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Old 09-05-2004, 08:53 PM   #1  
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Default high bp?

Hi, I'm brand new to this site, and relatively new to weight loss in general. I am 25 years old now, and have ben overweight since I was about 10. Although I am adopted, I have two very overweight parents, one of whom is also on a weight loss journey. Any guesses on where my weight problem came from? That's right folks, bad eating habits in my home! Okay, I am babbling because I have no one else to share this with who understands, but I'll try to get back to my point...

I started a fairly gutsy exercise program 5 weeks ago when my boyfriend gave me a gym membership. i was walking fairly quickly on a treadmill 6-7 days per week for 1-1 1/2 hrs per session. I was feeling great, changed my diet, and was losing about 4 pounds per week.

1 week ago, I go to my regular doctor because my feet had suddenly swollen to 3-4 times their normal size. She gravely informed me that I had high blood pressure, and must start medication immediately. Dumbfounded, as my blood pressure had always been low, I forgot to ask what the numbers actually were! Dr started me on Lasix, and I have not been to the gym since. I feel awful, constantly nauseous and fatigued. I was walking about 5 miles per day, now I cannot walk around the block without feeling faint. Is this a normal reaction to bp meds? I was healthier when I was exercising, obviously.

Going back to the Dr on the 14th, and I am going to demand to know what she calls high bp, because I have reacted pretty severely to this med. I have lost 15 pounds in 4 days, and I am worried about health risks associated with this. I want to go back to the gym, but I am now all worried about exerting myself. Plus, my gym is closed thru monday nite, but I want to be there when the doors open on Tues. I miss my exercise, it was my quiet time with myself (hope that doesn't sound too weird).

Any support will be highly appreciated!!
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Old 09-05-2004, 11:40 PM   #2  
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Hi and welcome!

About your BP...I do hope you go back to the Dr. and demand the numbers. I find it shocking that they didn't tell you to begin with and that they put you on medication right away instead of monitoring you for a few weeks!

When I had HBP that is what they did for me. They wanted to make sure it wasn't a one time thing and that my body actually needed the medication. I didn't have a bad reaction to my medication at all. In fact, I felt a whole lot better. But I didn't like the idea of being on it and I did the most that I could do to get off them....and have been for a couple years now. Losing that much weight in such a short amount of time is scary....I would get in as soon as possible to see why it's all happening.

I hope you find out the information that you need and that you are soon feeling better and are able to get back to exercising!

Come back and let us all know how you're doing!

Once again WELCOME!
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Old 09-08-2004, 09:59 AM   #3  
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Had a rough two days, sorry no updates Doing better today, but have to see the Dr at 3:15 because I complained to her nurse how sick I was feeling. I am going to make sure to get my bp numbers and remind her how healthy I was doing, exercising, etc before she started me on the meds. I'm sure she'll want to see me again after my blood test (that I "forgot" to do this week). I think if she'll just stop the meds and give me a few weeks to exercise my bp down (if it's even high) I'll be feeling much better.
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Old 09-08-2004, 10:58 AM   #4  
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The medicine she put you on is a diuretic which removed the excess water from your body that you had with the swelling. The swelling can raise your blood pressure. That water loss is what would account for a large weight loss. One of the best ways to deal with swelling is to drink enough water and watch your salt intake (remember that processed foods and fast food are usually very high in sodium).

Definitely find out what your numbers are. I have a home blood pressure monitor but you may want to find a grocery store or drug store with a blood pressure monitor. I was on an ACE inhibitor, beta blocker and a diuretic for my blood pressure. Now that I am on South Beach and losing weight, one of the first things I was able to stop was the diuretic. My blood pressure stayed down and my pulse was getting too low (beta blocker lowers the heart rate). So now I am on a lower dosage of that and will probably go off it at my next checkup. Blood pressure requires close monitoring. When you make changes in your exercise or weight loss then you may need to make changes.
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Old 09-10-2004, 07:50 PM   #5  
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Well, at my checkup I had my bp taken three times. That's right, three times. Seems no one could correctly read my bp, if you can believe that. First try was a guess at 132/80, 2nd was 145/80, 3rd try after try #2 squeezed my arm almost off was 160/80. Apparently that means the diuretic didn't help, because the first was apparently 140/80. Did my blood test today, supposed to go over the results on Tuesday afternoon. Feeling slightly better on the generic Zestril I was prescribed after the visit. Still terribly tired and dizzy, but no more nausea. This is so frustrating, today a trip to the mailbox exhausted me. I can't hardly stand not being able to go to the gym every day, hopefully I will get some direction Tuesday on how to ease back into exercise. Dr advised me Wed not to exert myself at all until we got my bp down, and I'm trying to comply. It does get better, right??
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Old 09-30-2004, 09:57 PM   #6  
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I was diagnosed with high blood pressure about 6 months ago and my dr put me on a diuretic of 25mg once a day, some days I feel great, some days I feel like I have been run over by a truck and it backed up and ran over me again! But I know working full time, raising 2 teenagers (both boys) and running them places plus keeping a home contributes to this. So I joined a national chain of ladie's workout gyms that has proven to be a wonderful outlet for me and I workout for 30 minutes during lunch every other day--this is my time with no interference from work, family, day to day stress... Now I have high cholesterol at 222, with my bad # too high, my good # way too low and triglicyrides at 403, should be 150 or less. I have been researching this through the internet and the library and found that some diuretics can cause this. I refuse to take cholesterol meds and hope to soon be off the bp med. If I eat meat, it is only chicken, turkey, or salmon. I'm getting there--slowly but surely. I once had my fortune told by an old gypsey that saw a mid life crisis that I would recover from--I'm 46, maybe this is it, but I'm too young to think this is mid-life! Good luck to everyone who reads this!
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Old 10-25-2004, 02:23 AM   #7  
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Wow, I am so glad to have found this thread! I am going through a difficult medical time right now and I desperatly need someone to talk to that has dealt with it.

