My blood pressure has always been normal, and the last few days it's been high, and I am wondering if anyone else out there has found this, and maybe it is nothing. I have not lost lots of weight yet, and I felt so awful all day yesterday. Maybe it's induction flu, I have no idea. I have been religiously sticking to the plan, (72 induction rules), coconut flour that would be the one thing that would be not on the list, and I only had that once. I don't want to let the doc know for fear he may tell me that I need to switch it all to the dreaded low fat to deal with the blood pressure. So my plan is to keep checking it at the drugstore for the next few weeks, and if it stays high or gets any higher, I guess I will have to tell my doc. I am trying to prevent these kind of problems, by doing Atkins. I am hoping my body is just adjusting, I have felt so fantastic to this point. Sorry for the rant, just trying to figure it all out..

You don't mention what you consider "high". Read this to be sure you are taking BP correctly, it varies through the day, know at what levels medication rather than lifestyle even needs to be considered, etc. Good basic BP info:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/blood-pressure

Sorry about that, for three days I have had a headache that just did not want to go away, so I thought I would pop in to a drugstore and check it, the first time it was 143 over 75, at about 9am. I thought I would monitor it a few times yesterday, the second time at lunch it was 148 over 73, then about 5pm I took it again, and it was 158 over 81. I am going to monitor myself for a couple weeks just to see. That article was so informative, thank you very much. I think that it may be temporary, my son had brain surgury just a month ago, he is doing amazing, but I have had a tremendous amount of stress dealing with it all. I am just going to try and find a way to let the stress out some how and keep with the monitoring myself the next while and see how it goes. I am sure the more weight I drop the more it should work its way back to normal. I have never had blood pressure issues before, so the stress makes sense. Thanks again for that link.

I think it's the stress. I had high blood pressure for the 7 years it took my youngest kid to grow into a self-sufficient being. And, poof, last year it dropped to normal through no effort of my own.

Also, my arms are fairly slender for my weight - they are the skinny part of my body - but they are still too large for the cuffs at the drugstore which only go up to 13 inches (maybe 14, not sure). My upper arms are 15" around at 222 pounds, so it will be awhile, if ever, before I can use those machines. Every time I get checked with a cuff at the doctor's, my blood pressure is fine.

I would get a check at the actual doctor's and then see what it says. I would not rely on the machines.

Probably the stress, but you should bring it down. From what I've read, anything over 130 is dangerous.

I too always had low BP, but in my 60s it suddenly jumped up - not from stress. Same thing happened to my sister. She took the drug route, I decided to use that as a last resort (fortunately I did it without drugs).

So I bought a BP tester and went on google quest. (actually ixquick as google tracks every move you make and sells it to anybody with a dollar.)

• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Omitting or restricting caffeine (with the exception of black tea)
• Amla (organic Indian gooseberry extract) - this took it down 10 points.
• Lowering salt
• Upping potassium
• Garlic pills
• Exercise
• Low carbs (we already do that)
• Lose weight (went LC in 2000 and did that already)

Also as a side note - a good session of delightful lovemaking with my wife also brings it down to the low teens during the afterglow.

I also took on a "Don't sweat the small stuff" attitude. I have a friend who has been battling pancreatic cancer for months now. Everything I have to face is small stuff by comparison.

I did all of the above - and doubled my exercise from 2 miles a day to 4 miles a day at a fast walk. It went from 145 +-5 to 120 +-5.

Life Extension Foundation recommends that you keep your BP under 118.

I test first thing in the morning, before breakfast (meals and exercise temporarily pump it up) and then various times through the day, graphing the results. It took a little over a month to see any results at all, and after that it was up a little down a little more with a downward trend. I guess the body needs time to adjust.

Bob

Hi Bob,

The fact that your blood pressure will drop down in to the low teens is a very good sign.

It shows your body still remembers how and that your vessel walls are still elastic and flexing well.

In addition to all your good things you mentioned above, you can try Carlsons cod liver oil (in the fridge section at the health food store).

That really helps also.

