Well I saw my doctor today and he is thrilled with my weight loss. Unfortunately, my blood pressure is high and he wants it down by a surgery date I have booked in June. I need to drop 12 points by June. I don't use salt, don't drink, don't exercise much (I thought that I could slip that in here) and my blood pressure was better before I lost the weight . I offered to start eating again and he didn't much like that option. He wanted to put me on hypertension medication, but I hear that once you start that - it is a lifelong thing. So I have two months. I am going to start walking, but anything beyond that is a problem. I have exercise induced anaphalaxis (?) and I break out in a rash a my lips and tongue swell if I push too hard ( It was a great thing in gym class as a child!) Any advice? Quick tricks? Magic potions?

Hi carrot-top,

First of all hypertensive medications are not something you will be required to take for the rest of your life once you start them. You take them as needed as long as they help you and then wean off of them if you are able.

Do you have white-coat hypertension? That is, is your pressure elevated in the doctor-office setting? Do you have a home cuff you can take daily measurements and document? If this gives you better readings you may fit the white-coat hypertension category and your doc may accept blood pressure logs if they are kept accurately.

If your diet really is not contributing to this problem, nor your weight, medication really is a great option. I would suggest you practice some type of meditation/breathing-relaxing exercises a few times a day; that may go a long way to overall being calm and such. However, your hypertension could be unrelated to anything you are doing or can do, something only medication can rectify. Do some research and see what your options are. Good luck.

I agree with Alicat.

Many times people that go on meds stay on them for life. But, in my opinion, with few exceptions, it's because they do nothing to lower their blood pressure naturally.

It is very important that high BP be lowered. It is also very important to make sure that the BP is in fact high. It could be white coat syndrome....and that's one thing you can test on your own. Check your BP daily for a week or so and see if it's elevated. You can either buy your own set and take it yourself....it's really very easy...or go to the local pharmacy daily for a week or two. It's very important that you sit comfortably with your legs and arms uncrossed and relaxed.

If you have your own set up, take it several times a day for a week or two and keep a record, noting what you were doing and/or feeling prior to taking it.

Meditation is very good for lowering your BP. Relaxation exercises are great too. If you do resistance exercises, make sure you're breathing right. Make sure you get enough potassium and not too much salt. Make sure your intake and output pretty much balance each other out. Don't restrict your fluid intake without checking with your doc.

If you do go on meds, ask your doc to try you on the minimum treatment first....and the older drugs if possible. For some people just a low dose of a diuretic (water pill) is enough to bring their BP down.

Blood pressure can vary a lot depending up circumstances. If you talk while your blood pressure is being taken, it will be elevated. As others have suggested, take you pressure in a relaxed atmosphere a few times through out the day and over a few weeks to see how it varies.

I am surprised that your doctor wants to put you on medication after a single high measurement.

If you can get hold of a copy of "Dr. Bernsteins's Diabetes Solution", there is an excellent section about the various blood pressure medications.

Have they told you before that your BP is high. Because mine has been high for the past year. This last year was the first time they said anything to me but still haven't put me on meds. The DR put me on BP meds awhile back to relieve pressure to my head when they found out I was having migrains but I stopped taking them because of weight gain & low energy level.

What you could probably do for exersize is gofor a 15 min. walk in the morning then another 15 min walk later on in the day. You need some type of exersize.

Good luck.

A few years ago, my Dr. refused to approve me for surgery because of high blood pressure. He put me on medication to get the pressure down and suggested I lose some weight. I took the medication for over a year while trying without success to lose weight on my low-fat low calorie diet. 9 months and 90 pounds less after starting Atkins, he began reducing my dosage until 7 months ago when he cancelled the medication completely. My current bp is 118/62. Getting your pressure under control is very important. Whether you will be able to eliminate the medication will depend on the cause of your high blood pressure. In my case it was apparently a weight driven issue.

I don't add a lot of salt, but many foods do have a lot of sodium and that could be effecting you.
Canned broths, pickles, olives, processed meats and cheeses all have pretty high sodium content and it can add up over the course of a day.