Has anyone lowered their blood pressure without medication?

[fivedogstofeed]

Currently on a 24hr monitor as my BP has been found to be a bit high several times. I also recently found out I have a heart murmur.

I have a horrible feeling I could be heading for medication, though various HCPs have mentioned 'lifestyle changes' may sometimes be enough.

Yes, I need to lose weight and my cholesterol is too high. I'm not mega fit but not inactive - walk every day, swim at least twice a week and on week 8 of couch25K ( very proud!)

Would like to hear your blood pressure lowering success stories please?

I'm surprised no one has replied. I had my blood pressure taken just over a year ago and the reading fell into the prehypertension category. I upped my gym sessions, improved my diet and went teetotal for 30 days as alcohol raises blood pressure. Now I drink much less alcohol. I also lost 10lbs (but am still fat!). Have a look at Channel 4's "Live well for longer" which is available on demand. Episode 1 looked at the effect of not drinking for 1 month on a group of women. The group who would usually drink up to 14 units a week saw their blood pressure drop by 6 mmHg, the group who would usually drink 21-30 units per week saw their blood pressure drop by 9 mmHg and the group which would normally drink over 36 units a week saw their blood pressure drop by 10 mmHg. One woman's blood pressure dropped from 132 to 113.The expert said that blood pressure medication normally decreases blood pressure by 20 mmHg. Cancer markers and liver stiffness also decreased.

I went from the stage you are at to BP tablets within a decade. Then I lost 3 st (now 2), changed my diet, changed my job. I'm now off tablets and have a BP of 120-128 /70. Which is good for my age (post menopausal).

It depends whether your high bp is due to lifestyle or genetics. Mine is genetic and no matter what I do it won't lower without medication. The GP said a healthy lifestyle still helps but that's about it.

Thanks all! Good to hear it might be possible.
Depressingly haven't had a drink in about 14 years since first pregnant..

I have a bad family history of heart disease so there may well be a genetic element. I might find out more with the results of scans and ECG I had yesterday.

I started dealing with my cholesterol (genetic I think) - felt quite overwhelmed with it all. We looked at our diet - began adding beans and lentils to everything. Just a few at the beginning. Using more herbs and spices when we cook so we use less salt.
I have other health problems but had begun to improve my fitness. I have the apple watch which works for me. The breathing exercises on the app have really helped. My BP is down now and I can lower it by doing the exercises. GP keeping an eye on it now.

@Fivesdogs, I have a poor generic history too, so I wasn't hopeful. My doctor said it could well help, but didn't help everyone. It occurred to me that in some cases family members also had a poor lifestyle-diet wise etc, so the link with family isn't necessarily genetic but shared practice.

But it still worked for me to sort lifestyle things. I think the weight loss and diet were the main thing, actually. I could actually see it fall as I lost.

When my blood pressure is taken at the doctor's, it always seems to be between 135-156/80s. I'd always suspected that stress/anxiety has a lot to do with it, and on the advice of my doctor, bought a home bp monitor to keep a 7 day diary. She also advised me that breathing exercises had helped her with lowering her own bp!

I found that if I made a concerted effort to relax and breathe deeply before taking my bp, it had the incredible effect of giving me readings between 115-123/70s, which is unprecedented for me! I'm now working on trying to not get so anxious about life's minor setbacks and stresses, in the hope that it will have a lasting effect. (Also trying to lose a little weight and exercise a bit more!)

I've also a poor family history of cardiac disease although they are relatively long lived ! I am in my early 50's and considered myself quite fit as I have run for years and lead a pretty active life. Had a bit of a health scare back in September and like you ended up having various blood tests, an echo and treadmill test which all came back essentially normal but I did find out I've probably got high blood pressure. It wasn't mega high 160-170/80-90 and I was extremely stressed at the time I had it taken but nevertheless I've been started on ramipril. Tbh it doesn't bother me - I'm just relieved it's been diagnosed now rather than later as the side effects of hypertension include dementia, heart disease and kidney probs. Like other posters I suspect mines genetic and whatever I did wouldn't be effective. Obviously all meds have potential side effects but I've been ok !

Agree better to take the meds rather than put yourself at risk. I suspect my mother had undiagnosed hypertension for years, and now has a load of other issues including reduced kidney function.

Avoid liquorice teas.
These can also increase your blood pressure.
( I also know of someone who reduced his BP and cholesterol levels by switching to Oatly )

I’m quite slim. Don’t smoke / drink. After always having low blood pressure (to the point where I was sometimes faint sigh it) I suddenly developed high blood pressure in my mid 40’s.
I really didn’t want to start medication so asked gp to give me some time to try and bring it down naturally. He says it was unlikely to work but I was relatively fit to start with but agreed that I could try.
I tried everything (diet / exercise / relaxation exercises) but nothing made any difference so I’m on ramipril now.