Has anyone successfully reduced their blood pressure without medication?

[Sunshineandflipflops]

Hi

I have had fairly high bp the last few times I have been to the doctor's. They won't let me have the combined pill because of it so i am on the mini-pill.

Now and again I get really bad headaches - I have just got over a 2 day one and I'm thinking it may be related so my parents and partner want me to go to the doctor again to ask about medication.

I really want to avoid being on life-long bp medication if I can so was wondering if anyone has successfully managed to lower theirs without?

For context: I could do with losing a stone or so...am a size 14 but have never been skinny. I don't smoke, I am currently not drinking (stopped 2 weeks ago) and am intending to only drink occasionally going forward. My diet is balanced on the whole - I'm no angel but I cook from scratch most of the time - fairly healthy meals such as chilli/rice made with reduced fat mince, prawn stir fry, pasta with a bit of sausage in...that's a few meals from this week's menu.
I do add salt to food, which I will stop.
I walk or run every day - aim for at least 10,000 steps.

I just got hold of a bp monitor and my reading was 135/99, which I don't think is good.

Any advice or positive stories...?

RoganJosh - it would be more accurate to say it is height dependent but some websites may simplify it a bit.

More info here and links from it

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-to-height_ratio

Oh, I've just posted a similar post. I'm just like you OP. How are old you?

I’m 42

That’s positive to hear about the medication, thanks.

I have a feeling that’s the way I’m going to have to go as other than shift a stone and stop adding a pinch of salt to my cooking, there’s no more drastic actions I can take that I can see.

I’ve walked/run over 12,000 steps today, which is about average for me.

My dad isn’t overweight but has been on medication for high bp for years.

I agree it is often genetic, and therefore a limited amount you can do if you’re already a healthy weight and not eating loads of salt.

My BP is always high when I am stressed or anxious - which has been a lot of the time over the years. I am calmer now (anti depressants) and my BP is ok.

Exercise helps with both BP and stress/anxiety so get as fit as you possibly can.

I gather potassium rich foods like bananas can have a marginal affect.

Watching with interest as I have long Covid and now have high BP. Historically my BP has always been low even through two pregnancies.

My diet is good (don't eat red meat and very little dairy) I rarely drink, do not smoke but obviously cannot exercise atm (apart from a short walk) due to fatigue. It's difficult. I'm seriously considering medication to bring it down until I'm
Able to exercise again.

My BP is horribly high and I'm on meds, 43. I am very overweight and chipping away at it. Cut out caffeine, it lowers it by a few points. But weight, exercise, salt, caffeine intake all can have an effect. It's not worth messing with, take the meds to get it under control while you work on the more long term solutions. That's what I'm trying to do.

Sorry to hear that @Norugratsatall, sounds horrible.

I dislike taking medication so really want to avoid if possible but if that’s the only option then better to take something than something bad happen. I’ll give myself a little time to lose a bit of weight and see how things are.

My partner is in a similar situation and we have put it down to hereditary... Would love to know the cause though. After a while of loosing weight and exercising with no effect he finally accepted medication to put his (and mine) minds at rest about preventing a stroke etc. Yet his Mum has borderline high blood pressure and although she has improved her exercise and cut down on drinking, she refuses to monitor her blood pressure or go on medication as she is anti that sort of thing. I think set yourself a very short time limit to see improvement and if there isn't any then go on the medication. Apparantly you can then wean off of it if the Dr's think it's become more controllable by other changes. My partner has had to have double the dose to lower his and only just by a little bit so we are hoping they will look into the cause a bit more

Im going to be put on medication shortly

I am going to try losing weight but having an under active thyroid makes it a bit difficult (not impossible obviously)

Ive cut down on alcohol and will keep doing that and im going for a daily walk

Diet and exercise.

@Pyewhacket can you be more specific? I have just had a look at the salt intake for my planned food today and google tells me I should eat no more than 6g salt per day and my meals will take me to 2.75g if I don't add any extra, which I'm not going to.

Todays menu as an example:
Hot water and lemon, 2 weetabix with 1% milk, cup of tea.
small bowl of soup with 2x seeded bread, apple
chilli con carne made with 5% mince, sauce home-made using passata and kidney beans, chilli, garlic, onions, rice.

I try not to eat too much red meat but I am a single parent with 2 kids who only have a repertoire of about 6 meals that we can all eat together and most involve mince. I do always buy the 5% kind.

At least 10,000 steps, 30 mins yoga.

Obviously my day didn't look quite like this a few weeks ago as there would have been snacks added in, which I have now removed. I am consciously trying to reduce my bp without taking drastic actions with my diet that I just can't sustain.

Open to ideas though if anything stands out.

I obviously need to give this revised diet a while to work yet as it's only been a couple of weeks of consciously monitoring it.

Have you tried porridge made with water? I have that daily because it’s so good for the heart, digestive health and very high in antioxidants.

At first it tastes like wallpaper paste made like that but as your taste buds adapt you begin to taste the nuttiness in the oats. It takes longer to chew which I think helps digestion too.

Sometimes I go wild and add 5 dried dates for more antioxidants.

www.bloodpressureuk.org/ Have you seen this before?.

@Fluffycloudland77 I do sometimes have porridge but make it with 1% milk as I don't like the taste or texture with water. Maybe I can try doing half water and half milk and see how I go. I sometimes add a chopped banana too.

I'll look at that link, thanks.

At the beginning of December I was 198/118. BMI 27. After 6 weeks on Amlodipine I now average 131/82 which is still high, but that's taken twice a day, in the evening its more like 120/74.
I have been loosing a bit of weight but I'm posting this to let you know drugs can and do reduce your BP and hence the risk of stroke/Heart attack etc. Once I'm down to a 'normal' BMI I shall phone the GP and see whether I can reduce or stop the medication.

Thanks @Ifailed, that's reassuring to know and I'm glad you bp is under control.

Lose weight and follow a plant based diet. If you followed both of those steps (including low salt and a healthy plant based diet) I would be very surprised if you still had high BP in 12 months time

@1940s Thanks, but a plant based diet is not the way I want to go. It doesn't fit in with my home life and I think it is too drastic for me.

Chopped banana? You are living on the wild side too 😀

Dh always said he couldn’t lose weight but if he can do it on thyroxine and beta blockers there’s hope for everyone. I’m a year older than you and your body does seem to change how it metabolises food completely. I always thought people who went on health kicks at 40 terribly sad then I turned 39 and soon realised it’s just what you’ve got to do to see 60.

@Fluffycloudland77 yes...isn’t getting old(er) boring! You essentially have to stop doing all the things that were always fun 😕
I find it much more difficult to lose weight than I used to and every time I run I seem to pick up another injury.
It comes to commenting when a fat free yogurt and raspberries is a ‘treat’ 😂

*something

😂 careful now.

Losing weight is the most significant thing you can do.

Low carbing can also reduce BP as the reduction in insulin means you retain less sodium.

Ubiquinol supplements can also help.