How to bring high BP down safely

[theancientmarinader]

Weight loss/ stress management are goals over time - is there anything else I can be doing that will help in the short term? Would like to get it as low as poss before next gp appointment.

It out salt from your diet?

*cut out

Stay well hydrated. Move lots, if you can. Get those muscles and your heart working as they should.

Or more accurately, sodium. My DH has to watch his. Don't add salt to cooking - let other members of your family add seasoning at the table if they want, and read food labels. E.g. bread can add up to a surprisingly large amount, its a good thing to ditch for weight loss anyway.

Salt is a good one yes, thanks. I don't add it to cooking anyway, but I did notice the other night that I didn't buy the low sodium stock as it was noticeable saltier.
Pickachew I've been walking - are there risks to heavier exercise if it's still high? I'm not usually an anxious person but I feel a bit wary.

I take it you have received advice about changes in diet, lowering salt intake, etc?

Walking at a good pace (or other non strenuous types of exercise) for, say, half an hour or longer every day can help lower blood pressure.

Good luck!
(Oh, and try to avoid people who piss you off 😄)

Take up Yoga (partly for the meditation aspect)
Learn to accept things that frustrate or anger you with good grace - I am not saying accept and don't deal but just take a step back and say is this worth getting stressed about - will that change anything - No so don't react or flip just say right how do we deal with this then

AM still trying to get mine down further though :-)

In theory, raw or steamed ( not boiled) beetroot is good and French/Swiss/German doctors recommend a glass of OJ at breakfast, a/c DSiS.

If you smoke, stop. It's the worst thing you can do.

Cut out processed meat (sausages, ham, burgers etc) and avoid processed foods like ready meals. They are all full of salt which makes it harder for your heart to pump blood around your body.

Good luck - you can seriously reduce your risk of heart and coronary disease just by doing these two things and moving around more

Yay to cutting down on sodium, read the labels on any foods that are not fresh, salt is added to a number of foods to add taste.
Walking.
Low or no alcohol.
No smoking.
Lose weight.
Meditation, bio-feedback, Tai Chi/Chi Gong, learned relaxation/self hypnosis programmes - you can get CD's or find classes (or both).
My BP is on the low side of normal, but I can bring it down by another 5-10 on both dya- and systolic and slow my pulse by doing relaxation breathing exercises.

Am sitting in limbo waiting for next gp appt with all the test results, so haven't had the discussion yet, but want to try and get ahead of the game a bit if I can. Diet is usually pretty good - don't eat a lot of processed foods and usually make my own stock (with no added salt) - I just ran out! Do need to lose weight though, so I'm on that. It's going to take a while.
Stress is the biggest issue - am lol at 'avoid people who piss you off' - oh boy am I trying!!!

Is strenuous activity to be avoided at this point until it's down? The doc wasn't super clear but seemed to be suggesting nothing too exerting (but I could be being over-cautious?)

Cut out salt and take up swimming.

Oh lots of x posts! I don't smoke (never have) and have about two glasses of wine a month... hence racking my brains for other ideas that might have an effect.

I am definitely not a yoga/ meditation fiend, but I think I do have a hypnosis cd somewhere. Possibly. Can try some low level relaxation.

Beetroot? Huh. Will have a look at that! OJ is easy enough!

How high was your BP?

170/91

Lots of walking
Very low salt diet - butter and bread are high in salt for example so try and cut out
Lots of sleep

Personally I'd avoid strenuous activity but walking and swimming good. Swimming good for stress relief too

Random and potentially stupid question - the optometrist gave me eye drops to use last week and I have just noticed the ingredients list sodium everything... safe to use or no? (Possibly too paranoid lol, but I know when I use them I can 'taste' them in my throat, so assuming they do somehow find their way into my digestive system. Or this sodium different?

There are no contra-indications on the eye drops info sheet...

Sodium is sodium ... maybe you are absorbing some, but presumably you're only putting in a drop or two so I would doubt it would be a significant amount compared to that in food. But do ask your doctor to be sure.

Recent reports suggest salt is not a contributor to high BP! Op I have had high BP since my second baby and am.on medication for it, I constantly have high readings in the doctors and have been on 24 hr monitors where the readings are perfectly fine so it may be worth getting a home monitor. I find walking every day and yoga two or three times a week keeps it in a normal range (with my medication). It could be you have genetically high BP and lifestyle may not affect it.

Thanks marge - we do have family history of high BP (my mum had strokes at 32) and mine has always been on the high side. This level is new though - I have a home monitor and it was slightly lower on Tues when I checked, but it's too high for comfort I think. (Have also been v headachey and generally off, so suspect it is time to do something a bit more concrete to bring it down).

Do you have a link for the updated research on salt, btw? I hadn't heard that and would be interested.

Reduce salt, exercise, lose weight, take the blood pressure tablets if you need them, better than having a stoke.
IME, a high salt meal, e.g prawn crackers from chinese restaurant, increases my bp within hours, so I would take the research saying it does not contribute to bp with a pinch of salt ( low sodium salt of course) !

Sorry can't remember where I read about the salt article, prob a Sunday supplement or something. Hard to know what to believe really. Took me a while to get my head around the fact I'm on medication for the rest of my life for BP but as fast-forward says, better than risking a stroke, it also means my gp monitors my bloods yearly so it's like a health mot