Wow! Thanks for the info. My BP is quite high. I take huge doses of Beta blocker and ACE inhibitors daily. The Beta blockers leave me feeling like an elephant is sitting on my chest, and my energy level is so low that I rarely do the things I enjoy anymore, and I am only 46 years old.

HBP is the silent killer. As a matter of fact, uncontrolled, long-term HBP caused my poor FIL to develop vascular dementia. He has been bedridden for 3 years now. Very sad. For years, my FIL refused treatment, and now my poor MIL's health suffers because she spends a great deal of her time at the nursing home with my FIL. So, even though I hate the side effects of the BP meds, I think of my FIL and swallow them down. However, I know that there are alternative treatments that could supplement medication. Thanks again.

You may also want to peruse some of the articles on chiropractic medicine on Quackwatch.com. And here are some more comments, not all positive, about the procedure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blood pressure and neck adjustments

I know there's a lot of quackery in chiro, Fairegold, which is why I hesitated to even mention it. And when researching the procedure, I didn't even look at the chiropractic sites, since I knew they wouldn't be reliable, or at other 'quasi-medical' sites. The comments on your site are from chiro skeptics (and yes, I'm one of them!) not medical professionals, and they seem to be skeptical out of habitual mindset, not citing any specific contradictory results.

From Medscape.com: "March 16, 2007 -- A special chiropractic adjustment can significantly lower high blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests. "This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems," adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center. Eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 similar patients who underwent a sham chiropractic adjustment. Because patients can't feel the technique, they were unable to tell which group they were in. X-rays showed that the procedure realigned the Atlas vertebra -- the doughnut-like bone at the very top of the spine -- with the spine in the treated patients, but not in the sham-treated patients."

From Health-And-Age.com: (citing the same study) " Many physicians are wary of chiropractic, and quite rightly; there may be risks associated with "such adjustments". However, theres a report in the Journal of Human Hypertension that seems to provide a clear benefit of correcting a misaligned Atlas vertebra (the one immediately below the skull, in the neck), and improvement of high blood pressure. The Atlas vertebra, unlike all the others, is at risk for misalignment because it relies solely on soft tissues to maintain its correct position; the other vertebrae interlock one with the other. ThereÂs a rationale for the occurrence of hypertension in people with a misaligned Atlas bone; pressure may impinge on the circulation in the vessels leading to the base of the brain (brainstem), causing high blood pressure. Seventy-four patients with stage I hypertension (140-159 mm Hg systolic or 90-99 mm Hg diastolic) and a misaligned Atlas vertebra were randomly allocated to have a single adjustment to their Atlas (C-1 manipulation) or a sham procedure. The adjustments were all done at the same center in Chicago , following a procedure recommended by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic. Eight weeks later blood pressures in the two groups were compared. The average systolic pressure after adjustment had fallen by 17 mm Hg (vs. a fall in the sham-placebo of 3 mm Hg), and the diastolic by 10 mm Hg (vs. 2 mm Hg on placebo). There were no side effects of the adjustment. The magnitude of the falls in blood pressure were equivalent to giving patients two blood pressure medications simultaneously."

From Pub-Med, one of the most reputable medical sources on line, reporting on a different study: "OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a vectored adjustment of the atlas in patients identified as demonstrating signs of upper cervical joint dysfunction would cause lowering of blood pressure in comparison with resting controls. DESIGN: Test 1: controlled clinical trial with a treatment (adjustment) group and a control (resting) group. Test 2: controlled clinical trial with subjects serving as their own controls. SETTING: Private chiropractic practice. PARTICIPANTS: Test 1: Forty established patients demonstrating signs of upper cervical subluxation/joint dysfunction and 40 established patients without such signs. Test 2: Thirty established patients demonstrating signs of upper cervical subluxation/joint dysfunction. INTERVENTION: Specific, vectored upper cervical (atlas) adjustment or similarly positioned resting. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prerest, postrest, and postadjustment systolic, diastolic, and pulse rates as recorded through use of a digital oscillometric sphygmomanometer. RESULTS: In test 1, subjects receiving adjustment had a significant (P <.001 decrease in systolic blood pressure whereas resting subjects did not. intergroup comparison of the treatment and control groups demonstrated a significant difference greater pre drop was associated with age higher initial pressure. test change not significant. changed significantly from postrest readings to postadjustment readings. conclusion: results indicate that palpation vectored atlas adjustment causes patients putative upper cervical subluxation dysfunction controls. similar were also when acted as their own lack randomization blinding manipulated group are factors weaken these findings. sudden is proposed be due stimulation cervicosympathetic reflex or moderation muscle tone elimination effects pressor reflex.>I guess my bottom line is that even if it is junk science (which I'm willing to admit it could be), and the only reason my DH benefitted is because he thought he would -- well, at least he DID benefit! And I'm confident that the benefits are real because he has been measuring his blood pressure consistently at the same time of day under the same diet and lifestyle conditions with the same equipment several times a week for about six months. Pre-adjustment, his measurements were fairly consistent in one range; post-adjustment, they have been fairly consistent in a substantially lower range.