I have just started working out at a 30min fitness place and have been going for 3 weeks now. I'm about 70lbs overweight. I know that I have high cholestrol and that I am overweight. Anyhow, for the last couple of weeks, I have been dizzy and nauseated all day. So I made an apt, went to the dr and got some tests done. First he told me that my bp was high but that he had to check it again at least twice to get an accurate analysis of it. He said that the dizziness was probably from a bladder infection that I didn't even know I had. So I had to go back for more blood tests and just got the results on last Fri. He said that my bp is high, my cholestrol is high, my vitamin B12 is low and that I'm overweight. Sooo he put me on bp meds, and set me up with a dietician. He said that I would most likely be on the bp meds for life! I was shocked! I'm only 26! There is no way that I want to be on a pill for life! This is the 1st time I've had any kind of problem with my bp and I'm more inclined to think its circumstantial rather than a real problem. I haven't started taking the pills yet and I really am scared of the side effects. The pill he prescribed is called Coversyl and are 4mg each. Anyone taken them?

I'm also wondering if anyone has been able to get off the pills once on them. I really don't want to be dependant on a pill for the rest of my life! Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm kind of scared of all of this. To me this is a Huge change. It's making me really realize that I have a problem that I need to deal with! Scary stuff!

Wanda
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Old 11-06-2004, 01:30 PM   #8  
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I've got a nasty cold, anyone know of any over the counter decongestant/sore throat remedies that don't have warnings not to use if you have high bp?
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Old 11-06-2004, 07:16 PM   #9  
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tigger, I have intermittant high bp....but 140/80 wouldn't particularly alarm my doctor any time I hit 135/90 and up they start to get worried. What is your bp normally? Also ask the nurses to make sure they use a large cuff when they take your bp, on overweight people if they use a regular cuff it can make your bp read higher than it actually is. This is what my pulmonologist does and then we know for sure.

When my bp gets high my doctor puts me on a week of Labetalol which totally crashes me out because I'm not used to taking it all the time but then I'm usually good until I get sick again which will raise my bp but I've noticed as my weight has come off I have less and less instances of high bp.

Now on the decongestants I'm not sure because I don't take them because they make me feel funky so I stay away and drink lots of water and use saline drops in my nose, or sometimes my flonase inhaler and it works well.

I hope you are feeling better
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Old 11-10-2004, 09:54 AM   #10  
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You can get off bp meds if you get your weight down to a normal range, avoid sodium (salt) like the plague, and exercise moderately.
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Old 11-12-2004, 07:28 PM   #11  
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I agree with Susan. Improving the rest of your health could very well eliminate the bp problems. I have read about many people who lost a significant amount of weight and were able to get off meds for bp, diabetes, and cholesterol. I have seen reports that say losing 10% of your body weight may reduce your needs for meds.

I have also heard that once you start bp meds, you will never be able to get off of them. One of my brothers was put on bp meds while going thru a divorce and fighting in operation desert storm. He was told by another doctor years later that starting bp meds was a lifetime commitment and that he probably shouldn't have been put on them in the first place. His current doctor said that's not true and he does need to be on the med because his bp still isn't down.

I think some people attach too much weight (excuse the pun) to the problems associated with being overweight. There are many people of "normal" weight with bad numbers for health stats. That's why they have those commercials with really healthy looking people falling down (then they show a high cholesterol #).

People seem to forget that heredity plays a big part in our health numbers. It's not always the size.
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Old 11-14-2004, 11:23 AM   #12  
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I agree that heredity does play a role, I feel like I have a predisposition for high bp. I also agree that if I had not been overweight most of my adult life it wouldn't have occurred so early on. It's definately under control now, despite the report from my employment physical that claimed it was 146/95. The dr made me go to my primary doc and get a note saying what my bp was when she checked it and if my meds needed adjusting. She checked it and got 118/80 and wrote a note saying maybe he should have used the right sized bp cuff It was one of those automatic ones with a small cuff that you put the cuff on and a machine puffs it up and reads it. Guess a machine is only as accurate as the guy choosing the cuff size!
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