High Blood Pressure

Since December I have lost 65 lbs by eating better (low fat, high protien, and low sodium) and working out at least 5 days a week for 45 minutes. I am very proud of my accomplishment but I was discouraged the other day when I went to the DR for the first time since I have lost the weight and my blood pressure was 150/102!! This was very stressful to me because one of the reasons I have made such a commitment to losing weight was because of my high BP. And now I find out it's even higher?!?!? I'm only 27 (5'5, 180 lbs) and will now have to start BP meds. Do you think I will have to get within my healthy weight range for my blood pressure problems to go away? Any words orf advice/encouragement?

Sorry to hear about that.

Don't beat yourself up about it though, it's not your fault. There is only so much that you can do with diet and exercise to affect your BP (and other health risks). My father has been thin (skinny, even) for his entire life so far, and his blood pressure has been very high for years (not so much now with medication, though). I doubt if he even had it tested at age 27, though. At least you know about it early and can take steps to keeping yourself as healthy as possible. Good luck!

btw, you may want to cross-post this in the health forum.

You could have simply been anxious about the BP test which could have put it up on the day.  It's known as 'white coat syndrome' and I get it myself!   My doc's solution was to get me to go back to the surgery in my own time when I was feeling more relaxed and use their (unmanned) BP machine a few times.  That way they got a better idea of the average. 

But keep losing the weight, eating healthily and doing the exercise..... I'm sure you're doing yourself a lot of good.

Fantastic job Kouklabunny.  65 pounds is a wonderful thing!  I am in the same situation that you are, except a little older and heavier.  In May I went to my doctor with a reading of 140/100.  She started me on meds right away and told me to lose weight, 39 years old, 5'6" - 226. 

I have been working out on the treadmill everyday and have managed to lose 30 pounds.  My bp is better but my doctor told me that I would have to continue the meds until my weight is in a "normal" range.    One tip, make sure you are sitting down when the doctor takes your blood pressure, it makes a difference.  Good luck and keep up the good work!

Just remember - thin people can have high blood pressure too... if you've lost weight and it hasn't improved your bloodpressure readings, then your weight isn't the 'cause'. I know how you feel - I was very disappointed to find out that losing 65 pounds hasn't made any difference to my bloodpressure either... I have to go back to the docs next month for a physical and we'll have the 'medication' talk again, because if it hasn't improved by then it's not going to! Sighs...

You might try the DASH (Diaetary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet. You can find out about it by asking for information on the internet if you can't check with your doctor . If you decided to try it at least you would find out if change in diet would help. It is not a vegetarian diet but it does advise eating lots of fruits and vegetables. You would probably need to reduce the amount of food eaten if you still need to lose more weight. Its calorie intake is a bit high for losing weight at the rate at which most people want to lose.

Also, according to some authorities a high protein diet can contribute to hypertension and vegetarians average lower blood pressures than any other groups. But don't be scared off from looking over the DASH diet. Again, it is NOT vegetarian and appears to be a very healthy diet that nearly everyone could live quite happily with. Anyway, most people I have known who lost down to their ideal weight often had a significant loss in blood pressure as well. If you don't, you might want to check with your doctor to find out why.

Hope everything gets straightened out!

Thanks guys for the words of encouragement...you all are awesome! I'll look into the DASH diet and talk to my doctor if he thinks it's worth it.

Just a quick aside on this... One of the reasons that I became Vegetarian had to do with BP readings, too. My diet was really bad, and on top of that I'm a very anxious person anyway, so my readings were through the roof even though I worked out 5 days a week and ran multiple miles. I'm young, too, 28. Not everyone can do this, but after making the decision to switch to a Vegetarian diet, my BP readings have dropped substantially. The point is, you don't have to be vegetarian if that's not for you, but eating more plant based foods will help, as will watching your Sodium. My doctor had me on this thing to watch how much sodium I was ingesting. When I actually started monitoring it, I was taking in anywhere from 3500 to sometimes over 9,000 grams of sodium a day! No wonder they thought I was hypertensive.  I'm not one of those who will push vegetarian onto you, but I definitely recommend switching to a low sodium diet, after monitoring your sodium intake. You'd be surprised how much you're actually taking in.