I thought it was worth posting here because high BP is such a wide-spread problem. Time will tell, no doubt, if these results are widely replicated in other studies...

fairegold, fwiw, quackwatch has been so relentlessly nothing-but-allopathic for so long that the guy has missed the boat on several proven issues, e.g. colloidal silver/EIS...the saying among folks I know is that there should be a site called Quackwatchwatch...

I'm developing HBP too, oddly enough--went straight from low blood pressure that sometimes caused me almost to faint (around 110/65), to 145/95...I can't figure out why and I *really appreciate* your posting this possibility, sweeby. I'm going to look into it. I've also developed a tiny little spare bicycle tire (well, a mountain bike tire rather than a road bike tire, truth be told) around my midsection and the last thing I need is to drop dead from metabolic syndrome before my daughter's grown...I'm physically active, there's no history of HBP in my family--can't figure it out.

How often does your DH have to be re-adjusted?

Thanks for the kind words Fly! I was feeling 'quasi-flakey' for even mentioning this, but it's just worked so well for DH and there are so many of us with HBP...

The chiro he is seeing recommended a 6-week course of adjustments 2x/week to get the region stabilized in the correct position. He's in week 4, and things that slipped back out of alignment 2 weeks ago and now starting to stay properly aligned between sessions. Of course, he does so much intense physical labor (he's a build-it-himself GC) that he's constantly putting ridiculous stresses on his back...

As to Quackwatch --- They've got a point about a lot of things, and there are still LOTS of people out there selling snake oil. But not EVERYTHING that's not generally accepted by the AMA is either harmful or ineffective, and it still takes YEARS to get new developments into widespread popular practice, particularly if they're holistic and not funded by million$ of drug company dollars. Some herbal suplements actually DO work, and some alternative methods have real merit, and they shouldn't be uniformly dismissed out of 'mindset.' Caution? - yes. Outright rejection? - not without at least considering the possibilities.

Show me the double-blind, reviewed studies, and I'm happy. ;-)

fairegold, here's a situation in which if I'd waited for double-blind, reviewed studies, I'd have done my daughter a huge disservice: I just *knew* that nursing my daughter through painful procedures she had to have as an infant would be somehow comforting for her. I insisted on it. I didn't care what other people thought, I insisted. And she was calm and allowed things to happen. The looks I got...and I got called all sorts of names by people who insist on double-blind reviewed studies.

Sure enough, a few years later, a British university double-blind etc. study came out that showed the "startling" information that babies who were allowed to suck on an artificial nipple taking in a warm sugary fluid (come ON!) during procedures were significantly calmer than those who had to undergo those procedures without.

It galled me. How dare people call me names and cast aspersions rather than maybe learn something they might not *know* already. But lo and behold, there was the de rigeur quote from a hospital official saying "we'll have to take this into account when considering our procedures on infants"...yeah yeah yeah. And maybe we'll have to stop insulting and marginalizing mothers who "knew" it already. This is just one personal example. There are similar examples in many many other fields.

