Tips for managing high blood pressure

[SupremeCommanderServalan]

I went on meds a few years ago, and have been working quite hard to lose weight and improve my diet (vegetarian, hardly use salt, one coffee a day, minimal alcohol etc) in a bid to bring it down naturally. I also run 5k three times a week.

I've been feeling unwell recently with palpitations and headaches, GP got me to do blood pressure readings twice a day and it was high enough for her to now increase my meds.

DM had the same issue, and had a series of strokes.

I'm almost 60 and have a fairly stressful life - has anyone managed to bring their blood pressure down by any means other than meds?

I was just coming on to say amlodipine is renowned for causing swollen feet and ankles - continued use can mean irreversible oedema in some people. My GP advised never to go above 5mg dose but even that gave me painful swelling.

Doesn't look like there are any of the magic bullets I was hoping for!

I've got my ECG on Monday, as well as a full blood test next week to see if there are any other obvious reasons for the palpitations (like maybe thyroid).

I have started increasing the amount of water I drink each day to see if that may have an effect, but I am pretty sure it is down to genetics and stress.

A neighbour used to swear by parsley tea but it used to bring on periods earlier so I stopped. It also can loosen the bowels if made too strong plus very thirsty.

I have to say it was the only thing that helped. I wd take it now but cannot cope with any increase in thirst as get very thirsty since menopause as it is.

My MIL has been on BP meds for years and has some nasty side effects. She has gone the herbal route and takes homeopathic drops. They have really worked for her and she has cut right down. Might be worth looking at. https://homeopathygo.com/discovering-natures-power-managing-high-blood-pressure-with-homeopathy/

Never found homoeopathy helpful for blood pressure in my case.

I tried hawthorn berry tea too but it did diddly squat.

Oddly enough parsley tea is very tasty!

Homeopathy does nothing.

There is zero evidence it works.

I've been on amlodipine since November, up to 10mg since the start of January and I'm just knackered all the time! I have no other risk factors, correct weight, exercise and walk most days, minimal booze etc. It just won't reduce without meds.

What's annoying is I've had high BP for years and not a single symptom, even with pre eclampsia and sky high BP. I know it could kill me, and grandad had first heart attack aged 40 so I will take the tablets but I'm not happy and watching with interest.

Can you not tackle the stress?

Either by reducing it or through anti-stress measures?

Don't just tolerate stress, it is a killer.

One thing worth trying is probiotics, kefir for example.

My blood pressure was going up a bit last year, read a paper talking about the links between gut health & blood pressure, started drinking a small bottle of kefir every day, and it made some difference (although also have also been several stressors solving themselves).

Not sure how reliable this site is, but the article seems to be saying similar things to the paper I read.

Not magic bullet but worth a try.

I was going to say I reduced mine by 5-10 by totally giving up caffeine. I went over to good quality fresh ground decaf. But looks like you've already tried that.

I got a lecture in stress from my GP . It enraged me!

I'm a full time NHS worker in a patient-facing role where we are down 30% staffing & have been for years.

A single parent with majority care, no family support.

I barely cope half the time but cannot reduce hours due to finances.

I do try to eat a good diet, run 5K when I can & minimal salt/caffeine.

If there was a magic wand to reduce stress, I'd take it!

Kefir gives me migraines!

Someone saying "why don't you try homeopathy" would probably spike my blood pressure so high it might actually be fatal.

It's a known abortifacient - according to the research I did c1992 for a seminar on contraception in Victorian and Edward ian families... so no surprise it brings on periods early.

Have to admit I've never heard of parsley tea, but as you can make tea of pretty much anything you can dunk in hot water, no reason you couldn't get it. I admit the image I had in my head was of corseted ladies eating salads composed of just parsley leaves, but tea actually makes more sense.

Which decaf coffee do you rate @NotMeNoNo ? I've gone through a few recently and am not loving the ones that I tried.

Have you had a 24 hour monitor OP? Do you know your average?

Nescafe Azera freeze dried (instant) coffee is drinkable, would not pass as top notch real coffee but once you get used to it it really isn't too bad.

As it's instant, it's also easy to mix with the caffeinated version as half-and-half, if you need bit of a caffeine kick.

Most supermarkets do own brand versions as well.

GP said I have to do the ECG first, then get the 24 hour monitor @coloursquare but when I was doing my readings twice a day they were consistently in the middle of the red zone on my monitor. Have picked up the new meds today, so hopefully things will settle for me soon.

Ah good luck OP! I only ask because I had the 24 hour monitor and my average was a lot lower than I expected. Sometimes you can stress yourself out taking it and get spikes.

Lots of useful videos on YouTube

Lots more here

https://youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=Dr+mandell+high+blood+pressure

Yes I also wonder if it's just normal for some families. My mum's family seem to have it. My aunt did die of a stroke when she was 86 but everyone else has died of other causes, and she was the youngest to die.

I brought mine down by changing my diet and losing 3 stones.

Decaf drinks I'm super fussy:
Yorkshire decaf tea
Ground decaf for my Aeropress: lavazza, illy or local roast "Swiss water decaf"
Last resort: decaff instant in a tin such as Azera, Millicano,

Basically need quite a strong taste to compensate. I drink my coffee black though so no milk/sugar to help on that front.

I had no real risk factors for high BP apart from stress, otherwise was really fit, decent diet, normal weight and never smoked but I too have a family history of it so no surprise when I discovered it was elevated. I can’t see why people are so reluctant to take the medication (unless of course there are bad side effects). You’d take it if you had an under active thyroid or diabetes ?
My mum ended up with micro vascular dementia due to it. Although she was eventually medicated for high BP she’d probably suffered with it for years before it was diagnosed and that’s when the damage was being done…