I just got back from the doctor.  Despite all my efforts, my blood pressure has not gone down.  After a serious discussion with my doctor, taking into account my family history of heart disease, we decided I should go on medication.  She put me on Hydrochlorothiazide.  

I am really upset.  I have always tried to do everything without medication, but I cannot run the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

We agreed to look at it at my next appointment to see if my diet and exercise program is helping and maybe I can go off the med, but for now I need to be safe.  Any thoughts about things I should do?  She did recommend I see a naturopath, which I am going to do.

Read my last blog.

http://www.dadamo.com/B2blogs/blogs/index.php?blog=40

What was your B/P?

BP medication cannot always be avoided.  HCTZ is a diuretic. If it succeeds you should be able to do the same thing via diet and including natural diuretics like dandelion.

Quoted from Andrea AWsec

What was your B/P?

154/100

Also, I do not have most of the risk factors for high blood pressure, except for family history.

Quoted from Tom Martens

Read my last blog.

http://www.dadamo.com/B2blogs/blogs/index.php?blog=40

Thanks, Tom.  I am waiting for my Rebounder.  I have a SERIOUS amount of stress in my life lately and am in peri-menopause and am not sleeping.  I am working on that, too.

go get an encyclopedia and follow the protocols for hypertension asap
meanwhile follow the cardio and antistress protocols

here s to good sleep
http://www.4yourtype.com/methylb12.asp

Patty I measure as 240/160 if I go off my medication.

Use the medication to counter the immediate effects of the blood pressure, but use the dietary resources to counter the cause.

Quoted from Lloyd

BP medication cannot always be avoided.  HCTZ is a diuretic. If it succeeds you should be able to do the same thing via diet and including natural diuretics like dandelion.

I would agree with this 100%. I had stress induced high BP at one time and this medication can be used to buy time without doing any particular damage.

HCTZ is not a heart medication in the true sense of the word as it reduces blood volume and thus the stress on the heart rather than interact with the heart processes as such. In any case if you can reduce stress and maintain a good food/exercise regimen you can return to a stable norm.

Also: Might be an idea to curb your intake of salt as much as possible. It is a known instigator of high BP and is vastly overconsumed in this society. Having high BP opened a window of vulnerability for me that I never knew I had and being on salt watch is a benefit I derived from it.

Quoted from Lola

go get an encyclopedia and follow the protocols for hypertension asap
meanwhile follow the cardio and antistress protocols

You can get the protocols here. Go up to the Online Support tab and click on the health protocols in the drop down menu. I'd get the encyclopedia also, but this way you can start on the protocols without waiting to get the book.

Lack of calcium in the diet can also increase BP in some people, so make sure you are getting adequate sources of calcium in your diet.

also make sure you add a pinch of sea salt into your water intake

Quoted Text

curb your intake of salt as much as possible.

pls learn about the big differences between table salt, amply used, with dextrose content and sea salt......

Quoted Text

You can get the protocols here.

precisely what I meant by meanwhile
meaning while she gets a hold of an encyclopedia

Patty H,
My husband is an O, and a 6'2" large boned man. He has been on blood pressure meds for a few years. I finally convinced him to get more exercise, not add salt to his food(I cook only with sea salt)and eat smaller portions. He lost 20 pounds and his BP went down enough to go off the medication. Its been 4 months and he is doing well. The Dr. warned him though, about sleep apnea, which will do harm to his heart! He is working on that!
Good luck to you.  

Quoted from Lola

go get an encyclopedia and follow the protocols for hypertension asap
meanwhile follow the cardio and antistress protocols

Thank you everyone for your kind advice and support.  After much contemplation and research and at my doctor's advice, I have decided to go to one of the local ND's recommended on Dr. D's website.

I do have the Encyclopedia and the Cardio book and the Menopause book.  Personally, I believe that this is all hormone driven since these issues arrived within a year of the onset of peri-menopause.  Maybe I am wrong, but lets face it - our hormones regulate everything.  Instead of me trying to follow the advice for Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease and Menopause, plus the supplements recommended by my hormone specialist and my cardiologist, it is time to find another member of the team . . . someone who is familiar with Dr. D's work yet is local.  This way I can see them as often as needed and they can be a part of my medical team.  My family history is too significant for me to try and play at deciding what supplements to include and what to leave out.

