high blood pressure what to do?

Question

hi - I've been on blood pressure meds for a while - it pretty much runs in the family - my blood pressure has been increasing over the last month - and I have been taking 20 mg enalapril in the morning and 50 mg of toprol in the evening - when it first started increasing they said I could go to 100 of toprol if needed, and then my bp was down for several days - and has been ok. this morning when I woke up though I knew it was very high - I took my enalapril waited 30 minutes and then took my bp - (I was scared to take it when it was so high) and then after a half hour it was down to 166/146 or so - but still quite high.

so I plan to go to 100 for sure tonight since they said I could. it seems like I"m fine when moving around but when I sleep it goes quite high.
I don't know why. it is baffling to me.

thanks

I already follow a very low fat vegan diet. I exercise as much as a person with a spinal injury can do. I do water exercise frequently and I go to PT several times a week.
I"ve read trudeau's books also.

my wife died last year, and then my dog died in august - so I'm alone - that's a big part of the problem. I'm trying

I'm weighing more than I normally do - but I'm eating less and exercising more. I"ve been on steroid replacement for adrenal insufficiency and my adrenals started waking up in may and I've been tapering down on the hydrocortisone since. I"m a big guy - and I don't look very fat at 300. If I was 270 or so I'd look fit, and 250-260 or so I"d look extremely fit. I'm probably 40-50 pounds overweight, and I'm very muscular.

I try to cut salt. but I still have some

Answer 1

Mine was doing this and then I had a heart attack. Take the higher dose tonight but I would talk to your Dr. about it when you can. In the mean time if you have chest, back, neck, jaw or a numbing pain in the arms of feel like passing out go to the ER.

Answer 2

Blood pressure measurements don't count for anything if you've been walking around. Ideally, you should be sitting down for at least 5 minutes or so. Blood pressure also can vary during the day, so it's best to get measurements from similar times during the day. No caffeine in the morning either. These measurements should be repeated on a few separate occasions. Some people get "white coat hypertension" when they go to the doctor's office because they are nervous. Probably blood pressure medicines wouldn't kill you. But you don't necessarily need blood pressure medicines if your blood pressure is only high while active. When doctors study the effects of high blood pressure, they study the effects of people who are diagnosed with it as described above. You are probably at no higher cardiac risk from your blood pressure.

Answer 3

166/146 is really high. I don't know what drives your bp problems, but losing weight has helped me in the past. Also, I'm on Norvasc & Altace which seems to be a great combination for me. Lately I've been hitting right around 120/80 while on these two meds. If enalapril & toprol don't work for you, just know that there are lots of others you can try until you get what's right for your body. Good luck!

Answer 4

5 Steps You Can Follow

1. If you are a smoker, stop. Nicotine results in constriction of your arteries and increases your heart rate.
2. If you have to lose some pounds, do it; reducing blood pressure through diet and exercise normally reduces the need for medication.
3. If you love salty snack, cut it down. Salt does not cause high blood pressure in everyone, but lot of people experience trouble with it, so don’t take risk.
4. If you experience very stressful situation in your life, try to eliminate it, or learn stress management; biofeedback, meditation, and other relaxation techniques.
5. If you use alcohol to control stress, restrict its use. Though alcohol does not increase everybody’s blood pressure, but it may increase yours.
http://your-blood-pressure-site.info/

Answer 5

Several questions first. Are you overweight? Are you restricting salt in your diet? Do you get any exercise?

Taking medication is relatively easy and usually effective. Modifying lifestyle is difficult.

Has your physician done any workup on you, such as checking out kidney function and plasma renin values? Sounds like you need a more extensive evaluation and a change of medication.

Answer 6

If you're taking all that medication and it's not working...why take more? Isn't it clear that the meds you're on are causing your blood pressure to either increase or not help at all? Read Kevin Trudeau's books. Going organic and not taking those meds might end up helping you. Seriously- give it a try.

Answer 7

Losing weight helps a lot. Eat small dinners and not before bed.