Remember, one great tradition of medicine is to dismiss as "all in your head" anything they can't immediately name. You'd think that with the regularity with which they've been proven to have been insulting and doing damage to people who were honestly reporting symptoms and trusting that their caregivers cared enough to care, those in the medical profession might develop the teeniest sense of humility and admit that "we don't know this yet" instead of "it's hysterical". Similarly, any treatment that isn't allopathic and preferably under patent to a big pharma is "quackery". Until Smith-Kline or Nestle or whoever can find a way to profit off it. Trust me, there is a project somewhere developing a one-use artificial nipple that can deliver warm sugary fluid for use in pediatric ICNs.

My mother was a doctor, my uncle was a doctor, my grandfather was a doctor (chief of the largest medical hospital in Europe in WWII), I have doctors several generations back in my family, but not all good useful information has yet been brought under the tiny tent of double-blind reviewed studies. There's more happiness out there than you're letting yourself have.

I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and am on two drugs to help lower it.

I saw an advertisement for a machine called Resperate, which is supposed to help lower blood pressure. You put earphones on and breathe to the music on the machine, which slows your breath and lowers your blood pressure. I also read somewhere that you do not need the machine, and can do the exercises on your own. Since I have been taking yoga and do breath exercises anyway, I started doing meditations and concentrating on breathing (pranayama). This kind of steady slow breathing has actually lowered my blood pressure.

The Atlas adjustment sounds interesting and I will look into it. Sometimes just sitting up straight can make a difference in blood pressure and so I can see where a realignment might make a difference.

I don't think I will ever be able to stop taking the hbp pills, but even so, I feel that anything I can do to lower it is good.

jerzee, thanks for this post...may I ask what your bp was that qualified for medication? I'm kind of trying to get mine down before I go into a doctor, since I don't want this on my record, iykwim.

Interesting about sitting right, too. And biofeedback as well. All avenues are worth investigating.

fly, When I went into the doctor my bp was 137 /110. They were worried about the diastolic pressure since is was over 100. I also had an irregular heartbeat which concerned them. They made an appointment for me to see a cardiologist. My pressure was also in the same range for him (although the diastolic was a bit lower). Part of the problem is that accetable blood pressure used to be 130/90. Now it's lower - I think 120/80. Btw, I will always have high readings at the doctor's office because of "white coat syndrome".

I am not crazy about taking the hbp pills but I now often have readings at home in the 120/80 range (not always though!) - definitely an improvement.

fly - my BP was 145/90 when my doctor said I had to do something about it. It was always low - 120/80 or less - until one year it was 130/85 then the next year 145/90. That was a life altering diagnosis for me - finally made me start exercising 4-5x week, quit eating junky food and seriously reduce sodium consumption. I still ended up having to take medication but thanks to the lifestyle changes I'm able to get by with a simple, inexpensive diruetic that has no obvious side effects. Last check was 120/78. Hope you see improvement in yours!!

Thanks, jerzee & gibby. I'm closer to yours, gibby--although I've gotten to 100 diastolic on occasion...

Even though I'm up there, I'm going to try controlling it myself before I turn myself in, as it were :). I'm trying to take potassium and certain supplements (and do more aerobic exercise--it's so different from the 3-mile walks I do with another mom--I end up in a full drenched sweat rather than just aching from walking, no sweat at all--I have to tell myself that she's doing what she's been told to do for her health [she's under orders not to get out of breath--she has a lung damage issue] and I have to do what I have to do for *my* health, rather than trying to keep her company) and I'll see if it goes down that way instead.

I'm glad to hear that you all got yours under control relatively easily. 120/78--it's so odd--in the past that would have been high for me, but now it seems like the Holy Grail...

flyleft-- I'd love to know whether this works for you; would you mind letting us know if the heavy-duty exercise helps in another month or so? Mine has climbed again recently, mostly due to stress, but I don't exercise enough. I was hoping that walking would help, but so far it has not. How I wish I had the guts to try the Atlas adjustment!
Erin

fly: That sounds like a good plan and I hope you will be able to lower the HBP by exercise. But just do yourself a favor and don't let it go unresolved too long. The pressure of the blood pushing against your heart can cause issues and you want to make sure that doesn't happen. Have you had your cholesterol checked? You want to make sure that's in good range too.

