pressure. For example, I'm not a good candidate for Hawthorne for the similar reasons to why I can't take a calcium channel blocker. Most anyone can try magnesium and fish oil. My cardiologist put me on Carditone, which is a plant-bases supplement. It has such a dramatic effect on my blood pressure that I have to take a very small dose. Otherwise I drop so low I'm dizzy. All that to say, not all supplements are "woo", but you ideally really want to find a provider to help you find the best solution while maintaining your pressure in a healthy range in the meantime.

 

Managing your weight, if that's an issue, and exercise should of course be first things to address.

I have a relative who takes Carditone and he noticed a drop in blood pressure as well. He takes Carditone with Losartan. If just taking Losatan alone, his blood pressure is higher than when supplementing it with Carditone.

 

Which brand did your physician recommend? The reason is that I've been reading that there may be side effects, but it could be dependent on the brand.

[magnificent_baby]

This is a helpful thread. Does anyone have advice about choosing a bp monitor, or specific recommendations?

 

I got mine from Walgreens. I can't remember the brand but it works well. I asked the pharmacist and they were very helpful with picking one out for my needs! 

[kewb]

My dh drank hibiscus tea at least 3x per day when he was having blood pressure issues. It helped him. I don't think he was at medication stage yet. He did buy a home monitor.

Edited January 19, 2016 by kewb

[foxbridgeacademy]

I am on meds for mine, which is too serious to go the all natural route, but my mom keeps her mild issues under control with out meds.  She does cinnamon sticks in her water bottle, makes sure she gets enough potassium, hibiscus tea several times a day, and watches her blood sugar which can exacerbate blood pressure issues. She had open heart surgery last month to repair a congenital defective valve that had finally gotten problematic. The doctor couldn't believe she went her whole 60 years on a valve that should have been replaced in her 20's-30's.

 

 

 I like cinnamon tea but force myself to drink the hibiscus too and take a hibiscus oil supplement as well as the cinnamon sticks in water.

[HS Mom in NC]

My 70 years old mother does. She walks 2 miles a day, 6 days a week.  She cut out salt and sugar and most processed foods. She monitors it daily with a bp monitor.  Be careful though, some fretful people make it worse with constant monitoring.

[Pegasus]

I'm not qualified to give medical advice.  In my personal N=1 experience, I started eating low carb for other reasons and my blood pressure came way down.  From anecdotal internet posts, this seems to be a common occurrence. 

[northcoast]

Thanks for the continued ideas!   I've ordered a bp monitor.  A nurse just told me that staying hydrated could help.  I'm not good about that when out and about.  Tomorrow will be 1 wk on my medicine.  So far no side effects.

[northcoast]

It is interesting that 2 of you have mentioned low carb.  I will have to look into that.  Low carb might be tough.  I like my breads, pastas, and whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.  :)