41–50 of 90 posts
I find that my pattern of breathing has a massive effect on my blood pressure. If I slow my breathing, I can have a large drop from 135/60 to 110/60 (my bottom number is always quite low but my top number can go high). Since discovering this, I’ve seen some articles about how slow exhalation stimulates the vagus nerve which causes a drop in blood pressure, which offers an explanation.
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
I was averaging around 160/90 on 3 or 4 different medicines [1] before losing weight. Then I lost around 45 kb (100 pounds) and kept it off...and there was no noticeable change in blood pressure.
Triglycerides and bad cholesterol levels plummeted, getting me completely off medicine for those. A1c dropped to 5 with no medication from over 8 with several diabetes drugs.
What started dropped blood pressure for me was becoming more active. Nothing extreme either...I just started using the stairs instead of the elevator at work to reach our offices (one floor up from ground) or to visit the vending machines for snacks (one floor below ground), and taking a 20 or 30 minute walk a two or three times a week.
That got it down to around 135/80.
I upped the activity to at least 30 minutes of walking a day starting in mid-2019, thanks to the psychologically manipulative gamification the Apple Watch I had just bought did with its fitness tracking. I had thought I was not susceptible to such things, but my current 1146 day streak of closing all rings says otherwise.
Now I'm averaging about 110/70. I only rarely ever see higher than 120 systolic or 80 diastolic. On the low side I see it get down to low 90's systolic on occasion and a little below 60 diastolic.
I should probably talk to my doctor about dropping medicines or lowering doses to see if they are necessary any more.
[1] There are several different ways blood pressure medicines can work, and many doctor feel it is better to try to control it by using several different medicines than just trying to attack it from one angle.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Many people who are overweight, do not want to be overweight and have tried everything they can to lose weight. IMO, "eat less and exercise" is great advice, but it depends on a very specific set of preconditions to work. Mental health, affordable and easy access to nutritious and non-poisonous food (such as, vegetables that actually contain the micro-nutrients needed to survive, food that is free from mix-ins that c…
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
For me, on the other hand, weight loss didn't do anything for my blood pressure. I was averaging around 160/90 on 3 or 4 different medicines [1] before losing weight. Then I lost around 45 kb (100 pounds) and kept it off...and there was no noticeable change in blood pressure. Triglycerides and bad cholesterol levels plummeted, getting me completely off medicine for those. A1c dropped to 5 with no medication from over…
Of course I forgot to mention that while I was eating less I ALSO started taking walks outside for at least 30 minutes every day.
Now I’m not sure if weight loss was the core reason for my bp going down.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you mean Canadians? Pounds is what we use here in Canada
How are others supposed to know what Canadians use when Canadian don’t even know. Officially everything is metric. Unofficially, it’s a mess.
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
For me, on the other hand, weight loss didn't do anything for my blood pressure. I was averaging around 160/90 on 3 or 4 different medicines [1] before losing weight. Then I lost around 45 kb (100 pounds) and kept it off...and there was no noticeable change in blood pressure. Triglycerides and bad cholesterol levels plummeted, getting me completely off medicine for those. A1c dropped to 5 with no medication from over…
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
Did you change your micronutrient makeup, or reduce sodium more than proportionately to the caloric drop?
I started using one those calories tracking apps and started hitting a target + started walking 30 mins outside every day.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many people who are overweight, do not want to be overweight and have tried everything they can to lose weight. IMO, "eat less and exercise" is great advice, but it depends on a very specific set of preconditions to work. Mental health, affordable and easy access to nutritious and non-poisonous food (such as, vegetables that actually contain the micro-nutrients needed to survive, food that is free from mix-ins that c…
I don't disagree that it's more difficult for some people than for others, but ultimately it's as simple as calories in In a lot of cases a truly healthy diet is cheaper than the tasty but atrociously unhealthy "cheap" foods. Yes, you do sacrifice some variety and flavor, but it's more than doable. The world isn't fair. That sucks, and I'm all for working to change that, but until that change comes we have to accept…
Nova on PBS had a good episode on the science of this in 2020 called "The Truth About Fat". It's currently not free except to people who are members of their local PBS station, but it is worth keeping an eye out for when it becomes free. (Episodes tend to be free for a while after broadcast, then become member-only for a while, and then it varies).
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
Be aware that low blood pressure can be bad just like high blood pressure can be. Since high blood pressure is so common, doctors often won't even mention it. Healthy blood pressure can also be different for different people. If you have a high heart rate or you get dizzy when sitting/ standing up you might have low blood pressure. You can increase blood pressure healthily by aerobic exercise and increasing water + e…
Not in the way high blood pressure is. Chronic hypertension is associated with a variety of complications and conditions.
Other than in case of a sudden drop (e.g., due to blood loss or a severe allergic reaction), low blood pressure very rarely is dangerous. Common symptoms include lightheadedness, fatigue or, in more severe cases, syncopes (commonly known as fainting). By itself, even the latter isn't immediately dangerous (depending on the situation its consequences might be, though, of course).
If low blood pressure is a mere symptom of an underlying condition, such as bradycardia (low heart rate), that's an entirely different matter. In those cases, however, just addressing the low blood pressure instead of the actual condition literally would amount to treating a symptom but not the cause.
My personal anecdata, I would like to share: I developed blood pressure problems last year (140-160/85-95). My doc told me I needed to start meds. I didn't want to though. So in January, I started reducing my Caloric intake. I lost 7 kilos, down from 83kg to 76kg (I am 1.70m tall). My blood pressure went down to (110-120/60-75). No meds required. Just ate less.
My personal anecdote - I've been on blood pressure medications since my senior year of high school.
Since then, I've had one hospitalization, seen four cardiologists, two nephrologists, many trips to the ER, regular check ups to keep my blood pressure in check. This spans over 25 years.
March, I had another really high blood episode that landed me in the ER. The cardiologist wants to bump my meds yet again because basically he has nothing else for me.
I was really frustrated.
I start to to research, and stumble upon Hyperaldosteronism. I get a referral to an endocrinologist. The blood test shows that I have a really high Aldosterone/Renin ratio. Along with low potassium (another sign). I have a CT scan, there's a nodule on my right adrenal.
Tomorrow I am having an AVS, an adrenal ventricular sampling, to tell which adrenal(s) are overproducing.