Erin: My doctor told me that it was not necessary to power walk. He said just walk normal but for an hour at a time. I think the goal was to get in a minimum of three hours of walking per week. I also do Yoga once a week; he kind of pooh-poohed it but didn't tell me I shouldn't go! He feels that Yoga is not aerobic enough, but then again he's never been to my Yoga class!

erin, I'll let you know. Walking hasn't helped me, either...but then again I haven't been breaking a sweat until just this past week, because I was trying to be supportive of that other mom's health condition. (whups self upside head)

jerzee, I hear you and won't wait for too long. Maybe a month from now; I will have had enough time for exercise and the supplements to have started to have an effect. Last time cholesterol was checked, it was beautiful :) but that was a while ago and I can't remember what my BP was that day.

I was walking 3 miles three times a week--about an hour each time, so a very comfortable pace. Didn't do anything for me at all. :( I tried the elliptical yesterday instead of the treadmill at the gym and WOW that thing is much more demanding--I could last only about 15 minutes on it! I hope that the elliptical will help get that bp down. I bet it will help me lose weight, at least.

fly - to give you something to compare to, here's what happened with me. My doctor gave me thirty days to "heal thyself" with diet and exercise. I immediately - that day - started riding my Airdyne 40 minutes a day 5x a week - five minute warm up, five minute cooldown, and thirty minutes at target heart rate of 140. I also made major reduction in sodium consumption. After a month I went back and my reading that day was slightly higher so then I started the meds - continued the exercise/diet changes - and in another 30 days I was normal.

I have some family history of HBP/high cholesterol/heart disease by age 50 so something I didn't want to procrastinate in addressing. My cholesterol however did drop significantly with the lifestyle change so that was gratifying - and she did say probably helped the BP too since this medication doesn't work for everyone.

Good luck with your new program!!!

I had BP of 151/95 when I went to see the doctor. He mentioned that if it was this high in 3 weeks when I returned that I should start meds. Well in 3 weeks it as 140/90 in 6 weeks it was 120/80. All I did was start some light walking and garlic tablets. Its been 120/80 ever since.

clg-- That's wonderful. Wish it were that easy for me! I just doubled my 10 mg. of Lisinopril (with doc's ok,) and bp is much better today. Where will it end??

jereegirl and flyleft-- Thanks for your thoughts. I've been hankering to take a yoga class but am reluctant to do so without a teacher rec. Maybe that's just an excuse. Will try and keep up the walking/gym.

gibby, you didn't mess around with your exercise, did you! I'll be open to the combination, though--thanks for the example.

clg--I had read that garlic *tablets* didn't do anything because the garlic needed to be fresh--obviously you found something effective, though--would you share what brand you bought? (also don't want the garlic effects, iykwim)

erin, I looked up Lisinopril and it appears that it interacts with NSAIDs--do you have any issue with that? (NSAIDs are e.g. advil, aleve--I take aleve on a semi-regular basis)

And sweeby, I know you posted originally about the Atlas Adjustment method--I looked it up and the closest practitioner is 2 hours away :( I would have thought out here in the PNW we'd have more of them, but they're not listed on that site, at least... how's your husband's BP doing recently? Hope he's continuing/holding his improvement.

DH's blood pressure continues to be perfect!
(Knock on wood)

flyleft-- wow, that's interesting, and no, I didn't know that! I'm usually pretty good about reading the literature when I start a drug but at the time I was so freaked out that I may not have read carefully. I take Motrin occasionally for headaches, but I will definitely think about it now and perhaps talk to my doctor. Thank you.

sweeby, I'm so glad to hear that. And erin, I always have to read the interactions because of what I take for my silly fibro; I'm glad if it helps you avoid a possible problem!

Not much improvement yet, unfortunately...exercising, taking supplements (including potassium)...I'll keep my word if nothing changes substantively...(all that exercise for *nothing*? :))

Well, reporting that I can fit into a pair of jeans I haven't been able to fit into for about a year, but no improvement at all on the BP...

sjerin, I finally had to go to the doctor yesterday--I have not been able to exercise for about two weeks because my knee has finally given out (lost that shape I'd started to get in, too :(). I needed a referral to a sports medicine guy I know of AND a bp drug, finally. My BP came out there about 160/100...I swear. WHAT is wrong with me???

