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...?

I had low blood pressure for years but it suddenly elevated this year in my late 50's - not sure why - I was put on medication (not diurectic) and immediately felt a lot better. No more headaches and no more 'stressy' feeling which I used to get most days.

Have you had a 24hr monitor via your GP to find out how high it actually is? Check out the NICE guidelines for blood pressure to find out best practice for assessing/treating hypertension.

You might also find www.bpassoc.org.uk & www.bloodpressureuk.org helpful.

Bioglan blood pressure formula - these are what I've taken to lower my blood pressure while I'm losing weight. They have really helped

Thanks all. I am monitoring my own bp for a week to get a proper idea (morning and night). This morning it was 126/80, as opposed to the 135/99 a couple of days ago. The high reading was off the back of a 2 day headache though.

I'll do the week's monitoring and give myself a few weeks to loose a few pounds and then contact the doctor is it's still high.

My DH has genetic high BP which is controlled by 2 drugs.
He recently lost 2 stone doing Keto but interestingly his BP actually went up slightly. We assumed weight loss would automatically lead to a drop in BP.
At the beginning of January he drastically reduced his dairy and meat consumption and is vegetarian most days. His BP has really come down and when he can see his GP again we reckon he can stop at least one of his drugs.
So in his case weight loss didn’t work, it was diet

Thanks @Hoppinggreen, that's interesting, I could eat less red meat and am going to make an effort to, even though it will mean eating different meals to my kids a lot of the time.

I was actually vegetarian for many of my younger years and then just ate chicken and fish for a few more. It's more difficult now I have kids to do that though!

Luckily one of our DC has been veggie for a while and DS prefers fish anyway so it’s not too hard for us. I admit I was really surprised at how well it worked when we assumed the weight loss would (but didn’t)
I think DH watched a Netflix Doc called Gamechangers or similar about an MME fighter who was injured and decided to see what diet would help him heal faster. He assumed he needed animal protein but after lots of investigation it seemed plant protein was better.
As he said, Gorillas are vegetarian and they could take you down no problem!!

Haha - yes!

Myself and the kids' dad have tried meat replacements with them a number of times and they just won't eat them. They are carnivores and I'm not going to make meal times a stressful or unpleasant experience for any of us so I will continue to give them read meat as I do but will cut back myself.

Have you had a 24hr monitor via your GP to find out how high it actually is?

Yeah ...it was a pain in the arse (arm)

Mine hits the 180’s on a regular basis...

So in his case weight loss didn’t work, it was diet

Yes i read this yesterday...it said cut down on fat (among other things) and i looked at a clean eating magazine and it was very keto based so lots of fat!

On occasion in the past my blood pressure has been high. It is now normal. I am overweight - size 16-18. I walk a lot - I try to get my 10,000 steps a day and eat fairly healthily - mainly vegetarian or fish diet.

Have you spoken to your doctor about your blood pressure?
Not all high blood pressure is caused by diet and/or weight, so sometimes it's worth getting advice from a medic rather than MN posters who won't have your medical history, etc.

I have developed very high blood pressure since having had covid last autumn. I haven't had it before. It was so high I was rushed to a and e with a risk of heart attack, stroke, etc, The doctors do not believe it to be diet or weight related, and believe it is linked to a medical issue instead. For me, losing a bit of weight might bring it down a small amount perhaps but it won't bring it down to normal levels.

I am not taking two types of blood pressure medication - the first one alone hasn't brought it down low enough. I already have arthritis and take a ton of medication for that anyway, so adding more wasn't a huge concern right now. None of my medication refers to side effect issues leading to joint problems.

It could be as simple as losing weight or changing your diet BUT that is not always the reason, so it's worth asking and getting it checked out properly.

