I am 73 years old. Some 30 years ago, my BP started going up, and I was advised to reduce salt. I did it and monitored my BP every day, and watched it go down gradually but steadily. and it stayed down for a few years. Then it started climbing again, and I started taking anti-hypertensive medications. I now take two different such medications to keep my BP within normal range, and I watch my diet. Eliminating salt from your diet is very difficult because so many things contain salt. It's not just avoiding the salt shaker and avoiding salt in the food you cook. Most people do not know it, but milk, bread and most cold cuts and cheeses contain salt. Meats and fishes also contain some salt. The only things that contain no salt are potatoes, fruit and veggies, rice, grains, beans and unsalted nuts. You can accustom your taste buds to "like" unsalted food and, after a few weeks, you will find even lightly salted things too salty and wonder how you ever ate them. Depending on your personal situation, you might make life very complicated for the people you live with. If you decide to embark on this low sodium effort, make sure your BP elevation is not so high as to pose a serious risk, because you could do yourself harm if you do not get your BP under control promptly. Another thing to consider is that some people with high BP have a form of the disease that is particularly salt-sensitive. They respond especially well to reduced sodium intake. If your illness is not of that type, then you will probably eventually find that sodium restriction does not afford you the degree of BP control that you need, and you will have to start taking medication. Of you can try calcium supplements, but they can be constipating. The cheapest and for most people safest starting antihypertensive medication is hydochlorthiazide (HCZT), which is available as a generic and costs less than $20 per month. It's a very safe drug, and you will probably not experience any unpleasant side effects. Blood pressure control is one of the few areas where the drug industry has succeeded very well. The available treatments are highly effective and extremely safe. You will hardly know you are taking any medication, and the "silent killer" can be kept safely at bay.

She was taking a B complex for a while and she may have stopped. She said "the bottle says to take two but I thought more might be better so I take three" -- that's another thing that stands out because she is a retired RN and always was very sensible and conservatibe about taking medications. She was taking a multivitamin for a while, but may have stopped that too. My dad is a health fanatic and tends to nag and correct her when she starts to take vitamins -- "did you take your vitamins?"; "don't take those together...", etc. I told her to take them in private when he's not around, but I suspect she stopped taking them altogether. She makes such a big deal about eating a regular sized meal of moderate portions -- "I can't believe I ate all that!" etc. when everyone else ate the same amount or more. Or she passes around her plate at the table at social functions to share her food, saying how full she already is and "I can't eat all this food!" when everyone else is enjoying their full plate (how do I politely stop her from passing around her plate like that? I wish she would just stop eating and not say anything to bring attention to herself). I don't understand what that's all about, but I think if she is so full with half a plate of food when she hasn't eaten for hours, then she is probably undereating (dieting) and her metabolism has slowed down. But whatever I say will go in one ear and out the other -- especially now that she has successfully lost weight and is thinner than ever. I don't know if she'll ever let any of us do anything for her unless she is totally helpless. Jen

Thank you for taking your time to respond catherinet, agnespuff, and goldy. I am 65 years old female. Yes, I use my own equipment 'OMRON' to check my bp. When doctor checked my bp about week ago, my bp was 130 and he told me it is normal. I was relieved but now my bp is between 160-180 but today, I took for 1 hour walk and few second ago I checked my bp. My bp is 129. I cannot believe it. My pulse is 82, DIA is 79, SYS is 129. I hope I continue to have low bp but I think I start having much higher bp at evening and night. Only thing I needed to lower bp is one hour walking? I am not sure if this much simple or not. If I continue to see bp of over 150,160,170 I am going to see doctor quickly. I am concerned about connection between memory lose and high bp. I know what do you mean goldy. Worry doesn't help us at all and elevate our bp. I just cannot understand why suddenly I forgot how to turn wiper because I was using wiper thousand of times when I was driving in rainy day. Strange part is my dream became reality. I dreamed about my confusion about turning in pool and next day, I experienced exactly what I saw in my dream. I joked with old lady in swimming pool and I said "I am going to drown if I suddenly forget how to swim". When I think about it, it is no laughing matter! I start learning how to swim when I was over 60 years old and I am swimming over 3 years now. I am sorry for my poor English. English is my second language.

I also have high BP and take a diuretic and Lotensin. I don't really like taking meds, they always seem to have side effects. I upped my exercise, trying to do 25 min on the treadmill 5x per week. Also, I lost 5 lbs. Although not terribly overweight, I should lose about 10 more lbs. Losing weight does help, my BP went down for a time. Then I stopped losing the weight (the Holidays, you know!) and it went up again. Doctors just want to give you meds, they don't have the time to do anything else. I think the diuretic has dehydrated me because I wake up with a headache many mornings. I also have a stuffy nose in the morning which goes away as the day goes on. I guess it's from the dry air in the winter. We can't put a humidifier on the furnace, so I just put a bucket of water in my bedroom. I was never allergic to anything before, but as I age, I seem to mind certain scents, etc. (Like scented candles) I think this is one of those situations where I have to figure out what's causing the headaches, etc. I do see the health provider on a regular basis. I would love to stop taking the meds, we'll see how well I do with losing weight and exercising. My chloresterol is also borderline, but I refuse to take statins. My DH took them and had joint pain.