I actually don't eat that much meat. Even when I do eat meat it is usually chicken. I only eat red meat once or twice a month (if that). I am a big fish/sashimi eater (once a week). I don't even use soy sauce anymore.

What was the thing the doctor gave you to help you realize your salt intake?

I have a problem with digital readings: the equipment simply doesn't work with my body chemistry. They have to determine my BP the old-fashioned way or it comes out reading incredibly high. A couple of doctors have told me that that they have other patients with the same problem.

I also have to have my BP taken twice: once when I arrive at the doctor's office and once just before leaving. For whatever reason I get nervous when I am first there—maybe I'm concerned about bad news, though I shouldn't be. I have no idea. All I know is that my BP is always normal when it is time for me to leave.

So sometimes the readings aren't accurate.

If they are, though, don't worry too much. Watch your salt intake and follow any advice your doctor gave you. High BP is far from unheard of even in the healthiest of people.

I did Google the DASH diet just now and the write-ups about it are truly impressive, especially for the person who is concerned about high blood pressure and doesn't (or has cold feet) want to go vegetarian. However, I agree with calvinator totally about its effectiveness. I personally have no trouble with a vegeterian diet and find it an easy one to lose weight on, providing I watch the amount of fat and sugar. My biggest problem with being totally vegeterian is with my husband. He is totally convinced he can't live without meat at almost every meal, or I would be vegetarian now.

I would again suggest you find out as much as you can about this diet before you go in to your doctor. The pieces of information brought up by google about the DASH approach were well documented and seemed extremely reliable. With the information we have today about a healthy diet it seems most people would find it difficult to find a better one.

Not everyone's bloodpressure is affected by their sodium intake either... the DASH diet isn't a magic cure-all. If you're using calorie counter to log all your food you should have a pretty good idea of how much sodium you're actually having. Obviously if it's high, then lowering it is a good idea (I don't know how the people who have 3-4000mg sodium in a day manage it!) but if it's normal to low, the lowering it any more isn't the answer.

Blood-pressure is also affected by smoking, alcohol, and caffeine... so if you're into any of those 'vices', it's time to cut back. Again, not everyone is equally affected. Some people just have high blood pressure naturally...

Just out of curiosity, are you on birth control pills? I had blood pressure just as high as yours that would not go away and the doctor made me go off estrogen containing birth control and 3 weeks later I was fine. This happened after being on the same pill for about 2 years. Now I just take the mini pill and its always around 110/70. Please try your best not to go on meds because theres some you can never come off of from what I hear.

I am on BCPs, I'll talk to my OB/GYN about changing. Is there an reduced effectiveness with non-estrogen containing BCPs that your doctor told you about?

don't get discouraged! unfortunately, like the posts above stated, weight isn't always a factor with high bp. my whole family has issues and i had issues before i gained all this weight. i have been on meds for 10 years now and it's just a part of my life. i'm down 45 and have another...gulp....100 to go. maybe once i get closer to my goal i'll see a difference, but if i don't, i've just accepted that this is a part of my life.

good luck though with all your research. keep up the good work!

Terrific weight loss - be sure to celebrate that!

Llama - I have a friend who took premarin for menopause (an estrogen) and she too experienced high blood pressure.  When she discontinued the drug, her blood pressure returned to normal.

Kouklabunny, there are worse things in life than taking blood pressure medicine.  It is life saving and once your doctor finds the right medicine for you - it's magic.

Also - your pharmacist is actually the best expert to ask about medicines and their possible reactions.  Just call your pharmacy and ask if one of the side effects of your bcp could be high blood pressure - you'll find out in a flash.  Don't wait to see your ob/gyn.

I am sorry to hear about your BP, I have rather high BP myself and I am hoping to keep it in line with exercise and healthy eating as well, but I don't know if it is going to work.

My mother has high BP and the doctors kept telling her it is because she is overweight, maybe or maybe not that is true in her case but we will never know because she refuses to lay off ice cream, mayo and chocolate pudding.

My father has high BP since the past few years and he is in perfect shape, he is not overweight, he is fit. He excersises a lot, he eats healthy and does not drink or smoke (never did).

I think I am doomed with those genes no matter what I do, but staying in shape and eat right is not going to hurt for all other conditions so don't get discouraged, you will keep other problems away and get a better chance to beat the high BP with meds.

Good Luck!