Mikes blood pressure is rather high. 140/100.
His GP put him on an extra Diltiazem, and he's still on Accupril.
At last check it was 135/90.
Neph hasn't done anything about it, despite it being high for ages AND he says it should always be 'perfect'.
Since they aren't really doing much about it, how are some ways to lower it naturally> i realise excersize helps.. is there anything else?
(07-05-2010 04:38 PM)Cynik Wrote: [ -> ]Mikes blood pressure is rather high. 140/100.
His GP put him on an extra Diltiazem, and he's still on Accupril.
At last check it was 135/90.
Neph hasn't done anything about it, despite it being high for ages AND he says it should always be 'perfect'.
Since they aren't really doing much about it, how are some ways to lower it naturally> i realise excersize helps.. is there anything else?
Cynik, I don't want to alarm you but watch the blood pressure!! Does he have any extra fluid on?? Hubby got in major trouble on PD. His blood pressure went very high 230/130!!! His periteneum (spl) stopped working and he wasn't getting rid of any fluid or toxins!! Watch the salt intake as well!!
definitely, watch the sodium. Processed foods are the worst,
deli meats are terrible for that. Sometimes it's almost impossible to
get the bp to a decent reading Cynik. Before, nocturnal hemo
dialysis, I was on three blood pressure medications and still I
suffered from extremely high readings, I would feel upset at times
because I felt like i was on so much medication to lower it but to
no avail. here are some idea I found over the net...
Quote:Avoid Salt (sodium).
Sodium causes you to retain fluids, which makes your blood have more fluid volume. When your blood has more volume, your heart has to pump harder to move that excess volume throughout the body. This causes the blood pressure to go up. Remember, it's not just the salt that you put on your food while cooking or at the table, it's also the amount of sodium that's in the food that you buy. You should become "label conscious" and buy "low sodium" foods. Preserved foods, tinned foods, bakery products and MSG, all tend to have sodium content.
Avoid Caffeine.
Even one or two cups of fresh ground coffee can raise blood pressure into the unhealthy Stage 1 level. If a person already has Stage 1 Hypertension, coffee usually complicates the problem even further. Caffeine is a stimulant. This causes the heart to beat faster. When the heart beats faster, the blood pressure raises. If you are a person who drinks a lot of caffeine (more than 4 caffeinated drinks/day), you may need to taper yourself off of the caffeine to prevent withdraw symptoms such as headaches.
top Smoking.
Smoking causes your blood pressure to elevate because of the stimulants in the cigarette smoke. If you stop smoking, you can not only lower your blood pressure, but you can also help your heart to become more healthy and reduce your chances for other health-related problems like lung cancer.
Lose Weight.
Carrying around this extra weight causes your heart to work harder all the time and this increases your blood pressure. Imagine having an extra 20 pounds (9 kg) on your body. That would be the same thing as carrying around a 20 pound (9 kg) bag of dog food. Try walking around the block while carrying this bag of dog food. Soon, your heart will begin to beat faster and harder, you'll become out of breath, and you'll feel very tired. Eventually, you'll get to the point where you can't wait to put that bag down. Imagine how hard it is for your body to carry around that extra weight all the time! Unfortunately, most of us are carrying around a lot more than just an extra 20 pounds (9 kg). By losing this extra weight, your heart won't have to beat as hard and you'll lower your blood pressure.
An inexpensive and very user-friendly software product titled "Fit Day" can be downloaded from their website and is incredibly easy to use in weight and health monitoring. This product is highly recommended, and costs approximately $405Avoid Drugs and Alcohol. Excessive use of drugs and alcohol can damage many organs in the body including the liver and the kidneys. When these organs are damaged, they can cause a build-up of fluids in the body. Like we talked about in step one, extra fluids make the heart beat harder and this increases the blood pressure. Also, many drugs are stimulants. These cause the heart to beat faster. As we stated earlier, the faster the heart beats, the higher the blood pressure goes. By cutting out drugs and alcohol, you'll succeed in reducing your blood pressure. Also, remember above where the common warning about sodium was described? Some over the counter medications such as simple headache remedy Ibuprofen cause the body to RETAIN sodium. So, people who are already complicating their high blood pressure condition with sodium also are retaining that sodium more than the body naturally would which causes even higher stress on your system.6Relax Many people have a temporary raise in blood pressure when they are under stress. If you have high blood pressure because you are over weight or have a family history of hypertension, then stress raises it that much more. This is because your adrenal gland releases a stress hormones which tend to put your cardiovascular system to work. If you are under chronic stress where you give of that stress hormone every day then your cardiovascular system will naturally go in a state where it is over working. This occurs due to the fact that the stress hormone increases your pulse, respiration and heart rate in an attempt to cause you to fight. Fight, because your body thinks you are in need of fighting or running and naturally gets your body ready for either one. After prolonged stress one can imagine what kind of work your heart is placed under. Try taking a walk, meditating or listening to relaxing music to take the edge off a stressful day. Make time for decompressing each and every day. A hot bath for 15 minutes actually will suppress one's blood pressure for anywhere up to several hours. Taking a hot bath just prior to bedtime can help the body retain lower blood pressure for hours or even the entire night.
Exercise
Walk every day for at least 30 minutes at a moderate speed of about 3.0 miles per hour. Study after study has demonstrated that the mere act of walking has a suppression effect on hypertension. Can't walk outside? Used treadmills can be found at all sorts of online sites for as little as $250. The advantage: walk even as it rains or snows outside. You can even walk in your pajamas without the neighbors seeing you! But do yourself a favor. Walk every day without fail. 30 minutes is all it takes, daily.8Meditate Simply observing and slowing the breath produces a significant reduction in blood pressure.
Monitor your blood pressure You can monitor you blood pressure by using a sphygmomanometer and knowing the different ranges in reading your blood pressure. This will keep you on track to lower your blood pressure according to the levels listed below
Normal blood pressure - 120/80 and below
Pre-Hypertension blood pressure - 120-139/80-89
First stage hypertension - 140-159/90-99
Second stage hypertension - : 160/100 and above
Thanks
No, no extra fluid. I should have mentioned his blood pressure has always been this high. It used to be around 160/100, before dialysis. Also, his resting heart rate is about 110bpm.
Is it possible he's lost some body weight?
If anything, he's put it on! Haha, they had to re-do his goal weight a little while ago
(07-06-2010 01:51 AM)Cynik Wrote: [ -> ]If anything, he's put it on! Haha, they had to re-do his goal weight a little while ago
I would be interested in knowing if high blood pressure runs
in his family? as it can be inherited apparently or elevated blood
pressure can be secondary to his kidney disease, because if there's
a disruption in the blood circulation to the kidneys such as to
the renal artery, or even if the adrenal gland hormone
level is off? this can cause high bp.
does he have to change timing on any b/p meds or the kind of b/p med and hows his heart? any shortness of breath? is his pulse still that high or any edema? how much wieght gain?
No history of high blood pressure in his family. But he does have a heart murmur..
Change timing?
No shortness of breath, his pulse is always that high. Edema? [Crikey, i should know this! LOL]
Weight is minimal, like a kg or two. Hes very lean, about 69kg dry.
when is the last time he saw a heart doc. edema fluid on legs ect. sorryi was asking about maybe does he have to change any meds around because of dialysis tx.