By the way, I LOVE salt and have switched to sea salt.  Maybe I need to cut that out for a while?

ask the doctor you are seeing, perhaps, like me, he advocates sea salt....follow his advice

Good luck Patty. Sounds like a great decision. Keep us posted!

Who are you seeing?

Might consider getting to UB then seeing a local ND for follow-up.

How compliant are you? Even "tiny amounts" of avoids can set off large reactions in some people. Many of us have certain "trigger foods" that we can't have even in trace amounts, while other "avoids" may not be so problematic.

If you've been 99% compliant, that other 1% could be contributing to your hypertension. For many healthy people, 70% compliance is enough, but you may need to be more cautious while dealing with a specific medical issue. If corn is a "trigger food" for you, then you may need to cut out ALL processed foods, iodized salt, and be careful of "inert" ingredients in supplements.

If you decide to cut back on salt, remember that you still need some salt in your diet. Many medical professionals recommend staying below 2,000 mg per day, which is about 1 teaspoon a day. You don't need to completely cut out salt. to be on a low-sodium diet.

Quoted from Andrea AWsec

Who are you seeing?

Might consider getting to UB then seeing a local ND for follow-up.

Dr. Emily Chan in Cambridge, MA.  I found her on Dr. D's website.  

I considered going to Wilton or UB, but Wilton has a very long wait list and there is no guarantee, according to the UB website, that Dr. D will be there.  UB is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive each way.

Quoted from ruthiegirl

How compliant are you? Even "tiny amounts" of avoids can set off large reactions in some people. Many of us have certain "trigger foods" that we can't have even in trace amounts, while other "avoids" may not be so problematic.

If you've been 99% compliant, that other 1% could be contributing to your hypertension. For many healthy people, 70% compliance is enough, but you may need to be more cautious while dealing with a specific medical issue. If corn is a "trigger food" for you, then you may need to cut out ALL processed foods, iodized salt, and be careful of "inert" ingredients in supplements.

If you decide to cut back on salt, remember that you still need some salt in your diet. Many medical professionals recommend staying below 2,000 mg per day, which is about 1 teaspoon a day. You don't need to completely cut out salt. to be on a low-sodium diet.

I am compliant more than not.  I would not want to put a percentage on it.  I read all the labels and when I cheat it is usually with dairy rather than wheat or corn.  I eat very few processed foods, so I know I don't get much salt from my diet that way.  I pretty much make everything from scratch.

Again, I really think I need to get my hormonal swings in order, get more exercise, and keep up with the diet.  I firmly believe most of this is because of the terrible peri-menopause symptoms I am dealing with right now.  When you don't sleep because you are waking up all night long due to the night sweats, imagine what kind of impact that has on everything else.  This is my first order of business - to figure out how to stabalize my hormones!

I just got my new rebounder in the mail today and am looking forward to getting started tomorrow!

Had to go to the doctor today.  Went to see about a pain in the arm and found my blood pressure was back up.  Not surprising since I was REALLy "badder" than I've been in a long time on a trip last weekend. But I digress...
She prescribed Hydroclorothiazide for my blood pressure and didn't see a lot of side effects but I don't like taking prescriptions...any body know what this is and does besides get the water out?
By the way - they did an EKG and it was okay so the arm pain may just be tension from where I usually carry it in my tight muscles in my shoulders.  They drew blood as well for other tests but, of course, nothings conclusive until all that comes back.
Also - my eye is doing great from using the Manuka honey (had an infection).  Just need to continue with warm compresses to finish clearing it up.
So what about that Hydro stuff? Who's got the 411 on that?     Thanks!

I was just put on it too, on 2/15/11, so would love to hear what you have to say.  I think I posted this earlier but lets have a go at it again.

I am working to try and get off of it . . .

no need for two threads floating around on the same

Hydrochlorothiazide