She gave me enalapril, which is similar to lisinopril (ACE inhibitor, can't take NSAIDs--eek!).

How is the lisinopril working for you? Any weird side effects?

I just want to be able to exercise again. And to figure out why this BP is so freakin' high...

I hear you, flyleft! I was so freaked out when I was told that my pressure was to high, because I was only in my late 30's or early 40's. It can't be all weight, can it?? I'm overweight, but not huge, but I do get nervous in certain situations. I had had a lot of trouble with breast lumps (sick with worry,) that turned out to be benign, but that is the time when my ibs started also, so surely there's a connection. I take Lisinopril too and did not have any side effects. I understand it can give some people a cough or gravelly throat, but this hasn't happened to me. I'm now at 20mg/day and it seems to have brought the bp down again. It sure does bug me though that I have to take it. Neither of my parents had this problem and even when I go for a longer period of decent exercise it doesn't seem to make a difference. But maybe I haven't tried hard enough! Yeah, your bp is on the higher side, but I've heard much worse. I guess the key is to keep it at a good level, and not let it bounce around, as I understand it. Good luck with your knee--that must be very frustrating. I'm off to take DD2 across the country to her first day of college; now that's a little stressful!!

flyleft: How are you doing? I am glad you went to get your BP checked. Your results were kind of like mine with the diastolic being 100+. The first medication I was given was Lisinopril and after about three weeks I did develop the "ACE cough" - it starts as a weird little tickle and turns into a paroxysm. Needless to say, I had to change medicine. Now I am on Diovan, which does not seem to have any side effects. Hope you get your knee fixed up - it may not seem like much but walking 1/2 hr a day will eventually make a difference. Have you heard about the DASH diet? That also is something you should definitely have a look at.

jerzee, thanks for asking...so far so good, I guess, with the side effects from the ACE inhibitor. Had a cough one day but I think it had more to do with screaming my head off at two Crowded House concerts in two days :) The BP this morning (right upon waking) was 135/92...better, but still not the old me, and that's without any exertion at all. That's less than a week into the medication. At what point did you get really back to normal?

Thanks for the link; as it turns out, that DASH diet is pretty much our diet already. Don't drink, don't smoke, eat those items...

I really look forward to something substantive happening with my knee. I can't go on like this, with no exercise, forever.

Another question: Are we on this kind of medication indefinitely? Would there be any benefit to switching to Diovan, even if I don't have the cough? It looks like it's still under patent, though, yes? Or is there a generic? If I'm on this indefinitely, I'd like to stay with generic...

flyleft: 135/92 is good! You will find that it's not where your doctor wants it to be, but don't get discouraged. The guidelines now say that BP needs to be below 120/80. It's a really good (and rare) day when mine is that low! I admit that I have a tendency to think of it as a test that I haven't been able to ace. That feeling makes me nervous and of course that makes my pressure go up. The Yoga helps. Slow breathing tends to bring BP down (it's the principle behind the Resperate device).

If you are not having any trouble with your medication (and it does seem to be working), that's great. I would have loved to continue with the Lisinopril because it costs a whole lot less for me than the Diovan. And, yes, it is my understanding that we will be on the medication pretty much indefinitely.

I was pretty much on the DASH Diet too before I ever heard of it. But, I did consume a lot of salt (which I prefer to sweet) but I don't anymore and food actually tastes better!

Here's what I find frustrating. I take the medication but my BP is not always nice and low. Sometimes it's higher and sometimes it's lower. One expects medication to "cure" whatever ails you, but with BP I think you can only hope to control it with the medication you are taking. It's a different perspective. I don't expect to ever really get back to "normal". (-:

I signed up on a web site called sparkpeople.com. You can record your daily caloric intake and really keep an eye on what you are eating. For whatever reason, I find that very useful and kind of comforting. There is also a HBP "Team" (really a message board) where you can ask questions of others who have HBP. So you might want to check out the site and see if it works for you.

