Allot of people have white coat hypertension and wrongfully prescribed the pill, be your own doctor and check your blood pressure at home in a quiet setting.

I do that and after lifting furniture or digging in the flower beds. It is alright as far as my new doctor is concerned. He disagreed about the numbers the other doctors said were okay, I am not having dizzy spells and being off the pills I haven't gained any weight.

These are the numbers used by natural path doctors and they never changed.

Two weeks ago they changed there idea on salt saying it was not bad after 50 years of miss information

My neighbor's Mom almost died before they found out she was way to low on sodium. She was in the hospital 3 times. She is well now, well as well as a 99 year old can be.

There are actually 3 new expert guidelines that just came out within the last month. The biggest disagreement is the age at which 150 is a target BP. The JNC8 guidelines say that is appropriate for 60+ while the ISH/ASH folks (who are the top hypertension specialists) say 80+.

The difference in opinion is that JNC8 only looked at randomized trials that had specific inclusion criteria whereas ISH/ASH looked at subpopulations within multiple huge studies.

Docs are now completely confused and patients are increasingly so. What is most worrisome to docs is that the epidemiological data including the famed Framingham study have shown a clear and linear increase in stroke rates for every mmHg of elevated blood pressure. Backing off on BP levels has many concerned that there will be an excess of strokes-- that is a well founded concern.

For what it's worth, I'd sooner endure drug side effects than suffer a stroke or heart failure or kidney failure or aortic dissection or a heart attack or blindness... You get the picture. High blood pressure is the #1 cause of death and disability in the world. It's really amazing, scary and frustrating that the experts in the field can neither agree or provide appropriate guidance to patients and doctors.

High blood pressure is not caused by a lack of pharmaceutical drugs and if that is the way you want to go, I will look up a good funeral home for you.
High blood pressure has two causes one is a calcium deficiency the second is problem in the kidney blood flow.
The first is easily corrected by plant colloidal calcium and other co factors.
The second is getting the flow of blood through the kidneys this too can be corrected by supplements.
Strokes are caused by blocked arteries in the skull or an artery that has burst.
The first needed is to dissolve blood clots before they reach the brain.
Essential fatty acids help. The blockage my be caused by a tumour which is another problem
Lastly is an aneurysm where the blood vessel explodes. This is a copper deficiency disease.
All blood pressure medicines manage symptom and cure nothing.

Since low sodium was mentioned and can be deadly, I had to read it up again, here it goes..

Quetzal:
95. And since I also deal with geology, I can also answer the first question for you.

96. The first large salt deposits on Earth formed around 340 million years ago, but the main ones first formed 240 to 270 million years ago.

97. In relation to life forms, salt is very important.

98. But if I should speak of humans alone, then the following is to be explained:

99. Salt is an extremely important component of the blood.

100. Normally, between 45 and 50 grams of sodium chloride flow through the veins of the person in a solution as sodium and chlorine ions.

101. This concentration of salt must remain constant.
102. If there is too little of it in the blood, then there arises an excess pressure in the red blood cells, making them burst.

103. But this, then, has the consequence that no more stimuli can be transmitted to the heart muscle; consequently, the heart ceases to function and, thus, stops beating, respectively stops pumping blood through the veins.

104. However, salt not only flows through the veins but through the whole body.

105. Without salt, the human body would be immobilized because no cell could function.

106. Every single somatic cell is surrounded by salt water and swims about freely therein.

107. If the salt of this liquid dwindles, then the pressure ratio alters itself in the cell so dramatically that the cell membrane disappears and the cell receives no more nutrients.

108. Only when the salinity, respectively the concentration of salt, remains constant in the body can the heart, muscles, and nervous system of the person function smoothly.

109. Each day, the human body loses salt, through the urine, through tears and sweat, which is why it is vital to supply the body with salt again, along with the necessary amount of liquid, but this differs depending on the person and his physical constitution, so no uniform or general measure can be mentioned.

110. Thus, one person needs several liters of fluid per day, while another, during the same period, gets by with very little, perhaps only one, two, or three deciliters.

111. In addition to the properties of the body and all its organs and to the loss of fluid, climate conditions and physical strain and motion naturally also play an important role, as well as the drinking discipline and the mental and volitional attitude of the person.

112. Excessive drinking is unhealthy because too much salt is removed, so new salt must be supplied to the body, which means that more liquid, respectively water, collects in the body than what is necessary healthwise, which can cause damages through overhydration.

Billy:
For my part, I drink very little, sometimes no more than two deciliters per day.
Quetzal:
113. That is known to me.

114. However, you won’t suffer any harm from that because you’re one of those people who only need very little liquid.

115. When it becomes necessary, you automatically drink some more because you then perceive a thirst feeling.

116. This also applies to certain substances that your body needs, like even salt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, or orange juice, etc.

Billy:
Yes, that is actually so. As a rule, I eat what I feel an urge to eat.

Quetzal:
118. And you do well with that, since you simply don’t let yourself be tempted by uncontrollable cravings.

Keep a blood pressure monitor for yourself and keep a track of your blood pressure.That will be good idea instead of running to the doctor.

@ zeitgast - nice explanation; agree.

I have a wrist one and I kept track of it when I changed doctors. I took it in for him to see. Now I only keep track of it when I feel bad/funny or after I have been working hard. The numbers docs recommend are to low for me, makes me dizzy. I also I found out I don't need meds after getting a new doctor. She nagged me every time I went in to take some kind of meds. She made my BP go up. Grrr.....