The book OverDiagnosed was recommended on another thread, first chapter is on BP. Until the 1990s, only the diastolic (bottom) number was even treated, over 105 was considered moderately elevated. Still some question if the top number even matters that much. An interesting look at the risk/rewards of treatments at various BP numbers. And BP normally increases with age, a goal of 118 (if that number even matters) is overkill.

A good look at treating BP: http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2012/0...re-do-any-good/

I also recommend Dr Gilbert Welch's books...his new one is Less Medicine, More Health.

Thank you for your last reply, JEY. I was going to say something to that effect. Swanhopes, if you can afford a good home monitor, I would recommend that that you get one. After all, what your blood pressure is at home from day to day is what it really is. And even there, it changes from moment to moment. I know there's a lot of stuff on the internet about "high blood pressure is the silent killer" and "high blood pressure causes strokes and damages your organs" without any information about how high your blood pressure must be to do these things. Blood pressure drugs are not benign. And they might lower your numbers without really lowering your risks.

118 as an overkill would depend on who you read - and I'm the first to admit that so many people give so many different answers it's hard to know who to believe.

I also suppose it would be different for different people. What I've learned is that one size does not fit all for just about every health issue.

118 is for longer life, as reported by Life Extension Foundation. They also are against taking drugs to do that, but instead to use natural methods.

And of course, BP varies throughout the day depending on your activities and mental state.

I try to keep mine under 125 first thing in the morning, and it usually is in the upper teens and sometimes in the 120s. A day or two in either direction is nothing to be concerned about as far as I'm concerned. But if you are consistently in the 130s or higher, I would think it's a cause for concern. On the other hand, if you can get it down to the high one-teens, you just might reduce your chance of heart attack or stroke and live longer.

Who knows for sure?

Bob

I have been doing one meal a day for the past three days. I had read where this could cause high blood pressure. Well I took it two days ago and it was 137/92 which is high for me. Today I took it and its 141/97. Needless to say I am no longer going to eat this way. Its a stresser on my body, to go so long without eating.

Which is of course silly, since a high-carb (which is what low-fat IS) diet does nothing whatsoever to lower blood pressure. Considering the extra water your body carries when you have all that extra glucose in your system, it could be easily assumed it will raise the fluid pressure in your body, blood pressure with that.

Are you on any medications, under any stress or anything else that can be making your body flip out?

You could be getting a false high if the drugstore machine does not fit your arm. Also if your arm position is not level with your heart. Also if you run in there and sit down and take it without exhaling and resting a while (I've done that, just run in and bam!)

Compare your drugstore experience, to these guidelines, and see what you find.

http://highbloodpressure.about.com/...sbs.htm#showall

Yes, Seejay. The drugstore cuff might be too small. I think it's possible the cuff at the doctor's office might also be too small.

There are many things that can influence one's blood pressure reading. There's some interesting reading here:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/...rm-take-bp.html

And how many doctors offices have their patients sit quietly for FIVE minutes with feet flat on floor before taking the reading? Or let them rest two more minutes and take a second reading?

There are also many good videos how to do it correctly, here's Mayo's http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...re/vid-20084749 and Heart.Org has a good one also. No coffee or smoking before taking the measurement, and AHA say Five minutes rest and three re-measures.

I was rushed for an appointment, plus hike from the parking lot, and the minute I arrived the nurse took me from waiting room ("you can fill those papers out later") and started recording intake numbers. She did not appreciate me telling her she was taking my BP wrong. but sorry, BP goes on MY electronic record that has a number of weird readings for all the reasons in the video NOT followed.

An anecdote: My blood pressure was always in the 160's over something in the 90's or a little higher when taken at doctor's appts, but was normal 120ish/75 at home, so white coat syndrome. Then I ended up in hospital for reasons unrelated to blood pressure and found fully relaxed, right size bp cuff, not worrying or being rushed around that my bp was regularly around 100/60. Just goes to show that context matters and stress matters.

And as a side note, I'm a nurse and have never found the bp machines as accurate as manual readings, with the machines coming in with higher results, and taking my manual cuff to an appt got wildly different (and lower) results.

So please don't worry about your results, which do not seem concerning to me and certainly not a candidate for meds.