High blood pressure

I probably had it for a few years without symptoms but was only diagnosed 3 months ago when I went to see my GP for an unrelated matter. She said that they didn't have a BP measure on record for me in the last 6 years - cos I hadn't been there in that time - so did a routine one and it was over 170. She advised me to buy a home BP monitor and send her a weeks worth of readings, none of which were below 160.

I've also almost totally cut out caffeine. To be honest I haven't missed it. Grabbing a coffee between meetings had just become a habit.

I've done the same with caffeine and didn't use a lot of salt anyway. Have alcohol controlled. TBH, I think mine is/was genetic or down to another condition not lifestyle. I never had steady hands from when I was in my late teens. They're a lot more steady than they were before I started on the meds. Also, in the mid 90s, I remember having my blood pressure measured by the practice nurse. She looked at the reading and just put it down to white coat syndrome. If she hadn't, I might have been diagnosed far earlier.
 


Three things that will massively impact BP -

Diet
Alcohol consumption
Exercise.

Alcohol consumption seems to be the only concern here, understand its hard to cut down as life is stressful but try and cut down your consumption by half over the coming weeks and see if that makes a difference.
4. stress

I'm fine with the other 3, tried cutting out coffee (no change), don't binge drink like I used to, currently ramping up the exercise and have a good diet.
 
I've had three lots of open heart surgery mate. I've been on blood pressure/heart strengthening medication since 2015 and probably be on some form of them for the rest of my life.

I'd say take moderate medication with a view to potentially not needing it at some point. Then the obvious answers - watch your caffeine intake (careful with tea, coffee, coke, energy drinks etc) keep your exercise levels up, try and get in a regular routine of when you eat, sleep, exercise etc, try and improve your diet (sounds like you've already got that covered) a big one for me is trying to do control breathing, sounds daft but a few deep breathes and and trying to stay relaxed helps me no-end. Particularly if Im in bed and I notice my heartrate is up.

I'd also say 40-50 units of alcohol is slightly too much. You'd be better cutting back slightly.

Think you'll do okay personally, you sound pretty switched on to it. Half the battle is actually thinking you need to get it sorted and being in the right frame of mind, a lot of men will just brush it off and think they're immune to everything.

Hope this helps somewhat.



Ramipril eh? The old blue and white and orange and white combination.

Just realised I've replied to the OP and it was from ages ago. Haha what a nob.
I've got mine down to normal levels by running. I'm doing 4.mile 2 to 3 times a week and the effect oh it has been amazing.
 
I have three of those (Bisoprolol. Ramipril and Furosemide) plus Amlodipine, Doxazosin, Spironolactone and Atorvastatin. I'm like a walking chemist shop if I go on holiday.
3 out of those 7 for me, must be a complicated process taking your drugs every day!
 
I have three of those (Bisoprolol. Ramipril and Furosemide) plus Amlodipine, Doxazosin, Spironolactone and Atorvastatin. I'm like a walking chemist shop if I go on holiday.
Me dad's just been on the spironolactone stuff and had to stop taking it. Couldn't catch his breath with it.
 
An update from me

After a few months of experimenting with my GP with various combinations and strengths of drugs we've settled on a mix of Ramipril and Amlodipine. It was the Amlodipine which made the big difference. As soon as that was added, my BP dropped immediately. I'm now on 130-135/75 ish which is a huge improvement where I was 6 months ago.
 
An update from me

After a few months of experimenting with my GP with various combinations and strengths of drugs we've settled on a mix of Ramipril and Amlodipine. It was the Amlodipine which made the big difference. As soon as that was added, my BP dropped immediately. I'm now on 130-135/75 ish which is a huge improvement where I was 6 months ago.
Does the Amlodipine not make you breathless? I had to give up on it and try something else.
 
The only time my blood pressure has been high was after I took a liking to liquorice and mint tea. It does say unsuitable for people with hypertension but, since I didn’t have hypertension, I went ahead and drank it. Apparently four or five cups a day is a bad idea! Who knew? One or two cups a week seems okay. I thought I was being healthy cutting down on caffeine- unintended consequences.
 
Was on Lisinopril and developed a nasty cough. Didn't think the two things were related, until I checked the leaflet inside the pack. The leaflet that list side effects.

Said 1 in 10 may develop cough. Spoke to gp, who changed medication to Candestarten, cough went in a fortnight.
 
I think if I tried to run 4 miles I'd die of a heart attack. Blood pressure then would be zero over zero.

No need to run, my knees are buggered from running anyway, it’s not good long term.

Best advice I had was at the heart attack club I attended after my ticker had a rest.

Amazing to have medical people support you back to fitness and above all improve my mental health as I was on the floor.


Approx 6 weeks after a heart attack I was running shuttles, with monitoring of my recovery rate etc, bloody amazing.
Thank god for the NHS and stents.
 
Interesting coincidence for me that this thread should pop up again. I was feeling a bit funny yesterday so checked my BP (which is always fairly high) at home, first time was 179/113 and after about 90 mins rest it was up to 182/115. Wasnt sure if this needed medical attention or not but leaving it for the time being as I feel fine today. Not checked it today yet as I don't know if that's what is causing it to rise in the first place.
 

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