Q: I am 6’7″ and when I weighed 285 my BP was 165/90. On the advice of my
Dr. I have lost 30 lbs. My BP is now 170/110. I am on Diovan 160 once per
day. Bumping to a 320 per day has not changed my BP. Adding Lisinopril 10MG
has not changed my BP. Is it common to lose 30lbs and have your BP
increase? Not making much sense to me or my doctor. My diet is good – low
sodium, few carbs (and those are whole wheat carbs). I exercise 3x per week
doing cardio and lift weights 3x per week. Where else should I be looking to
lower my BP? Thanks
A: Even with a 30 pound weight loss you are still overweight. I doubt your increase in blood pressure is related to your weight loss. You are doing the right thing eating properly and exercising. Overtime, this will help keep your blood pressure in control. In the meantime, make sure your doctor has fully evaluated the cause of your high blood pressure. Sometimes another medical problem can cause high blood pressure. Until that problem is treated, blood pressure can be difficult to control. Some examples of medical problems that can cause high blood pressure are kidney disease, thyroid disease and sleep apnea. To learn more about diseases that can cause high blood pressure go to this page on the Mayo Clinic site.
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I was eating well and exercising with minimal results. I cut out wheat products (bread, pasta, etc.) and my BP dropped into normal range. Good luck!
I am 37, have a BS in Biochem, and read constantly on proper nutrition/supplementing/exercising… I agree with MLB…. Try some other whole grains, not just wheat. Check out oatmeal, barley, brown rice, quinoa, and more! Try adding them to other things if you aren’t digging them as a “side dish”; for example, I use old-fashioned or steel-cut oats in place of bread or bread crumbs when I make “meat”loaf. AHA has a great recipe for turkey meatloaf using oatmeal in their DASH plan recipes. My husband and kids said it’s as good as the original, full-fat, full-sodium version. Read “Over-the-Counter Natural Cures” for more info on other supplements you can try. When I am even 10 lbs overweight, by bp rises, so keep up the weight loss and you’ll get there! As for the exercising, Dr Lerner states in “Body By God” that exercising too close to your maximum heart rate will also put you in sugar-burning mode, not fat-burning, and it will also stress your cardiovascular system, thereby decreasing the artery-relaxing benefits of the exercise. Monitor your heart rate for a while. 220-your age is maximum, and then exercise in the 55-75% range. Hope some of those suggestions help!
Wow! Nice bedside manner Rowena. Maybe he is overweight based on your BMI chart but probably not if you take into consideration that he is working out and lifting weights and his lean body mass is great compared to someone with a low BMI and is skinny fat. People with perfect BMI’s have hypertension too. Doctor’s tell you that even losing 10 pounds will lower your BP. That doesn’t make him wrong it means it wasn’t true for him.
The problem is that he has primary hypertension—as in “no obvious cause.” That means you don’t know.
His therapy and attempts at controlling his risk factors hasn’t made him better. He isn’t a statistic and doesn’t fit the model. That means he gets to keep trying other things.
I’d say to him—“Keep it up.” I have no risk factors other than long standing hypertension—since my teens. I’m on a lot of meds and finally went vegan and it helped my BP drop but I’m still considered overweight because I lift weights and am very muscular. I work out a lot and had to up my sodium just because I was losing so much through sweating. It is a difficult balance.
Everyone is different. There is no magic bullet.
The drug he’s taking is the likely cause of his high blood pressure. Should switch to medical herbs/teas.
Not forget, he is 6’7″!!!! That means 250 lbs is not overweight to have such a high BP. I would suggest do breathing, relaxation and yoga. Lifting normally is fine, as long as light to medium with more repeatation than very heavy lift. Mainly do breathing/deep breathing, relaxation and yoga every day for 45 minutes to 1 hour to for few weeks to couple of months to see any changes. They must be continued to maintain the results.
I just wanted to know he had used any of those weight loss supplements to lose the weight. These will cause increased BP. Also get your doc to check if you are Vitamin D deficient, as so many Americans are. My son got good results from taking Vit.D supplements after his doc found him to be deficient. I wouldn’t be lifting heavy weights either. Good luck- praying for you!
Several years ago, I was about 50 pounds overweight and my doctor had me on diovan 160 to try to control my bp which is very labile. He told me that if I would just loose 10 pounds it would lower my bp, so I lost 32 pounds and my bp went up rather than down. My weight is still down and I am now on four meds but my bp is still not controlled.
Same with me, I have lost 75 lbs., fastwalk 5 miles at least 5 days or more a week, take Diovan 320, Norvasc 10 and Ativan 1 mg. My BP was 199/89 at the drs. office yesterday, but I have had even higher readings at home. I think Diovan is part of the problem, and finally, after 9 yrs. of no success with it, my dr. is replacing it with Accupril. Any suggestions?
I think 6’7″ and 255 lbs is reasonable. My husband is 6’0 and weighs 225 lbs. He is very healthy, not overweight and exercises 5 times a week – also using weights. It is conceivable that muscles weigh more when used frequently – and the muscle mass increases. Your physician should follow-up on other causes for your hypertension but this is a thought he should take into consideration. In the meantime, you could try Respirate. It is very relaxing. I don’t work for the company.
Dr. Rowena speaks out of her you-know-what more often than not. I do not know whether you are overweight at 6’7″ and 250 pounds, but from your description it sounds unlikely. You exercise both aerobically and anearobically, and we have no idea of your frame nor your muscle mass nor body mass index.
Dr. Sherry Rogers book, “The High Blood Pressure Hoax” offers tons of different options for controlling blood pressure naturally. I am betting you will find some things that will work for you. I and many others have!
Good luck, and all the best!!
If you have hypertension you should be lifting weights to maintain tone and flexibility only, and NOT on a daily basis. Three days a week is the recommendation for no more than 30-40 minutes. Do your weight lifting slowly and breath out as you lift and in as you release, pause a couple of seconds at the top and bottom of your lifts. Lifting over you head will increase your blood pressure 2-3 fold and is not advisable for people with hypertension, even if it is well controlled. I learned this from a very fine excersize physiologist who does a lot of work with older adults and people with cardiovascular problems.
I’m 68,but look far younger(so I’m told)and certainly feel as I did when I was 40,and that was a feel good time for me (ha). I have been an almost daily runner and three times a week or so weight lifter for FIFTY years. Neverless,five years ago,I had a “widowmaker” heart attack,spent two weeks in Scripps La Jolla hospital,but survived. After that painful experience,I started with walking,then jogging lightly,then running lightly,then running heavy,then running heavy longer,and now running steep hills.By the way,each time I take a threadmill echo-stress test with my Doc,I do better.As for weight lifting,I built that up too,and now I lift,again three times a week. My young girlfriend tells me how she loves me,so, with a little help from Levitra,I’m doing okay there too. I take eight meds including Toporal 50 mg in the morning and 25mg in the evening,as well as Enapril and Lasix (excuse the spelling).Unlike in my earlier years,I eat very better now,and I have lost 25 pounds since my heart attack. Any suggestions for improving my health would be appreciated………Dennis