Has anyone been able to get off blood pressure medicines through diet and exercise? I want to know if you can .
Julio, it depends entirely on what your BP was before you started taking meds.
Hi whether you can get off meds will depend on your age, weight, health issues and if you have other congenital problems, why did your GP put u on them originally and how long ago.
Also what strength and is it just one medication
Hi Julio, I would like to think so!! I posted recently that I am really fed up with the meds, having tried three lots I am so depressed at the thought of all these side effects for the rest of my life. Mainly the dizziness and brain fog. I hope you manage to get off them and I too would love to know if anyone has through diet and exercise.
best of luck.
Hi Julio, I have not personally but my 2 sons were able to get off with diet and exercise. Losing weight can definitely help for some people.
Really does depend on the circumstances. For example, if you're in your mid-50s, generally good health, but put on meds by an over-zealous doctor because your BP was 145/90, I'd say you could do it with lifestyle methods instead. (I did at that age.) Acceptable levels of BP for older people have tended to rise in recent years according to most medical thinking, but some doctors still stick to the old rules.
If, on the other hand, you're 35 and you had a starting BP of, say, 190/140 then forget coming off meds, or you'd be putting yourself in danger.
That's not to say that lifestyle changes won't help even if you do have to take medication for the rest of your life. You might even be able to reduce the dose. By lifestyle changes I mean cutting down on salt, cutting back on carbs (and especially sugar, including sugary drinks), eating more green veg and oily fish, taking regular exercise (walking, cycling or swimming will do), stopping or at least cutting down on smoking, and losing weight if you need to - though all these measures will help with that anyway.
But it really does all depend on your starting point.
That's true it's just this meds always have sides effects
I take 40mg/25 ofbenicar with htcz and 12.5mg of Spirolactone.
Me too the side effects are what makes them not pleasant at all . And that's what I was wondering because one of my doctors believes I can do it . He is so positive and it's motivating.
Do you mind me asking how old are your sons ? Because I am 32 years old and and I am at my heaviest I have been I weight 132 kg and my doctors tells me to try to loose 30 kgs and he thinks I would probably be able to get off meds
My starting point is hard to determine because I suffer from anxiety also . There days when I had office visits and it's was 150s /high 80s but then there were also days that I was there at 180s/low 90s. And also that's part of the reason my doctor wants me to loose weight because exercise can help both and then he will determine if I can or can't. Or atleast reduce the meds
Sounds as if it might be possible to do this without meds, or at least on a reduced dose of meds. The diastolic is generally considered more important than the systolic, and high 80s or even low 90s isn't all that high. The 180 systolic could also be explained by anxiety.
I'm wondering whether you have a home BP monitor so you can check your own BP from time to time, to see whether this is the well-known "white coat syndrome". Also wondering whether you've had 24-hour monitoring - the one where you wear a monitoring device for a whole day.
132kg does sound pretty heavy, unless you're very tall and also an athlete. (Muscle weighs more than fat.) I think your doctor is right about losing some weight. When my BP got up to 150/90 in my mid-50s, I brought it down to 120/80 by losing a very modest amount of weight - only about 5kg - but then I wasn't as seriously overweight as you. It stayed there for about 15 years, but has recently started creeping up again.
Better start that exercise programme straight away! It doesn't necessarily have to be in a gym. In fact, gentler exercise (e.g. brisk walking, cycling) done for an hour a day on at least five days a week is often more effective than a vigorous gym work-out once a week.
I am 6ft tall but yea I could use the weight loss. I do have white coat syndrome. I am going to try to eat healthier and work out I want to get my life back . Everything has been going backwards lately and I am only 32 so I am not old and I want to live healthier and happier .
Oh dear, yes - that gives you a BMI of >39, putting you dangerously near the morbidly obese level. Your health will certainly improve if you lose some weight. But like I said, don't go at it like a bull in a china shop, with aggressive exercising and dieting. Slow and steady weight loss is more sustainable.
I know it's hard because of my anxiety . I took lexapro for like 8 months and gained 15kg with out doing anything different. But I will get back on track . One day at a time
Yes, I know of people who have done it, it takes a lot of discipline and most people
would rather take a prescription, but as we all know, they're not without side effects,
some donwright intolerable. You can not be deficient in potassium blood levels and
expect your pressures to remain in the normal range if you have hypertension. Beet juice extract (not more than 2 ozs) taken straight or mixed into water or a juice can be quite effective at keeping #s down.
I have heard about how great beets are . A coworker has controlled here with a beet root vitamin but hers numbers were border line
Hi Julio,
I came off my BP medication through diet and some exercise. I am a 70 year old lady, and my start weight was approx 86 Kg.
I followed the 'Eight Week Blood Sugar Diet' which is really designed for people with Type 2 Diabetes. I don't have T2D, nor was I pre-Diabetic. But, for me, one of the benefits of the diet was that it also reduced Blood Pressure.
The whole basis of the diet is to eliminate sugar from your food and drinks - by this I mean 'added' sugar in foods like most fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits, sweets, etc. It's a low carb, high fat diet - and it really worked for me.
The diet is based on research being carried out at the University of Newcastle by Prof Roy Taylor and his team, much of which is being funded by Diabetes UK. A book about the diet has been written by Dr Michael Moseley, and is available in bookshops and online.
My weight dropped to 68 Kg and I'm still trying to lose more. As I'm an 'oldie' I cannot exercise too much, but try to walk regularly - at least a mile or two each day.
Whilst on the diet my BP dropped to 116/68 and began to fall lower. I regularly monitor my own BP at home, so I talked with my GP about coming off the medication, in case my BP fell too low. My GP was entirely happy for me to do this, and congratulated me on my weight loss, and other lifestyle changes. She trusts me to continue to monitor my BP and go back on medication should the need arise.
So it can be done. But I suggest that you follow your GP's advice about taking medication until you have lost quite a lot of weight, and both your GP and you can see a noticeable, continuing fall in your BP to 'healthy/normal' levels.
Hope this helps, and good luck.
I have often wondered if it is worth my while trying to stop the concotion of medications that I am taking for my BP.
I am 65 year old male, 144 pounds, 5'8" tall with several medications, like ACE inhibitor, Calcium Channel blocker etc. I am also taking statins and few vitamin supplemetns like D3 and B12. I had Angioplasty done few years ago.
I have a very helthy way of living, with diet consisting of veganism with no oil or processed food, exercise almost every day for an hour.
BP right now is very normal, around 115/73. I am not sure when I started taking the meds, must be about 10 years ago.
I would love to give up al least some, if not all the meds.
thanks
Hi Sean, Sounds to me as if you might be on a bit too much medication. 115/73 is low side for a 65-year-old. If it gets much lower you could start having dizzy spells in the coming years.
However, as you've presumably had, and possibly still have, atherosclerosis, I'd advise only reducing or stopping meds under strict medical advice. No need to be intimidated by your doctor. It's your body, so tell him/her how you feel.