flyleft-- I notice that when I have to take more medication it takes two to three weeks to really kick in. I was almost ready to contact the doctor and tell him the higher dose wasn't working, but then it did seem to go down to the proper level. Yes, you definitely are shooting for the 120/80 level; jerzeegirl-- do you think you might want to add in the water pill too to try and bring it down further? I know bp does bounce around sometimes but on the whole I guess the goal is to keep it fairly steady, as close to ideal as we can get. I'm afraid I'm one of the non-dieters who hasn't tried to bring it down by eating only the right foods. (I have a sweet tooth, though other than that my diet is pretty good-- I think!lol) Somehow I keep hoping that exercise will do it, but the kind of exercise I do isn't enough! I'd like to add in yoga, but use the excuse of "life" happening right now. Just got back from taking dd2 to school in Rhode Island (from CA) and next week will go to Oregon for 86-year-od mother's major heart surgery. Slightly stressful, huh???

I didn't see these responses! Sorry for late reply.

jerzee, thanks for the reference to sparkpeople. So interesting what kinds of resources the web offers. And so far the lisinopril isn't doing the throat thing, and it's been another week, so I guess I'm o.k. with that. I'm actually not going to check my bp until the checkup. Don't need the stress.

sjerin, has the heart surgery happened? I will send energies (locally :) -- is she in Portland?) that all came out o.k. How stressful to have your 86-y.o. mom go under, for something that invasive. I admire her commitment.

School in RI: Brown, by any chance? My beloved alma mater :)

Hey flyleft, yes, it's Brown! She's just loving it and having such a good time-- great classes (though a little tough,) and lotsa fun extracurriculars. I mean that in a fairly innocent way, btw:) RI is beautiful and I enjoyed our visit there. Thankfully, she wasn't sad to see us go, or at least didn't show it, so I only cried a little and tried hard not to let her see. She's a social creature so I have no worries about possible loneliness, thank goodness.

I can't count days/weeks it seems; mom's surgery is next Thurs. Are you in Portland? Thanks much for your good thoughts. She came through colon cancer surgery very well six years ago and surprised the docs with her speedy recovery. She's old, there's no doubt about it, but she has been gung-ho about surgery and my sisters and I are grateful that the insurance co. gave the green light.

I just took my bp which I haven't done in a couple of weeks, and it's up, darn it. Must remember to check again tomorrow.

Oh My God. I just took my blood pressure because I just felt SO draggy today...I've had two cups of coffee, even...

I can't believe it.

106/78.

That's right.

ONE HUNDRED SIX! The first time it was 115, which freaked me out enough, but they always say take it twice, and when I did it went DOWN even though I was getting excited...

So the question is: how can I maintain this level without feeling like someone took out all my tendons like I do to chicken breasts?

And sjerin, I can tell you that your daughter's in for a TREAT. I loved that school, and I'm a very hard sell when it comes to schools, to be honest. Good on ya for letting her go so far away. It's a fabulous place and she'll be exposed to so many wonderful perspectives and possibilities. Just needs a lot more cold-weather gear :) (my DH says "and she shouldn't feel *too* bad that it's not Cornell" LOL -- guess where he went? [his dad taught there])

So anyway...my god. 1-0-freakin-6. That's a 50% improvement. And 78--that's a 25% improvement. How do I get my energy back, though? Should I take something to increase my blood pressure? :)

Go Big Red! Ithaca's beautiful this time of year, and we're hoping 'double legacy' status will be enough to get DS accepted in two years...
(What did FIL teach? When? And in what college?)

MY BP (normally low) went sky high this morning -- 152/110, with a pulse rate of 142. It came back down a few minutes later to my normal 110/78, 75 bpm, but I was feeling funny for a few mintes...

It's great for me to read your last post, flyleft! I'll copy, paste and send it to dd ('cause that's all I know how to do,) though I'm pretty sure she already knows how lucky she is. Yep, she told us today that she really needs to buy some cold-weather clothes soon; lucky for her, that huge mall is a 20-min walk away.

When starting on or switching a bp med, it can take a few weeks to figure out whether the dosage is correct for you. I'd guess it's a good idea to take your pressure every day so that you can tell your doctor how it's going. Are you scheduled to see him/her soon?

GO DUCKS!

