How the hell can I get my blood pressure down?

[Bryonyshcmyony]

Measured today and itwas 136/97 so too high for them to give me my HRT prescription. I have to measure it twice daily for a week and send it to them.

I am a stone overweight (was almost 2 stone but I've lost 11lbs low carbing).

I have horses that I muck out daily plus constantly out pushing a barrow around, so no cardio but active

My dsis has MH probs and is calling me 10 x a day atm and that's very upsetting STRESS
Job likely to go kaput before Xmas STRESS
Four teens currently at home I love them all dearly but have absolutely no time to myself STRESS

I drink quite a lot of coffee and drink a bottle of wine a week.

Argh. Any tips?!

Cut out booze and wine, try to go to sleep at 10pm latest. Don’t worry about your job if nothing can be done about it.

Is there anyone else your DSis can offload to? 10x a day is far too much for anyone to cope with. Is she in therapy?

Easier said than done but keep dieting to lose another stone. Make sure your teenagers pull their weight at home.

I’m afraid I’ve no actual practical advice as I was prescribed labetalol (sp?) and nifedipine as the only way to get mine down after DS was born

nutritionfacts.org/?s=Blood+pressure

Fasting lowers your blood pressure so maybe try 16:8 diet. You'll feel a bit rough for a couple of days but good after that.

@Branleuse

was that a one-off BP test because thats not THAT high, especially if youre under stress. Could they give you BP meds such as ramipril alongside the HRT? Have you tried taking baby aspirin?

Is baby aspirin helpful

@KarmaStar

May I suggest you have some healing?

I would bloody love some healing

My sister was on medication for high blood pressure but since becoming vegan it has dropped to normal levels.

There definitely does seem to be something linking what you eat (not necessaritly quantity) to high blood pressure. Mine has been on the high side (averaging 140/96) for a year or so. I switched to a very low fat diet due to gall stone problem about 5 months ago and no longer eat any processed food, red meat or dairy etc. Also, I can't tolerate onions (it's in everything!) and have been making and eating my own soup everyday (various pureed creations involving parsnips/carrots/swede). Blood pressure has come down to average 136/89. I kept changing the batteries in my blood pressure machine as I thought the machine was faulty! I have lost a bit of weight but I wasn't overweight so don't think it's the weight loss that has done it?

Who knows? But maybe something to consider? Good luck!

@Bryonyshcmyony are you eating a lot of processed meats (bacon, ham, ....) or lots of protein and salt?
Of this is the case, I would strongly recommend as @wilmawebb did, to try three weeks of a healthy whole foods plant diet, so an enormous amount of vegetables, no processed food .
A high polyphenols diet has shown benefits for blood pressure , together with high fibre, and DHA-EPA (you might have to supplement here) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7352988/

You are low carbing, but is it a healthy low carb? Or a high protein low carb with animal products more than once per day? Maybe focus on what you eat in the low carb more than what you avoid in the low carb.

It is summer, go for very big salads, with 5 or more vegetables in one bowl, plenty of colours and oven roasted veggies, watermelon and berries for breakfast (lycopene) . Eat for health, and the weight will follow. If plant based is too hard, think about how the animal you eat was raised, eat less meat but better one, such as pasture vs industrial barn, and wild fish instead of farmed.

Think about the gut microbiome www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.120.016641 and high fibre is beneficial, whereas high meat high fat will increase harmful species.

Experiment for 3 weeks. Eat the rainbow, eat fibre, eat fresh. See how it goes.
Good luck

Meant to ask: are you forcing yourself to drink more water @Bryonyshcmyony as dangerously recommended on so many low carb websites or even on some MN threads . It can increase the blood pressure www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/02/000208075311.htm (but plenty more papers on this)

"On the average, 16 ounces of tap water raised blood pressure about 40 millimeters of mercury in patients with autonomic failure. Blood pressure started increasing within two or three minutes after the water was ingested, increased rapidly over the next 15 minutes, and then began to decrease after about 60 minutes. Drinking more water at 60 minutes caused the blood pressure effect to be sustained for another hour."

So are you forcing yourself to drink more?

I'm heavily pregnant and my blood pressure is high at the minute. Ive also been cold water swimming and my swollen feet and hands are so much better for a day or two after, I think the combination of exercise and cold might be helping lower my blood pressure temporarily.

My husband had to get his down to pass a medical. He drank beetroot juice for a week. Turned his wee pink but his pressure did drop enough to be signed as fit to go (overseas posting)

Go plant-based!

@GordonPym

Meant to ask: are you forcing yourself to drink more water *@Bryonyshcmyony* as dangerously recommended on so many low carb websites or even on some MN threads . It can increase the blood pressure www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/02/000208075311.htm (but plenty more papers on this)

"On the average, 16 ounces of tap water raised blood pressure about 40 millimeters of mercury in patients with autonomic failure. Blood pressure started increasing within two or three minutes after the water was ingested, increased rapidly over the next 15 minutes, and then began to decrease after about 60 minutes. Drinking more water at 60 minutes caused the blood pressure effect to be sustained for another hour."

So are you forcing yourself to drink more?

Yes I'm drinking loads

Get thee to the gym. I was on meds for high blood pressure. Was able to come off after 6 months of regular (sweat inducing) exercise.

4 years later my blood pressure is consistently in the optimal range. GP said he’d never had a patient do that before!

If you drink pukka teas, most contain liquorice, which can increase BP in menopausal women. This happened to me, I was astonished, found several scientific papers on it! Hibiscus tea reduces BP.

I’m on Lisinopril and Bisoprolol. Having had a massive heart attack.

Prior to that I had been diagnosed with high BP (horrifically night, yours is just slightly raised) and high cholesterol.

I’m back in for another angiogram on Tues, and have damaged tissue all over my heart, and a floppy mitral valve.

Add in some cardio, get on a decent diet and don’t do a me!

How much? Are you thirsty or is it part of low carbing?

And the first thing my GP did was take me off HRT!

Beetroot juice might help:

www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2015/january/beetroot-and-blood-pressure

Stop drinking any alcohol

@Bryonyshcmyony and what do you eat? A lot of animal products? So many low carb diets are so unhealthy with tons of eggs, bacon, cream, lard, fatty meats, ... one can of course eat them occasionally in normal quantities, but daily or several times per day.

[quote GordonPym]@Bryonyshcmyony and what do you eat? A lot of animal products? So many low carb diets are so unhealthy with tons of eggs, bacon, cream, lard, fatty meats, ... one can of course eat them occasionally in normal quantities, but daily or several times per day.[/quote]
I think that depends on what you read. (I certainly don't eat several times a day BTW)

I don't know what you eat, but you asked the question how to lower your blood pressure and diet is the main factor.

If you believe eggs, bacon, cream, lard, fatty meats are better for health / blood pressure than watermelon, carrots, onions beetroot, kiwis, .... then ... hum.... your choice I guess.

@GordonPym

I don't know what you eat, but you asked the question how to lower your blood pressure and diet is the main factor.

If you believe eggs, bacon, cream, lard, fatty meats are better for health / blood pressure than watermelon, carrots, onions beetroot, kiwis, .... then ... hum.... your choice I guess.

Agree with this. If you haven’t seen the documentary “What The Health”, I encourage you to watch that (it’s on Netflix). People who follow a whole foods plant based diet have been able to reverse high blood pressure in a matter of 2 weeks.

sometimes there the cause is genetic and it needs to be treated with medication (do you know the family history?)
but other than that it's the usual suspects: reduce stress, cardio exercise, reduce sodium/salt, lose weight.