My Mom has been LC'ing for a few weeks now (down 14 lbs!).

She's aware that her meds for high blood pressure has some affect on weight loss, but how much? She's interested to know other people's experience.

Also, how long does it take before blood pressure starts to go down.

She knows everyone is different, but just wants an idea.

(Now, if I could only convince her to buy a computer and get on the net--just to join this Forum and Fitday, if nothing else!)

judy

I take Diovan for my blood pressure. I've taken it for 2 and a half years and I believe that my blood pressure is directly related to my weight. You didn't mention how much your mother's weight is.
I have to lose 70-80 pounds and I may try to eliminate my blood pressure medication after I've lost some of that.
I read in the Atkins book about how Beta Blockers and Diuretics can inhibit weight loss, but I'm not sure if my medication is a Beta Blocker or not. I tried to check it out on the internet and couldn't get a clear answer and I haven't had opportunity to check with my doctor.
Anyway, I hope you can get some answers. Hopefully, with the change in diet, blood pressure medication can be eliminated.

Hi J,

My Mom weighs 208 lbs now at 5'3", and is hoping to lose another 40 lbs or so. I don't know the type of medication she's taking, although I know she does sometimes take a diuretic aside from the high blood pressure medication.

She's been on medication for years, but recently her blood pressure has skyrocketed. She knows the extra weight is a big part of the problem and, because I've been so happy with low carbing, she finally decided to try it about a month ago. And thankfully, her doctor is ok with it.

She goes back to him for the first time after starting LC later this week.

judy

Just before starting Atkins, my BP was 144/94. After 2 months of LCing, my BP was down to 117/77. Back to normal!! At that point, I had lost about 25 lbs, I think. I was just about to be put on meds, but LCing saved me from that. So I don't know how it affects weight loss. But I DO know how LCing affected my BP.

~Angi~

That's wonderful for you, Angi...I love the healthy side benefits to this way of eating! My Mom is a heck of a lot older than you, but I'm still hoping for some good results for her.

judy

I take a simply water pill and it does'nt effect my weight loss. Sadly I'm one that this woe, has not lowered B.P. so must continue with the water pills. Which I might add, my Dr. says do a better job then the expensive B.P. Meds.
By the way 14 pounds in 2 weeks is Awesome!!!

Good Luck Kathy

Hi jgoddess!

Diovan is a combination of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and hydrochlorothiazide (a thiazide diuretic) - it's not a beta blocker at all.

Basically, angiotensin causes your body to retain water (so the Diovan therefore blocks this effect). The hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic, so it causes your body to lose more water through your kidneys etc.

If anything, I would think that a diuretic would help you lose weight because it gets rid of excess fluid. I'm not sure exactly what effects it would have in regard to this WOE though- sounds like from what Atkins wrote that it may inhibit loss slightly.

Cathy

Hi Judy--

Don't know if my input will help or not. I take a BP med, Atenelol, 50mg. x 2/day. To date, my weight loss has not been compromised by taking these (or by my cholesterol drug, either!) I've dropped a little more than 40 pounds in the last 10 weeks.

The reason I'm not sure if my input will help is that I don't really have high BP...I never have. Instead, I've got a neat little condition called Neurocardiogenic Syncopy, which means that under slightly warm conditions I can faint like a Southern Belle with the vapors. The Atenelol tends to even out my BP so that all my circulation doesn't crap out without warning...and it does a pretty good job of that.

The good news for your mom is that weight loss is generally a big help for high BP in most folks who have more than 25-30 pounds to lose. As for how soon...that would probably depend on how much weight they need to lose, and how fast they are losing that weight.

Well, I cant really say how much BP meds will effect your mother, it seems very much like some folks find it no problem, others find it a problem.

Anyway, I thought I would give you my own BP experience which so far is around 14Lbs wieght loss in a month (I only wiegh myself once a week) and my BP today is (i only do this usually once a week but for this post...)
my bp a month ago was 160/108 (with the highest reading of the day 175/110 or something like that)
You can check my journal to keep an eye on what my success is.

128/94 p92
129/90 p92
129/95 p90

Now why am I showing you this? Well I have had high blood pressue for years, I was first warned about it in 1994, in a job medical, and then in around 1997 I was placed on medication.

Over this time my wieght has been up down all over the place with various exersize routines ect ect. I have been as low as around 160Lbs, but my BP only ever altered a bit. At no time has my blood pressure ever looked good enough to be off medication. Today, is the first time I can say that!!!

So whats different? well, one thing is a stopped taking my medication about a year ago and decided to do something about it myself (something I would never recommend to anyone, basically it can kill you)
the second thing I have done is cut out the really heavy carb related foods.

