What over-the-counter medicines are good for lowering high blood pressure?

Question

Is it true that cod liver oil helps?

Answer 1

If you haven't already done this, it's also a good idea to talk with your doctor about all of the prescription and over-the-counter medicines you take. Some, including common pain relievers and decongestants, can elevate blood pressure.

Research studies have shown that the following strategies can lead to modest but lasting decreases in blood pressure. The payoff is big: Healthy blood pressure reduces your risk of stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.

1. Exercise regularly. Exercise is powerful medicine. Walking briskly for 30 minutes to 45 minutes, five or six days a week, can lower your blood pressure up to 10 points. We recommend combining an aerobic activity that you enjoy – such as walking, swimming, running or biking – with some type of resistance exercise, such as lifting light weights.

During aerobic exercise, work hard enough to break into a sweat, but not so hard that you become out of breath or unable to converse. If you are just getting in shape, start with 20 minutes of aerobic activity, three times a week. Gradually build to 60 minutes daily. Talk with your physician for advice specific to your needs.

For strength training, use light weights and do multiple repetitions. Your muscles should tire after 10 to 15 reps.

Physical activity yields a two-fer benefit for your blood pressure: Exercise is great for arterial health, and it builds muscle and burns stored fat to keep you at an ideal weight.

2. If you are overweight, lose weight. Excess weight raises blood pressure. You can lose pounds, if you need to, by cutting calories, increasing physical activity and eating proper foods.

3. Eat a healthy diet. Food is another powerful medicine. Whether you need to lose weight or not, eating well can improve your blood pressure. That means eating fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy oils (such as olive and canola), foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, tuna, walnuts and flaxseed, for example) and two or three servings daily of low-fat or nonfat dairy products. It also means avoiding saturated and trans fats.

Researchers studying the effects of diet on high blood pressure created the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet. This also is a good diet to help with losing weight. Providence’s medical library offers several tips for following the DASH diet.

4. Limit your salt usage. A sudden jump in blood pressure may be a sign of salt-sensitive hypertension. Overall, about half of Americans with high blood pressure are sodium sensitive; it's particularly common in African-Americans and those over age 65. Cutting the salt in your diet can result in anything from a small to a dramatic improvement in high blood pressure, depending on your level of salt sensitivity.

Keep sodium intake under 2,000 to 2,500 mg daily (one teaspoon of salt is about 2,300 mg). That's far below the 3,300 mg per day that’s typical in the American diet. Count the salt you shake as well as the salt in restaurant meals and processed foods. You'll want to quiz the server, read package labels and emphasize natural, whole foods.

5. Drink alcohol moderately, if at all. Although moderate alcohol consumption does not reduce the risk of high blood pressure, it is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines “moderate” consumption as an average of no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. Drinking more than a moderate amount increases the risk of high blood pressure.

Some other good moves
Some studies suggest that calcium and potassium supplements lower blood pressure. Because the scientific data are mixed, we can't recommend a dosage or confidently say that calcium and potassium will reduce blood pressure.

For some people, 500 mg of vitamin C and 400 to 800 mg of magnesium oxide are helpful.

Chocolate lovers can celebrate this finding: About an ounce a day of seriously dark chocolate – that’s chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 70 percent – tends to improve blood pressure.

Breathing techniques, such as yoga and meditation, can relax the blood vessel walls and reduce blood pressure, too.

After you've worked on these lifestyle modifications for three or four weeks, ask your health care provider to recheck your blood pressure. Most people can expect to see clear, sustainable improvement.

An aside: We don't much like taking medications, either. But if you end up needing blood pressure medicine to achieve a healthy blood pressure, don't be discouraged. The medicines are effective and safe, and they present only mild side effects, if any. Studies comparing older and newer blood pressure medicines found that one of the oldest and cheapest classes of drugs (the thiazide diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide and chlorthalidone) was as good as, or better than, the newer, more expensive ones.

The numbers
It's great that your high blood pressure was diagnosed and that you want to act on it. About a third of Americans with high blood pressure do not even know they have it, and even among those who have been diagnosed, hypertension often remains uncontrolled. Yet it is a serious and very treatable illness.

