(by Anna) I was diagnosed with very high blood pressure at the age of 53, 15 years ago. My blood pressure had always been very good prior to this. I am a dance teacher, so I keep fit and have always followed a low fat, low salt organic diet. At the time my son had become seriously mentally ill. With hindsight, I think stress had affected my blood pressure.
Over the following years I never felt well. I was always exhausted, my thinking fuzzy. I felt every day like you feel the first day you get up after a bad bout of flu. I had a terrible and constant hacking cough. I had no sparkle, no drive. I was depressed, podgy. I suffered most of the listed contra indications. I was on Amlodipine.
My cough became so bad, that I asked my doctor to change my medications. I was put on Lisiniprol. Within 6 weeks I had difficulty in swallowing. At the time I didn’t connect it to the medication.The choking got so bad I feared it would kill me. No social life, no suppers with friends, no meals out. I was reduced to eating cereal and lightly boiled eggs. When I went to the doctor, she sent me to a specialist. Neither connected the swallowing difficulties to my medication.
For 2 years I struggled on choking and vomiting on a daily basis from still taking the Lisinopril!
My wonderful sister found out the truth. That swallowing difficulties were indeed a side effect of the blood pressure meds. When I told my doctor, she didn’t believe me! She prescribed a different medication at my insistence. Guess what? It actually had swallowing difficulties listed as a side effect !!! After a week I threw all my meds away.
I now take Olive Leaf Extract capsules and Shiiatake Mushroom Capsules, both available from health food shops. I have been doing this for 18 months. I feel wonderful, energized, and I can eat most foods again. My BP is 123/83. The entire time I took the meds it was never this good.
I firmly believe that I now have the quality of life that I was deprived of by the blood pressure medications. It worries me to think of the poor elderley people in homes and hospitals who have difficulty in swallowing. Is the common denominator blood pressure medications , also used to treat angina?
I now have a new doctor. I will NEVER take BP Meds again.
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(9 votes, average: 4.56 out of 5)
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Good for you! There are many ways to lower blood pressure naturally. Hopefully, we will discuss many that will help you even more!
All the best!!
Hi, what does the D stand for?
Thankyou for your comment. I also keep an open mind, ever seeking good, natural BP remedies.
Why are doctors so entrenched in their opposition to natural remedies? Perhaps because of the large rewards and incentives of the chemical companies.
In light of the latest news on falsified data by some companies and with held adverse side effects including death,I think it shows a breath taking hypocracey, when doctors sneer at natural remedies.
Hi Anna and D.!
I am curious about the olive leaf extract. I currently take one 150mg capsule/day of standardized extract of olive leaf. Thing is – I have no idea how much to take for it to have a positive effect on supporting lower blood pressure. Have you a suggestion for a beginning dose from which to begin exploration of this supplement as tx.? If I need to start out with triple the amount for ex. I would like to have some idea where to start. Also, I use Paradise Orac-Energy Greens which, among many nutrients, contains 50mg each of the five medicinal mushrooms: Agaricus, Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi and Shiitake. I use a scoop once a day in a whey protein, mixed berry and kefir shake. I often use this for a meal replacement and get a great deal of satiety and energy from it.
Hi K Gilmour,
When I first started taking Olive Leaf Extract, I took 3 capsules a day. After 18 months, I now take one a day.They each contain 225 mg of powdered olive leaf extract and 225 mg of raw olive leaf powder.I get them from my local health food shop. The brand name is Solgar.I took a capsule 3 times a day , before a meal.
I like the recipe for your meal replacement.
My doctor warned me that stopping the BP meds could result in my untreated BP causing a stroke or death.I accept this. However, I would rather live a quality life for as long as I have left, than return to the miserable existence I suffered before.This was my personal choice. Other people could suffer far higher blood pressure and stopping the meds could cause terrible consequencies.We are all individuals. We have the right to choose our path, but with caution.
O.M.G. Anna… i was reading your story and almosted felt sick or in shock because all of a suddend after 3 or 4 months of taking Losartan 12.5mg i’ve had a smililar thing happen to me! i can NOT eat anythng spicy as well as i have to be very careful when i do eat in the fear that i may choke!! im 45 and never had an issue swallowing or my throat just closing for no apparant reason. i has to be the BP meds! i’ve been so upset trying to fig out why and what has happened. it all makes sense now! thank you <3
Hi Rachel,I’m so pleased that my experience has shed some light on your problem.What I found shocking in my own case was that neither the doctor or the specialist had a clue that the meds were to blame!In fact they suggested gruesome diagnostic procedures including investigative throat surgery. When my doctor finally accepted that the Meds were the culprit, she tried other Meds. On Amias ,within days I had a swollen index finger, due to uric acid. It is still swollen, 18 months later and the top joint is arthritic. I thought if these powerful meds are doing this to me in a few days, they are Bad and Dangerous! Then I threw them all away and started with the natural ones.
