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  #1   ^
Old Thu, May-18-17, 10:18
Megabux's Avatar
Megabux Megabux is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 158
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 311/224.4/185 Male 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 69%
Location: New Jersey, USA
Default Elevated Blood Pressure on LCHF

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!
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, May-20-17, 16:02
Megabux's Avatar
Megabux Megabux is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 158
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 311/224.4/185 Male 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 69%
Location: New Jersey, USA
Default

I guess I'm alone. For those who may be curious (even in the future) my pressure is down now. This morning it was in the 125/91 area, in the later afternoon it was 137 / 91. Still a tad high in the diastolic but the systolic looks good. So what changed? I dropped the sodium supplements two days ago. Kept magnesium and potassium. I think it's possible the sodium was actually elevating it in my case, preventing the other changes from really showing up. One can never be sure, will keep monitoring it but I'm much less worried about it now.
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  #3   ^
Old Sat, May-20-17, 16:36
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
Default

Hi Mega, Thanks for talking about your blood pressure findings. I fin that really interesting.
I think that's great how it's come down now and I too think that potassium and Mag help a lot. I eat a lot of bacon LOL so I do get my salt. But if I don't get my Potassium, I definitely get really lethargic and a couple of years ago dizzy too so I began taking it. I think I just hit the point where I really needed it with no processed foods and low carb for a year.

Keep posting and others will respond also.
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  #4   ^
Old Sat, May-20-17, 20:14
Grav Grav is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,469
 
Plan: Banting
Stats: 302/187/187 Male 175cm
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: New Zealand
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My BP was generally around 120/85 for as long as I can remember and was never considered an issue. I haven't had it checked regularly but last time it did come back at around 140/95. That was a little higher than either me or the doc might have liked (along with my LDL-C), but since I was losing so much weight at the time we didn't give it too much emphasis.

By the time I get it checked again around the middle of the year I'll have been in maintenance for about 6 months, so hopefully I'll have a clearer picture of things then.
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  #5   ^
Old Sun, May-21-17, 02:26
Mama Sebo's Avatar
Mama Sebo Mama Sebo is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,202
 
Plan: Keto, IF
Stats: 224/136/124 Female 64 inches
BF:44%/23%/20%
Progress: 88%
Location: Kenya-teleworking Austria
Default

Glad to see this nd thanks for sharing Mega, my story is very similar, my BP was always fine, then last fall tended a little toward high, then in december while I was on home leave shot up to 170/110, and thus became the key health problem for me (I live overseas and need to maintain a medical clearance. My diabetes is controled and my wieght is way down, but suddenly up comes the BP!) . I started on lisiprol, and had good but not great results. I have a very stressful job, and find that daily meditation and focus on anxiety reduction helps. My docs suggest its inherited, my gfather died of a heartattack at below 60. Anyway, I appreciate any suggestions and ideas. Will explore my current potassium and magnesium intake. I wake up to anything from 125/80 to 145/90 BP these days.
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  #6   ^
Old Sun, May-21-17, 11:37
Monika4 Monika4 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 988
 
Plan: South beach (modified)
Stats: 185/153/150 Female 5' 6.5''
BF:
Progress: 91%
Location: Michigan
Default

Hi! Reading "started supplementing salt, potassium, and magnesium" - I thought ah... even before I read that your BP came down after taking out the salt... I take Ca/Mg only. Some people have salt sensitive BP, some not - it might be worth experimenting with. And Mama Sebo, yes, it is inherited (I am lucky - both my parents were medicated for too LOW blood pressure...and my highest has been 125/80, my usual is 95-110 over 60-75. But inherited or not, we can modify - I am a geneticist study nature nurture!

I would say check also how much you exercise - if you increase your general fitness, your resting BP will go lower naturally.
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  #7   ^
Old Sun, May-21-17, 13:02
mike_d's Avatar
mike_d mike_d is offline
Grease is the word!
Posts: 8,475
 
Plan: PSMF/IF
Stats: 236/181/180 Male 72 inches
BF:disappearing!
Progress: 98%
Location: Alamo city, Texas
Default

Quote:
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.
I sometimes get the 1st high reading, or when checked at the clinic it's called "white coat hypertension" likely anxiety induced. Taking multiple readings close together, or pumping the cuff over 220 mmHG can distort readings, or so I was told.

Have high BP on both sides of the family, always been active and my BP went to normal quickly when starting Atkins, even before I lost all the weight, then over time it gradually started going up to around 150/75. It's been a struggle for awhile to get it back down with out taking 3 drugs. A beta-blocker was the most effective in my case, as it blocks the stress effects. Finally mine is normal and I was taken off medication. I hope to stay that way with all my recent interventions. All drugs have side effects not all of them are good.
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, May-22-17, 13:00
Megabux's Avatar
Megabux Megabux is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 158
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 311/224.4/185 Male 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 69%
Location: New Jersey, USA
Default

Thanks for all the replies, helps to know that others have seen similar things, not because I wish it on anyone but rather because it confirms that it's something that can be seen on the way of eating. Mostly I see "my BP dropped for the first time in my life" and I was like "mine went up. Is this harming me?"

Currently I seem to be settled in at the about 140/89 or so. This is what I've been (give or take) most of my life. Doctor always tsk-tsks me and says if it's not better next time he's going to put me on drugs and I nod sagely and pretend that I'll let him. So back to normal I guess! And one upside: I've been promising myself for years I'd kick the soda habbit. Well, I'm totally caffeine free for about three weeks now, will have a couple cafeine free diet sodas a day now still but mostly I just drink water. And while I still do drink those caffeine free diet sodas, the addicition is gone at least. I'll phase them out naturally now just to get rid of the artificial sweeteners. So a win!

I found a local Doctor who is a big proponent of LCHF and intermittent fasting. He's kind of made it a centerpiece of his practice now - a veritable poor man's Jason Fung! - and I've decided I'll be going to see him periodically just to make sure I don't get my system out of whack while I'm losing so much so quickly.

Thanks again for the feedback!

And to Mama Sebo, all I Can really suggest is checking your intake of potassium, magnesium, and sodium. You can get potassium by using something called NoSalt in your salt shaker instead of regular salt, it's also available in pills. If you read up, you find that potassium is hard to get in low carb foods except leafy greens so many of us will be naturally low in it after a while on this lifestyle. I think the same is true of magnesium. wish you well on sorting it out!
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