I would say if you do want to be more veggie then eat more veggies rather than go for meat substitutes. Dd is allergic to Quorn so we couldn’t use it and just made meals without meat in instead. Me and DH do sometimes have “pretend meat” but mostly we eat Tofu or similar if we aren’t eating meat or something purely vegetable/pulse based.
I think the increase in vegetables has been as important as the decrease in meat if that makes sense?

Agree with Abraxan Sometimes no matter what measures you take with diet and exercise medication is needed. Hbp runs in my family, I take lisinopril and am much happier knowing my bp is controlled. Diet and exercise didnt have much impact and I have heard of super fit people who still need bp meds. I have no side effects from meds aand certainly don't know anyone who has developed joint problems due to them. Popping a tablet once daily is better than experiencing stroke/blindness/kidney problems in my book.

While cooking for my children I've realised that vegetables don't need salt at all! Neither do eggs (I have eggs for breakfast, they helped me abolish my morning snacks!)

You say you cook well but didn't mention any greens. It's ok if you struggle, I did as well. Start small. Add some frozen peas to meals. With mince I reduce the amount of meat and add finely chopped vegetables (courgette, aubergine, mushrooms, carrots....). I have recently found lentils. Mixed in the rice or in a casserole, you can reduce the amount of meat you use because it has a meatyish texture about it.

I try and eat a good amount of veggies but again, that could be better. I've got some meals planned for the next few days (for myself at least) which include a beetroot risotto with kale and a sweet potato and chickpea/lentil curry with spinach.

I think my raised bp might be more genetic as my dad and brother have been on medication for it for years. My dad isn't overweight but my brother is.

I guess I want to rule out other factors first such as lifestlye. I'm not in denial (I don't think) but I really am not very unhealthy anyway and other than a stone or so, which has crept on over the past year or so, don't carry a lot of excess weight. But that stone might make all the difference so we'll see.

Thanks so much for all the responses, I didn't expect so many

Oh, and I haven't spoken to the dr specifically about my bp but they wouldn't let me have the combined pill a year or so ago as my bp was too high. They obviously didn't think it was dangerously so though otherwise I'd like to think they would have done/said something?

A low carb diet, even without the weight loss often improves blood pressure. Sugar/carbs is really not good for us in a variety of ways. It sounds like you eat low fat but natural fat sources are not bad for you (trans fats are). Have you tried cutting out sugar/carbs instead?

I think it’s very individual
I am about 2 stone overweight but I have a pretty good diet. My BP has always been really good apart from when I had Pre eclampsia!
There’s certainly a genetic element in many cases, my Aunt and Uncle are very fit and slim and have high BP but my Mum (different father) doesn’t. DH Grandma had her first stroke at 25!

I had high blood pressure many years ago when I was actually a twig, very skinny (size 6) and had no idea how. All I did was reduce salt intake and that was it, it went down pretty quickly and I've never had a problem since.

‘Oh it will, for every pound we put on your bp raises by 10 points (or something like that, I read it and thought how interesting then forgot the exact numbers).’

Are you sure? I’m 57 and a bit overweight. My blood pressure hasn’t ever really changed over the years.... even when I’ve been heavier.

Yes I definitely read it

My husband managed to avoid medication for his for several years as he used to take beetroot tablets (didn't like beetroot).

Another vote for lose weight. I see patients who have unintentionally lost weight due to cancer - I spend all day taking them off their BP meds which are now making them ill as their blood pressure has come down naturally as they lost weight.

Yes there are fat people like me who have low blood pressure but generally the heavier you are, the more it goes up.

So I ahve been monitoring my bp for a week now, morning and night.

I started the week at 133/96 (but I was getting over a 3 day headache) at that point) and have ended it at 120/83...the lowest being 126/80.

I'm not to worried about those lower readings as I think due to heredity, my bp is always going to sit at the high end of 'normal.

Going to keep at the healthier eating/drinking and exercise and see how I go before I visit the doctor's. I don't feel like I'm going to be in any immediate danger with the most recent readings.

Good for you. You’ll get major brownie points with the GP if you can lower it with weight management.