How to lower blood pressure in one week, any ideas?

[Shopaholic100]

I went to the DRs today for another issue and she checked my blood pressure, which was 178/100 (shocked as it’s never been so high before, I do check from time to time). I’ve been asked to monitor for a week and if it doesn’t go down I’ll have to go on medication which I really want to avoid. I do get anxious when having my blood pressure monitored at the DRs which is apparently common, so was asked to do it again at home and it did go down to 147/99. Any ideas how to lower it quickly?

Replace all your caffeine with water. Then drink a bit more water.

Cut down on salt.

Exercise :)

Breathing exercises

I wouldn't recommend that you try and lower your BP in one week - it would be false readings as you're unlikely to keep up whatever it is you do.

If you need medication, then you need it, unless you want to risk a stroke.

I'm a nurse and suffer from 'white coat syndrome' ! My BP is often high at the surgery, so I monitor it at home where the readings are consistently lower. I've been on BP meds for a number of years.

Measure it at home over several days to get a good idea of what it really is, and then - if its too high - accept the medication! Its really not the end of the world..

Lots of exercise and a healthy diet, I think beetroot is supposed to lower it.
But yes monitor it over the coming days and see if it is white coat syndrome or if that is your actual BP.

add beetroot powder as a supplement

avoid caffeine and alcohol

Diet/exercise/reduce stress... but as Westfacing says, it's a long term thing. I've recently started medication, one tablet a day, haven't had any side effects. What's putting you off?

Surely if the dr was worried they'd have set you up with a home no monitor ? That haven't, so I guess they aren't that worried.

Geeeze sorry for typos 'a home BP monitor'
And They haven't
Sorry ! Typing on the train!

@cestunestilo

Surely if the dr was worried they'd have set you up with a home no monitor ? That haven't, so I guess they aren't that worried.

Lol….except lots of BP monitors don’t come back so GPS don’t give them out any more and there can be up to a 6 week wait for ambulatory BP monitoring. Much more efficient to get patients to get their own (about £20) and measure.

So that’s not true at all. If they asked please do it. Best way is to do 2 readings morning and evening. Both feet on the floor and take some slow breathes before hand.

buy a monitor, my DH got one for about £25 from super drug as a&e told him his pressure is high (which it is )

Sounds like a bit of self care is required. I used to monitor my blood pressure at home and it was always below 140, usually between 117-138. I’ve just had a couple of very hectic weeks socialising, where I’m sleeping very late (2am last night!), waking very early and not been as focused on healthy eating/ exercise as I usually am. I used to exercise Monday -Friday and go for regular walks. Les Mills here I come.

@MoreJammyDodgersPlease, I just don’t want to be dependent on tablets unless I really have no other choice I don’t want a stroke/heart attack either. I have a family history of high blood pressure and have seen my aunts/uncle have to take regular medication and it’s really frightening me. It’s been a wake up call I need to put my health first.

@Pallisers, I really like beetroot so I’ll definitely look into that. I don’t drink alcohol, but might give the Diet Coke a miss too.

@DownWhichOfLate, good advice about the water, I really must remember to drink some. I’ve dug my water bottle out and and going to make a conscious effort to drink water. I usually have 1 cup of decaf a day is that still ok?

@Westfacing, you make a good point, I understand if I need medication obviously I’ll need to take it. The unhealthy behaviour is more unlike me, so I really want go back to my usual behaviour and reduce the blood pressure. Is it possible once you’ve had a high reading to reverse it, or is it like diabetes? I’ve been asked to take 2 reading in the morning and 2 in the night on alternate arms. Does that mean both arms in the morning and evening? Or right arm in the morning and left in the evening? Isn’t white coat syndrome so weird, my surgery have a blood pressure machine in the waiting room and I’m much lower there than the DRs room.

Crisps are out to reduce the salt too. Are there any good breathing exercise YouTube videos?

My GP recommended myheadspace.com when I had stress-related problems in the past. I did have my blood pressure under control (or so I thought), but it had risen again recently. Like you, I've got lots of relatives with high blood pressure so decided to go with the medication this time. The range you mentioned sounds OK - your GP might just recommend keeping an eye on things for now.

Thanks I’ll take a look.

Calm apis really good. Probably similar to Headspace.

Plenty of walks, healthy eating etc.

Could you be suffering from ‘white coat hypertension’. Maybe worth getting a home bp machine and taking daily readings.

Breathing exercises.
Take a long, slow deep breath for 15 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, breath out for 15 seconds , then pause for 5 before starting the cycle again.
If you cannot do 15, do as many as you can without bursting .
I guarantee this will lower your BP reading.

Lay off the salt and salt filled foods.

Lay off all caffeine - the headache will be lousy

Water - drink at least 2 litres a day instead of tea, cola or coffee

Exercise

Meditation

I have a Omron home BP monitor with intelicuff. @Maxf414 I’ll give your breathing exercises a go. @gingernaut I’ve tried to drink more water from today. The receptionist called to make an in person blood pressure appointment for next Wednesday, so I’m going to try all your suggestions.

I moved mine from just into high back to my normal (slightly low) in a month in the run up to an op by:
Exercising every day, mainly cycling
Diet - had to do a pre-op low carb, low cal and high protein diet.
Only drinking water and decaf tea.

Ashwagandha supplement floored my blood pressure when I was on it. I had to cut the dose down it worked so well. It has other benefits as well.

Eat blueberries. In the run up but then about an hour or two before the appointment.

Definitely lots more water.
Decaf Diet Coke (it’s got a gold label in supermarkets) and decaf coffee.
I’m currently on week 4 of ashwaghanda too and do feel bit more chilled .

Ooh ashwaghanda sounds interesting, is it a herbal supplement? Where can I get some?

I didn’t know about blueberries, I like them so I’ll give it a go. Is decaf coffee ok? I don’t have lots, only 1 cup a day with a little milk and no sugar.

I really need to improve my sleeping habits, it’s all gone a bit crazy over the holidays, which I’m sure is having a negative impact. I only had about 3 /4 hours sleep on Saturday as I had 20 people coming round for lunch party.