Q: I am an asthmatic who has had a series of bad chest infections and numerous courses of antibiotics over the last 3 months. I have now discovered that my blood pressure is high – recent readings from 146/77 to 162/88. Should I start asking for prescription drugs to bring it down, or do you think it will readjust as I recover from the infections?
A: Your blood pressure is in the range that should be treated. It is possible that your increase in pressure is related to the antibiotics and other medicines you were taking. However, you are off those medicines now and your pressure should go back to your baseline fairly quickly. You should discuss this further with your doctor.
According to the latest research the blood pressure with readings up to 159 do not require a drug intervention.
The difference in mortality rate between those who took the bp drugs vs those who did not was zero.
I would use natural supplements if you want to decrease your BP. They do work. In your case looks like the drugs you’ve been taking caused your BP to rise.
Very interesting! Contrary to most medical talking heads, you all but dead if you reach 140/90 mark and don’t take medication! I know years ago the normal range was 150/90. Me thinks me smell a rat!
BTW-where did you get your information regarding “up to 159” range? I’d like to read more on that topic before my doctor scares me into taking 3 meds for bp.
Sally, the following offers more deetails:
“Most of the 68 million patients in the United States with high blood pressure have mild, or Stage 1, hypertension, defined as a systolic (top number) value of 140-159 or a diastolic (bottom number) value of 90-99. The new review suggests that many patients with hypertension are overtreated—they are subjected to the possible harms of drug treatment without any benefit.
The study was conducted by the widely respected Cochrane Collaboration, which provides independent analyses of medical data. The “independent” part is important: The panelists who conducted the analysis don’t take money from drug companies.
Hope it’ll help. Cheers, Stefan
Gotcha! Thanks so much!
Hypertension by definition is sustained blood pressure readings of > 140/90 on 3 separate occurrences. Most conventional docs will pull out a prescription pad if it goes over 140/90. I have found that even 3 reading is not a true measure. It’s best to monitor at home twice per day at the SAME time each day for 30 days. After 30 days, average the readings to get your true BP. There are many effective non-drug therapies that produce results as good and probably better than meds. Natural methods such as diet and exercise work wonders, but the key is you MUST BE CONSISTENT. There is no such thing as moderation, you have to stay on top of it.
hi,i am a 67 year old woman.have had alot of problems in the past 4 or 5 years with surges of my blood pressure.alot is caused from my suffering from severe panic and anxiety attacks.for the past 4years i have used resperate to keep my blood pressure down,and achieve a good low level,along with exercise and diet.i was so amazed at the results.never had a blood pressure that low.felt good and had more energy.my dr. even looked into resperate,and agreed that yes i should definitely try it.i am one of those people who have many allergic reactons to all types of medications,blood pressure meds.is one.so looking on the computer ,searching for anyone else having the same problem,and what they found helped them,i came accross RESPArATE…..i was never so happy about finding something with no side effects,that was also safe and effective.i love it,and i had a person that was always there for me to answer any of my questions.this was a real life saver…i am having some problems keeping it down now that my anxiety level gets high at times,but still use my RESPARATE to calm my breathing and lower my pressure..THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE GIVEN TO MY LIFE…SINCERELY<ROSE BLASO
Goggle tapping for anxiety and resparate works with panic and anxiety but I believe they csn’t advertise it that way because there are not studies. I work with severe traumatic stress sufferers and suggest resparate for them…also Google EFT. AMA has recently sanctioned it my colleagues tell me.
My Grandfather lived to be 102. When he was 80 years old I took him to his doctor appointment and his blood pressure was 165/80. He refused to take any drugs. Each time we would go to the doctor they would take his blood pressure and try and scare him into taking drugs,but he wouldn’t budge. His blood pressure over the last 20 so years of his life would go from 155/80 to as high as 175/90. I also smell a rat when it comes to the big pharms selling their drugs and doctors making $125.00 every theree months off of every patient that has HBP> Just saying
I’ve forgotten the name of the study. But there was one done that found that in large groups with blood pressures of 160 over 100 or a lot higher, the death rate in those taking the blood pressure lowering drugs was a bit lower.
But most of the drugs have side effects that trash the quality of life of the people taking them.
Even in this group except for those at the highest levels of blood pressure it may be more protective to do things like eating better and exercise that prevent the strokes and heart disease lowering such high blood pressure is supposed to prevent.
In fact, a recent study found that doing regular exercise was so protective it may even be better for this group than the drugs.
It gets better. People who go on a DASH II diet or a Mediterranean diet with a bit less salt or a blend have their high blood pressure go down a bit AND get protection from heart attacks and strokes. And people who exercise regularly have some reduction in blood pressure besides the heart attack and stroke protection. They’ve even shown that blood pressure is lower on the days you exercise.
I agree with the doctor that 146/77 to 162/88 should be treated — BUT — NOT with drugs!! Even 162 /88 is not high enough drugs should even be considered based on what I’ve read. (162/112 yes maybe on drugs. But 162 over 88, no. It’s more similar to 159 over 90 than 162 over 112! And, it’s the high end of what is usually lower readings besides.)
Try eating better in a way that is protective and lowers blood pressure some too such as the DASH II diet and strictly avoid junk foods and soft drinks.
Stay away from all tobacco smoke.
Use the Resparate or learn and practice Tai Chi for 10 minutes each day.
Get both regular moderate and vigorous exercise most days of every week. (Practicing Tai Chi both turns off any excessive or stuck on stress reactions AND is also a moderate exercise! And, it lowers high blood pressure as much as some of the stronger drugs!)
I think the doctors and the makers of the drugs are well meaning and not out to get people. But for such low blood pressure, I think it both best and safest to avoid taking drugs completely! That’s particularly true if you do these other protective things.
Your blood pressure will go down somewhat or a lot depending on how much and how well you do these things.
But even doing some of them decently will protect you better than the drugs and you still keep decent quality of life you’d likely not keep taking the drugs
Stick to the basics and cure yourself with diet and exercise. If you are diligent and stay consistent, you should notice dramatic results.
I recently ran across the following poem from an alternative doctor and it goes as follows:
My patients always ask me why they feel the way they do,
And why their doctors never know, or seem to have a clue.
Test after Test and no visible cause,
Of what’s causing my pain symptoms to be chronic without pause.
I tell them a story of what doctors don’t do,
With traditional lab work that provides never a clue.
To the source of the problem is where they should look,
But instead they prescribe drugs, right by the book
“This book is flawed”, I tell them for sure,
Drug upon drug is never a cure.
Get deep to the source of what’s causing the pain,
Deep in their bodies where you can point to the blame.
Can i get Resperate machine in Singapore
I agree that we should watch our diet and exercise to help control our weight and the response our bodies have to our abuse of them, but there are some of us who have hereditary issues that cannot be controlled. My family has a long history of hypertension and strokes that were caused from uncontrolled hypertension. For us, we need to be a little more cautious. Usually My body tells me when my pressure is above what it will tolerate. I get headaches and feel general malaise when my bp is too high. And nothing I do brings it down better than taking the medications I am prescribed by my doctor.
Just be aware of your body and your family history and realize that everyone is not the same.
I originally had the same thoughts until I thought deeper into this. Sure we can all attribute our hypertension to genetics on a basic level. But what causes this predisposition to manifest itself? The answer is quite simply our western diet. Remember there are cultures where hypertension, heart disease and strokes are rare. But when these cultures adopt a westernized diet, the diseases appear. I truly believe most of these conitions can be avoided with a plant based diet. You literally heal the arteries in your entire vascular system and this something that no drug can ever do.