My point of this long post, is that no way does losing just 14Lbs give you normal blood pressure, and you might find that even if the wieght loss is slow that the blood pressure drops are fairly fast, this is because high carb foods DO agrevate high blood pressure.

Good luck, tell your mum to stay on the medication but to ask her Dr to give her the lowest dose he thinks is ok as she may have quite a BP drop.

I'm on Cardizem LA. I was on just a diuretic but then my bp went further up so they switched me to cardizem which is a calcium channel blocker. My bp used to be around 190 over 105 now its around 152/88. Unfortunately, this woe has not reduced my bp yet after 7 weeks. They say it can take months. I think mine is genetic because I wasn't that overweight. (relatively speaking) I did lose 11 pounds so far and weigh 141. So I believe you can lose weight. Doesn't seem all that much slower than most people here, considering I don't have that much to lose, which makes it go slower any way!
Tricia

Just before starting Atkins (Nov. 0f 2002) I was the heaviest I'd ever been, over 250, and on three different medications for BP (which has been high since 1971...and I've been on various medications since then).
After I had dropped about 25 pounds my pressure was lower and I ASKED MY DOCTOR about reducing the meds. He agreed as long as I monitored everyday. I'm fine with just the one med now (and my wallet is fatter). Don't know if I'll ever be able to get off meds entirely but when I get down another 15 pounds...at goal. I may ask the doc about just using a diruetic?? I really consider the reduction in BP to be a great unexpected benefit to LCbing!!

Cathy . . . I almost understand what you said!
My goal is to get off these meds completely though. I've been checking my pressure daily and it's going down! If I can get it down far enough, I'll try to wean myself off medicine (with my doc's help).
Thanks for all the info on the drug I'm taking! You'd think I would know this stuff!

Thanks so much for all the information, everyone!

I had no idea there were so many different kinds of BP meds. Looks like the more weight you need to lose, the more likely it is your BP will go down eventually. Guess that ties in with what the doctor's been telling my Mom for ages.."You need to lose some weight!".

She has her next appointment Thursday. Here's hoping for at least a minor BP change downward--that's more important to Mom even than the weight loss.

Funny thing happened last night. Mom hasn't lost much since the 3rd week of LC and I've been telling her it's just the usual mini-stall, your body's adjusting, you're probably not eating enough, your BP meds could be slowing things down, etc, etc.
I suggested she give me a list of what she ate yesterday and I'd enter it into Fitday, so that we could see what might need to be changed. Big surprise--she ate 46 carbs in one day, first because she thought the carbs listed in the book for fruit was for a 1/2 cup instead of a 1/4 cup, and second, because I told her she needed more veggies, she ate 1-1/2 cups of turnip(12 carbs).
Oh well...this sure is a learning experience! lol

Thanks again, everyone. I'll let you all know how she's doing.

judy

Judy, please don't let your mom stake so much hope on one isolated BP reading at her doc's office. People normally show a significant range in BP throughout the day, and many folks automatically have higher readings under the stress of the examining room.


Regardless of what her numbers are on Thursday, it would probably be a good idea for her to pick up a blood pressure cuff of her own so that she (or you) can monitor her pressure under normal daily conditions. It is not difficult to take a BP, and there are decent low-priced units available from many sources. She should keep a log of her pressures, and present this log to her doctor on her next visit. (she might want to take her cuff into her doc then too, so she can get a calibration to the clinic's cuff.)

My in-laws are both in their 80's, and share a wrist cuff that does an adequate job of tracking their BP's. In addition to providing more complete data to guide the medication decisions for the doc, taking your own BP and maintaining your own records can help you become an active participant (instead of a passive observer) in your health care process.

Just my $ .02 worth....

Thanks for the insite, Geo. I have cautioned Mom not to expect miracles too early in the diet and she's agreed, but I think a part of her is still hoping for some improvement. Human nature, isn't it?

She doesn't usually suffer from "white coat syndrome" (that's my step Dad's problem--his BP is normal, until he's in front of any new doctor).

I've suggested a cuff monitor to her before, particularly because several weeks go by between doctors appointments. So far, she's said no to the idea. Sometimes I think she suffers from "head in the sand" syndrome. Or maybe she just doesn't want me to know how bad it is. Up till now at least, she claims not to even know her actual BP numbers. When I ask her, she just tells me the doctor says it's "too high" or "very high" and she didn't think to ask what the actual numbers were.

Whatever the numbers were when she went to the doctor a month or so ago, they were bad enough to convince her to make a real effort to lose weight and, thankfully, my success with lowcarb gave her a little more confidence that it was possible this time.

Thanks again for your suggestions. It does help a lot.

judy