Flyleft: Fantastic news about your BP!!! It seems like the lisinopril is the perfect drug for you. I am totally jealous!

I went to the doc last week (and I was very nervous!) and my BP was 130/90. I was doing the happy dance because it was a major improvement for me.

The fatigue is listed as a side effect of lisinopril - perhaps your doctor will let you halve your dose (probably not, but it's worth asking :-).

sweeby, What were you doing when your bp soared? Were you exerting yourself?

"Were you exerting yourself?"

No, I was just sitting at my computer, but then I started having palpitations and getting a bit dizzy, so I went downstairs to DH's office, rested a few minutes, then took my BP.

sweeby: I have had palpitations. I tend to hyperventilate mostly when I am nervous or angry and would have palpitations along with the inability to catch my breath. They discovered this during the same visit they discovered I had high blood pressure because the palpitations happened during my ekg! Yikes! Long story short - in addition to the HBP medicine, I am also taking Coreg, which seems to have taken care of the irregular heartbeat problem. You might want to ask your doctor about the episode - it could be something that has a simple explanation.

Well, jerzee...no need for jealousy. I'm right back up there, high 140s over high 90s. *sigh* Have *no* idea about what made it go down that time, or what's made it go back up. Haven't changed a thing. I hate having such a big unknown--all that's definite is that it's damaging my body and putting me at risk, but we can't figure out why and DH doesn't think my doctor gives a d*mn (I think he's right; I'm about to switch docs). Have a followup next week; if she drops the ball again (as she has pretty much every time I've visited her), I'm out of there. I know of another practice that comes VERY highly recommended.

grrrr...

sweeby, sounds like you're having similar unknown-origin weirdness...have you figured out yet what made it happen? And DH's father was tenured in biochem; he's emeritus now, lucky lucky man. What a life.

I frequently have unknown weirdness! For a while, the experts thought I might have MS, then they thought TIAs, then finally concluded it was just weird migraines plus ulnar nerve damage.

So what about trying the Atlas adjustment Fly? If it works for you, you should see results in two weeks. DH's is still good, and he's on a two-week schedule now. He does lots of very strenuous physical labor, so your adjustment schedule shouldn't be nearly what his has been...

oh sweeby, I looked that up as soon as you posted it, but alas the nearest practitioner is 2+ hours away...I can't believe it, in a way, because we live in the epicenter of alternative medicine, but acc. to the website we don't have anyone who does this. I *definitely* would have tried it before going the med route. I don't need more chronic prescriptions and I'd *love* to be able to put an end to taking this stuff every day (I'm only taking a half dose at this point, evidently--I suspect I'll be put up to a full dose on the 27th).

Sorry to hear about your unknown weirdness--you really sound like me. All these odd little things with our bodies...there are perfectly logical explanations but up to a point it's just not worth finding out, I'm beginning to feel...sounds a bit fatalistic, but I guess it's old age setting in. It turns out I have white matter changes from the migraines I've had so often, similar to the effects of TIAs (they weren't sure what had caused them, but since I can't remember TIAs and I definitely can remember migraines, I'm going with the migraine explanation).

I just looked up white matter lesions for the heck of it and found this, though: (below). Not too encouraging. Explains a lot, though...

Well, tested out at 160/100 at the doctor's office today. She took me completely off enalapril and put me on atenolol, possibly to be supplemented with a diuretic if necessary. Lovely.

I have a bad feeling about her, at this point. I'm thinking I will look elsewhere for at least a second opinion, if not to change doctors altogether.

Anyone on atenolol or another beta blocker? I've read that beta blockers, esp. antenolol, have been shown to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and for that reason they were taken from 1st choice use by the UK Health service (forget the specific name) down to 4th choice...

Oh well.

oh, fly! darn it. I thought you had it controlled there for a moment. In addition to the Diovan, I am on Coreg which is a beta blocker. I think I am on it to control an irregular heartbeat, but it also helps with the HBP, because it slows the heart rate down quite a bit. I know this is weird but I can actually feel the good effects from this particular drug. Having a slow heartrate makes me feel much better. It has been as low as 60 beats per min.

