A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had a bad reaction to my blood pressure medicine, lisinopril. I started an experiment to see if I could control my blood pressure without using prescription meds. I went to the doctor and was prescribed lisinopril. I was taking this for a few weeks, and it was the only time I had ever taken a blood pressure medicine. After feelings serious side effects, I decided to try and control the blood pressure with supplements, and the doctor encouraged me to try. The doctor warned me that if I was not able to control my blood pressure in the next two weeks, I should call him to adjust it. I am by no means a doctor, (even though I have cured myself of yet another ailment!!!) so DO NOT stop just taking your blood pressure medicine cold turkey. I have no idea what the results of doing so might be. I will however give you some insights on ways to naturally lower blood pressure, discuss blood pressure side affects to watch out for, while talking about my long trials with blood pressure.
I have had high blood pressure off and on for several years. I was convinced that it was either stress or the insulin resistance that was causing it, so I was hoping that with diet and exercise that I could control it. Despite exercising several days a week, watching my sodium intake, and not eating processed foods, when I went to the doctor in early December, my blood pressure was 142/95 (eek!). So what was the cause of my high blood pressure? First, for those of you that are not familiar with the top and bottom numbers and what they mean, I will take a minute to briefly explain. The top number is the systolic pressure. This measures the pressure inside your blood vessels as your heart beats. Diastolic pressure, the bottom number, is the pressure inside your blood vessels in between your heart beats, when your heart is supposed to be resting. Here's a handy link I used to explain all of that the best that I could and it also will tell you what ranges are hypertension or not. http://blood-pressure.emedtv.com/blood-pressure/blood-pressure-numbers.html So, if you have high blood pressure, your heart has to work harder! Not good. Possible causes of high blood pressure include smoking, being overweight, having a thyroid disorder, genetics, older age, stress, lack of exercise, too much salt or too much alcohol. Being a non smoker, who had lost a considerable amount of weight (I want to lose 80 more pounds this year so I still have a ways to go!) who was exercising, cutting down on salt, alcohol, and having my thyroid in order (finally!) I chalked my blood pressure problems up to genetics. My mother, both aunts, and various grandparents have a history of high blood pressure. Insulin resistance can also contribute, but I had that under control also. As a result, I decided, with the encouragement of my doctor, to try lisinopril.
I was only on a small dose, 10mg, for a few weeks, yet I had many side effects. Having done a detox before starting this medicine, I felt amazing before I started it. I was losing weight and had energy and had even kicked coffee. So what happened? I had chills, body aches, flu symptoms, tiredness, muscle weakness, chest pain, cough, dizziness and drowsiness; I became very depressed and in general miserable, and had a really pesky cough. The cough and chest pain were bad enough that I thought I was starting to get bronchitis or a chest infection. When I went to the doctor, he said my chest was fine and that I was not congested. No reason for the cough or other flu/cold symptoms other than the lisinopril. There are many other side effects of it http://www.drugs.com/sfx/lisinopril-side-effects.html. And blood pressure medicines in general are known for causing adverse effects. The good people at WebMD have a nice article on the different side effects that can be caused by blood pressure medicines as well as information on the different kinds of blood pressure medicine. http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/side-effects-high-blood-pressure-medications As I said, they say on their page too- DO NOT STOP TAKING BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR. Again, even though I clearly think I am as smart as or smarter than most doctors (kidding!) because I have cured myself of many ailments, alas, I am not a doctor! (Yet?) If you really do think you are having side effects consult your doctor about slowly weaning yourself off of the blood pressure medicine so that you may try something else for awhile- whether it be another medicine or one of the other supplements I am about to discuss.
Even with a clearly genetic blood pressure disorder, I still managed to beat it using natural resources. While researching ways to lower blood pressure, I realized that I was already doing everything that most experts recommended. Losing weight, exercising regularly, lowering sodium intake and eating more healthy, limiting tobacco and alcohol, cutting back on caffeine, and stress reduction (specifically I have been doing bodyflow- see my previous posts! several days a week. Yoga is specifically mentioned in some resources as being a good stress reducer and blood pressure reducer also), were all things that I was doing already. Everything recommended to me to reduce stress and blood pressure, I was doing already. Clearly my genetics had a hold of me. After talking to a neighbor of mine, he told me about his father's success with almonds. His father regularly ran a few miles every day and also was healthy yet had high blood pressure. He didn't like taking the medicine either, so he did some serious research and found that eating a handful of almonds every day can reduce blood pressure. I decided to try almonds myself, and investigate further options. For about 20 days I have been eating almonds every day, taking magnesium, and calcium and the combination has reduced my blood pressure to 114/82. My husband assists me and checks it regularly, to make sure that it is not regressing. Sometimes it goes up to 123/85, which is still in the acceptable range. It is crucial to buy a blood pressure machine (they are pretty reasonable if you look around), do your research, and consult with your doctor if you plan on adjusting without prescription medicine. I did it with the assistance of my PCP, who is very supportive and has always believed me about my symptoms and has been one of the few doctors who I trust and respect. He helped me figure out this blood pressure thing and monitored it with me.
All I can say is that prescription medicine is a necessary, useful tool, that saves lives everyday- but it is not natural. I am not against prescription medicine in any way whatsoever. The Synthroid has helped me regulate my thyroid, and without it I would be doomed. But I am saying that there are other solutions out there. Everyone has a truth to find about their health or lives that is up to you to find. Maybe your particular blood pressure issues can't be addressed by natural means. However, trying different alternatives sometimes can surprise you. Try different alternatives, pay attention to your body, and what the side effects are doing to you. I've managed to solve several of my health issues just by paying attention to what my body was telling me and doing some research. Find your own truth. Live happy, be healthy, and have energy!
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