Two years ago, the federal government revised its high blood pressure guidelines after research showed that even slightly elevated blood pressure starts damaging the arteries and increasing the risk of a heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. The new guidelines specify the blood pressure numbers that indicate when a person is considered “hypertensive,” as well as a new category for "prehypertensive" people who are at risk for developing high blood pressure. The new category is a red flag to spur Americans to make the kinds of lifestyle changes that you are interested in. The idea is to prevent the upward creep of blood pressure that tends to happen with age.

Answer 2

As far as I am aware, there ARE no over-the-counter remedies that LOWER a person's blood pressure, and are GOOD for you at the same time.

There are a variety of things that you can take to reduce stress, like peppermints and chamomile tea, which tends to reduce one's blood pressure, but, the only things that actually lower a person's blood pressure really aren't all that good for you.

Alcohol, as in ethanol, as in beverages that you have to be twenty-one to purchase will lower a person's blood pressure, but, can cause a variety of other problems.

Aspirin thins the blood making it flow through a person's arteries easier making the heart have to work less to get it pushed into the capillaries, but, thinning the blood can make a person with artery damage just that much more likely to have an aneurism or a stroke.

So, I would recommend not relying upon any kind of over-the-counter remedies, nor would I recommend any kind of pharmaceuticals without an MD's say-so. But, I would echo the advice of several of my co-contributors, and recommend a gradual increas of exercise and immediate measures toward stress-reduction.

Answer 3

A high blood pressure as that could be lowered in the ER by giving BP lowering medicines but there is danger in doing it quickly. A quick decrease in BP could result to dizziness and rebound hypertension (meaning the BP quickly lowers and quickly increases again). A person might collapse from a shoot down in BP. Your partner must monitor his BP for 3 consecutive days at the same hour (perferably in the morning) and must be done so after 10-15 minutes of rest from any activity. If his BP is still greater than 140/90 in 2 out of 3 days, then your partner must start taking hypertensive medications as this is a sign that indeed he/she is hypertensive and that diet and exercise may be good but might not be enough to control his blood pressure. Change in lifestyle may only work alone if there is only 1 out of 3 days that he has a high BP.

Answer 4

3 years ago, I was diagnosed - hypertension with a reading of 160/100. I used to feel dizzy a lot, my legs had awful cramps, and levels were very low in my potassium, causing my fingers and toes to always cramp together. One day I started to feel really faint while I was driving with my daughter in the back seat and I passed out, hitting 3 cars and ending up in a ditch. That moment,I knew I had to do something because my meds weren't working. I heard about this diet from a friend and thought I'd give it a shot. The results have been remarkable. In just 21 days, I honestly can't remember feeling this good, my blood pressure went from 175/110 to 125/70.

Answer 5

If your blood pressure is high, and I'm assuming you've taken a reading yourself, you need to see your GP. There are no "Over The Counter" remedies for hypertension. Your GP will be able to prescribe the best medication, depending on your personal circumstances. There are several different types of medication to combat this problem, so you need to get checked out to find the best one for you. High blood pressure is a common problem but can easily be controlled with the right medication. See the doctor!

Answer 6

Cod liver oil might just possibly do something, because it has been shown that spending time in the sun lowers the blood pressure a little bit.
Garlic would be your best bet though. I know someone who ended up not needing their prescribed drug for blood pressure after starting to eat it regularly.
Bit of a problem if you or someone close to you can't stand the smell...

Answer 7

Frankly, none.

The non-prescription things that are good for lowering blood pressure aren't medications at all. It boils down to getting at least 20 minutes of gets-you-sweaty-and-short- of-breath exercise at least three (and preferably 30 minutes seven) times a week; avoiding products high in sodium (salty foods, preprepared foods, most brands of canned foods); getting a diet rich in calcium, potassium and magnesium; and getting down to your ideal body weight, or at least within 10% of it.

The other thing is to choose your grandparents carefully: although the mechanism is not completely clear, there is a strong hereditary factor in elevated blood pressure.

OK, so you can't change your grandparents. The changing diet, exercise and body weight thing is at least doable!

Answer 8

I have heard that. But, I am not fond of herbal products. There is really no research prooving their benefit and some can have some major side effects and interactions with other drugs. If your in a lower stage of hypertension, I would try diet and exercise first. Good luck.

Answer 9

Instead of sitting and reading through, listen to books on tape as you walk, clean, or garden.

Answer 10

1

Answer 11

Slide a tiny trampoline under your couch in addition to pull it out for Property of Cards marathons.