Next time you get your BP checked and it comes back high, you should ask to have it taken again, on the other arm, just to see if there are any differences. Sometimes there is a difference. Don't know why.

I have a feeling that finding the right combination of drugs is kind of experimental - until your doctor finds one that works well for you. There are so many different drugs now to treat HBP that it may take awhile before the right combination is found. So don't be discouraged - eventually you will find out which drugs work.

Ditto jerseegirl's last paragraph. It certainly can take a little while to find the right drug or combination that works for you. Fyi on the atenenol: it will probably make you verrrrry tirrrrrred. Two of my dd's took it for migraines and the youngest was hardly able to get off the couch, then dh took it after a possible tia and he too was exhausted and hitting the hay at 8:30 (went off it because of this--hmm, had better check on his bp again). Just a warning, though maybe it won't affect you like this. And flyleft, follow your instincts and look for another doc if you don't have a good feeling about this one.

I returned from Portland and mom's heart surgery on Wed. (it went well, thankfully,) thinking my bp was high, because I was getting headaches and felt very "aware" of my heartbeat. I was most pleasantly surprised!! It was right on target and I don't know why. That's what I find so frustrating. At 20 mg. of Lisinopril, sometimes the bp is good, and sometimes a little high. Am I that off-kilter???

Good luck, flyleft with finding the right doctor and right meds.

I just saw these posts! I am so scatterbrained, it's often embarrassing. jerzee, there's GOOD news, actually, and it's held for two days now so I guess I can post it: I've gotten 119/79ish (yesterday was something like 119/83, so same area) in the am!! PM it goes to 145/93, but there's definitely a change in the mornings. I called my doc yesterday to deliver the news and of course she never got back to me. I think I could die of something she should have noticed and she'd shrug and laugh. NOT a good feeling about a doctor. Off to a better practice, even if it costs more.

The atenolol is slowing down my heartbeat too, but not as slow as yours! Mine is now in the 70s, whereas it used to be in the 80s/90s. I'm getting the *slightest* feeling of what life must be like for my DH, who has a heartbeat in the 50s, usually. VERY different, in a good way, yes? :)

sjerin, I'm glad your mom's heart surgery went well--I was thinking about her the other day when I read an article about how older folks are having surgery more often now. I hope she recovers fast and uneventfully and goes back to marathoning :) (we live in hope :)) May I ask how much atenolol your family members took? I'm on 50 now, at bedtime, but am wondering if 100 at bedtime might be better to keep the bp down all day. I sure do get good sleep at night, though. I might be tired like your family during the day if I up the dose.

I read something interesting--that walking on cobblestones was found to be better for lowering blood pressure than prescription medications! It's been confirmed and published, even...and you can buy cobblestone mats to walk on!

Flyleft-- I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you! I kept forgetting to dig up the bottle of atenenol and am congratulating myself on remembering to do so this morning. My dh was only taking 25 mg. per night so wow, you must have had some pretty high bp. He still has a fast heartbeat (80's/90's) but hasn't gone back to the a., just the lisinopril. Congratulations on getting the bp AND the heartbeat down!! Feels good to know something is working, doesn't it? Very interested in the cobblestones; of course I'd love for you to spend the money and try it so I can ask you how well it worked--hope you know I'm kidding. I just might try it, though right now my bp is much better. My mom is doing terrific-- thanks so much for asking. All the doctors, nurses and pt-ers are quite amazed, considering her age. But I remind myself that she never had high bp until recently; that doesn't bode well for me nor my sister I guess. Keep up the good pressure, flyleft!
p.s. Yeah, get another doctor.

fly: That's great bp! Mine also goes up in the PM; don't know why - stresses building up during the day, perhaps?

I am intrigued about the cobblestone theory. My neighborhood has cobblestone streets and so I am *always* walking on cobblestones. Walking does seem to bring the pressure down, but I always thought it was the physical exercise, never thought the cobblestones might play a role. Now that I know, I will stay away from non-cobblestoned neighborhoods. :-)

I agree with sjerin - keep up the good work and get a new doc!

I know this thread is very old, but I know sweeby is still around.

How are you feeling now about the effectiveness of the Atlas Adjustment? I've got rather high BP, and am thinking of trying it.