Hey all. I lurk all the time but it's been a looong time since I posted here. I sort of do low carb for a while, get great success, then go on a vacation or something and fall off the wagon. This time though I have made a stronger commitment. I read all the science, understand insulin resistance better, and I have introduced intermediate fasting into the mix (typically 24 hours but I've done up to 72). So far, so good, 41 pounds down since Valentine's day. During that time I was on the road about 75% of the time, plus saw my birthday, my wife's birthday, mother's day, etc and managed to stick to the plan through it all. So far, so good.

But.... you knew there was a "but" coming, didn't you? BUT ... my blood pressure is elevated. I've always been on the high side of normal. Hey, I was a fat guy so it was expected. Usually they take my blood pressure and say "uh oh" then take it again and it would be lower (white coat effect I guess) and they say "well, I guess it's okay but if it gets any higher you'll need meds". Usually in thee mid 140s over high 80s. This has been the pattern since the early 90s. And it was around that once agon when I got my last physical is December of 2016.

A few weeks ago I took it at home and it was like 170 over 110. Crazy high for me. Most of the literature seems to say that people's blood pressure decreases with LCHF and/or IF. And I'm down 41 pounds too, which should help it. Yet I'm an outlier right now.

One thing to note is that even at home my first reading always stinks, it comes way down after that and those early readings were only a single point. Now I measure five times in a row or so to get a better picture. I even went to the doctor to convince myself I wasn't faking myself out and his reading was 158 over 92. Pretty consistent with what I was getting at home at that point.

Anyway, since then I have done three things: I got myself off the road (no more weekly flights to the west coast), got myself off caffeine (my 8+ diet colas a day addiction is broken for two weeks now - man that was tough), and started supplementing salt, potassium, and magnesium. Sounds weird to add salt to lower blood pressure but there's growing literature that says it's a thing if you aren't getting enough through food, unless you add crazy amounts. Since then my BP has dropped (using the home monitor) to low 140s over mid 90s.

The mid/high 90s diastolic one has me more worried, I've never really been consistently that high yet all the stuff I've done hasn't really dented it. I think all those early 110 level diastolic pressures were probably just that initial anxiety I get with measuring BP so I discount them a bit, but even then I'm in the mid to high 90s all the time.

Question: does anyone else have a similar experience with blood pressure rising on LC? What did you do? Appreciate any ideas. Thanks!