Anna and Rachel — Boy did this story sound like my own! I was on Lisinopril for years — never relating my escalating cough to it’s side effects. When I finally did, my doctor changed me over to Lorsatran, told me it would not cause the cough. In any case, after one month on Lorsatran, I realized I was reacting (continuous migraine) to the medication dye (bright yellow — look up Yellow #5, or Yellow Tartrazine — bad news, very toxic!!!!).
My NEW doctor changed me to Bystolic and Norvasc, but they did little to lower BP. I had side effects of insomnia and fatigue, but doctor didn’t believe me, yet they are listed as side effects for these drugs.
I have quit all my BP meds — FOREVER!
Resperate has taken my BP numbers down significantly (after 1 month use). My morning BP numbers are still a little high (145/85), while otherwise they are very nice (115/65), but I will figure this out without Western Medicine doing me in.
Hi Carol, I think a lot of intelligent people have realised that as far as BP Meds are concerned, never believe anything you here and only half you see!
I did think about Resperate, it sounds like a very well researched , natural and effective treatment.
There is a Yoga doctor, on youtube called Mark Uridel.He teaches pranayamic breathing techniques.These are also effective.
Anna, Thanks for your reply. I failed to mention that the side-effect cough from Lisinopril seems to be permanent. No improvement after a year!
As to the Resperate: It puts me into a state of meditation. Even if I saw no results in lowering my BP, I’d still use it every day. I am one who is very fickle when it comes to staying with doing anything, even if it helps. This is a first for me, in that I find it so relaxing, I just love my time with the device.
I hear you about yoga, and would also recommend it to others. I’ve tried it several times, and just don’t enjoy it, so I don’t continue with it. I know others profit greatly, and I absolutely believe in it’s value — for every aspect of health. It’s been around long enough to prove itself, that’s for certain.
Dear Carol, I should have mentioned that most of the side effects take quite a long time to fade or go. I still have a cough, but it’s about one tenth of what it was.My swallowing difficulties took several months to go completely.Not surprising when I was on the BP Meds for the previous 15 years!
I don’t actually do Yoga, it’s just the Pranayamic breathing that I enjoy. It gives me the same relaxation and I find it beneficial in so many ways.
I have never felt inclined to do Yoga itself, it just doesn’t appeal to me either. Resperate sounds like a highly potent force for good health in so many ways.
My cough used to be so awful, that I had to carry
a bottle of water at all times. I don’t need to do that now.So please be patient, mine gradually went.
I take a couple of tea spoons of honey every day, I found it helped my throat/cough.
I think the doctors do not have most of the answers when it comes to blood pressure. I have no doubt that what you are saying is true. I have seen 5 different doctors in the past 6 months to try to figure out what medications I can take to control my blood pressure that will not cause me great discomfort or allergies. Doctors do not know. Then, with a change in diet and a change in the weather (it is now hot), my blood pressure dropped to normal and I am not taking any meds as advised by a well known cardiologist. It amazes me that with hypertension, which is a disease, being associated with heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and being probably the # 1 precursor to the # 1 killer, doctors do not know how to treat blood pressure short of diet, exercise and four classes of meds. Hypertension is probably the #1 disease for most people. And I read that half of the hypertensive people cannot control their blood pressure.
Roberta,I have come to the same conclusions as you.I feel doctors are dabbling in hit and miss tactics. They are dancing in the dark with our wellbeing and our lives.
My BP has been high the last few years, and my Dr. wants to put me on meds. I said no and will find a natural way to lower it. I am on Levothyroxine 88mg for low thyroid so don’t want any more meds. Is there any natural supplements to lower my BP? The highest it’s been is 152/85, and the lowest is 126/82. I walk 30 min. almost every morning and am improving my eating habits with protein powder/veggie smoothies. Is there anything else I can do as far as supplements go? I am 62 and have scoliosis so tend to carry a little extra weight around my middle, thanks.
Hello Cindy. If you read my original submission, you will see that I take Olive Leaf Extract capsules and Shiiatake Mushroom capsules.Olive Leaf Extract has been around since Roman times and has always been used to treat blood pressure.I buy my capsules from the local Health Food shop. They are made by a firm called Solgar.
Try the juice diet. Go to the web site:
Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead. Watch the video.
These doctors don’t have a clue. I essentially fired three of them for overmedicating me and plagueing me with unbearable side effects. I now medicate MYSELF with natural methods!
Well done Paul. How long did you take the BP Meds?
How did you find out what natural remedies to take?
I find it frightening that doctors will not accept the side effects of what they prescribe.During my awful years on meds, I suffered most of the listed side effects.