Do you have high blood pressure, too?
 

Cross-posted from "Dieting with Obstacles":

I'm not sure if this goes here as having high bp doesn't make it harder for me to lose, it's the most compelling medical reason I have to lose. But I thought I'd check here just in case. I may cross-post around.

I have battled my weight all my life. I've been everything from under to over and average and back again and I've never had high bp. My health just never suffered (no high cholesterol, easy pregnancy - except for high bp in the end, etc) because of my weight. I've even been pretty fit at times. But now I have high bp and I'm trying to control it with diet and exercise instead of meds.

Anyone else managed to get your bp down with diet and exercise? Anyone losing to lower your bp? Any thoughts? I'd welcome advice from someone with experience or anyone just starting out.

Maybe we could have a "lowering your bp" support group?

Hi Nicole-
Just want to let you know that I had NASTY hbp. 159/120 whew..... I was at 262 lbs. I cut out all of the sodium and salt and "voila" 46 lbs later, I'm back to normal with no meds. Feel better, no acid reflux, no nothing. DH was also in the heart attack range-he lost 120 lbs and now he is 125/90. So, maybe weight loss will help you too.
Good luck to you!!!
Jan

Thanks, that so great to hear. I have already reverted to my "no fast food, canned food, processed food, canned food" rule and I've cut WAY back on caffeine. The top number is now consistently fine (in the 120s) but the bottom number stays between 94 and 101. Yikes.

Have any recipes or tips or is it pretty much just low sodium, low fat? It seems simple so I'm hopeful.

All of my stats were always fine until I hit about 225 pounds, then suddenly I needed BP meds. That wasn't enough of a wake up call for me, so I continued to balloon up to 246. At that weight I was put on a second BP pill, and I started noticing heartburn, which I had also never had. The lightbulb went off in my head and I got my act together. Since August I've dropped 76 pounds and ONE of the BP meds. I'm now 55 pounds lighter than when I first needed the medication, yet my body still needs it. I truly thought I would be off of it completely by now. My doctor is hoping that when I hit my target weight of 140-145 I'll be able to come off the other pill. I'm hoping I didn't do permanent damage to my body that will require me to be on the medication for the rest of my life, even at a healthy weight....that would really suck!

Kelly, congratulations on your amazing weight loss! That's really impressive!

And I do hope you get to drop your other med. I imagine it must be frustrating to have such great results in one way and still be waiting for results on the thing that got you started.

At 234 lbs. my BP registered as 250/149. Critically high and I was on 8 BP pills a day at the time. After losing the wt. my BP is now 110/60 and I take a half of a BP pill a day. It's a true miracle that I never suffered a stroke or a heart attack. I had no symptoms with the humongously high BP. Losing the wt. certainly saved my life.

I don't think anybody would debate the issue of blood pressure & weight...clearly, being overweight is a major factor in high blood pressure. And I certainly would never suggest that losing weight won't HELP - sometimes, as in Lillybelle's case, there are drastic changes, to be sure - BUT, I would caution against the expectation in all cases of being able to completely throw out the medication. There are some genetic predisposing factors when it comes to high blood pressure, and you can be at an ideal weight and exercise religiously and STILL may have to be on some kind of meds. Probably not as many, or as much as if you were morbidly obese, but it still may take medication to stay within the normal ranges for blood pressure.

My sister, who has never weighed much more than 100 pounds soaking wet (she's 5'3) and has always been active - day-long hiking outings, bike riding, skiing, boating, swimming, etc., etc., has been on blood pressure meds since she was in her early 40's. I started on them in my mid-forties, and at 140 pounds (I'm 5'6, and that's not very heavy for that height and my bone structure) and MY DOCTOR used to tell me I should lose weight, and that I could probably go off the meds. NOT true! I dieted down to 130, looked AWFUL, and my blood pressure still needed to be regulated by meds!!!!!! Needless to say, I have now gained WAY too much weight and am struggling to take it off, but I don't think I'm ever really going to be able to completely throw away my blood pressure meds. My MOTHER had high blood pressure, my AUNTS on her side all had high blood pressure, and THEIR MOTHER had high blood pressure.

BUT, yes, losing weight will certainly help. Let's ALL lose our weight!!! Yay, us!!!! :D

Have a great day,

Ella :twirly:

Yup, mine was inching up into the 90's. Now it's nicely around 115/70 most of the time. My resting pulse is a lot lower too.

What jillybean says makes sense--regarding exercise. That lower number has to do with stress. Cutting down on caffeine can also help. But you should always check with your doctor.

Jay

My husband significantly lowered his BP with diet. He stopped eating simple carbs and sugar and dropped about 50 lbs and his high blood pressure. He was looking at going on medication before he went on the diet.

Thanks for all this info. I was so excited to see all the responses!

I have cut WAY down on sodium, fat, and caffeine (so sad. Caffeine gets me through the day!). I am having a bit of a hard time figuring out what to eat if I also cut out simple carbs and sugar so it's a learning process. I know that sugar isn't good for anyone, but I'm very leery of fake sweetners (unless they're in Diet Coke and then I am certain they are magically OK - ha!).

I AM starting with some cardio, it's just hard to carve out the time but really, even *I* am getting tired of hearing me make that excuse. If I have to get up at five to be awake before the baby, then I'm just going to have to do it. And we are closing on a house with a big yard and a pool so I'm expecting to get a LOT more exercise soon.

Thank you again for all the info. I'm carefully reading everything and making notes!

Potassium is supposed to help counter b.p. I can't remember exactly how or why. Bananas are a great source.

That is good to know. I'm going to look it up right now - thanks!