Q: I’m having problems with my blood pressure. Mostly because it’s too high. Yesterday it dropped to 67/52. My question is—at what point does low blood pressure become dangerous?
A: High blood pressure needs to be treated at levels of 140/90 or greater. Low blood pressure needs to be treated when it starts causing symptoms. The level of low blood pressure that needs to be treated depends upon the situation when it occurs. I suggest you discuss this further with your doctor. Since you appear to be having big swings in your blood pressure, your medication may need to be adjusted or other treatment started.
Further Reading:
Understanding Low Blood Pressure Symptoms – WebMD.com
Low Blood Pressure -Heart.org
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Surely prevention is better than cure, if you are treating the symptoms then it’s already a bit late in the day. One of the symptoms of low blood pressure is dizzines and if you are up a ladder when this occurs it could result in a fatal fall. Just as you have an ideal body weight and try to control your weight within certain parameters around that weight, I would have thought the same would apply to blood pressure. Of course your ideal blood pressure depends on your circumstances and if you are an Olympic athlete your ideal could well be below 120/80. I’m 67 and have a BP of about 120/80 and resting heart rate of 47 if I have swings away from there I ask myself why. These are my opinions, I don’t speak with any medical expertise.
Hi Mike its true. I’m 51 yrs. and I suffer from high blood pressure. I use to be in the 150/90 rage. I suffered a heart attack a year ago. If it was not because of cycling I could have suffered a stroke but cycling made my heart strong. So I was given Amlodipine 5mg. And Enalapril 5mg. And asprin 325mg. I also change my diet completely no meats ,I only eat fish that are high in omega 3’s. Lots of green vegetables with plenty of fruits. No dairy products. No junk food what so ever. My snacks are raw nuts and fruits watermelon is good for high blood pressure. And I also take my supplements that consist of Dandelion leaf extract, olive leaf extracts, vitamin k2, grape seed extract , flax seed , omega 3, co g10 , krill oil, magnesium, potassium. And I also got serious with my cycling now I do 30 miles a day. Now a year later my pressure is at 112/ 65 and my heart rate is at 47 bpm. So I had to cut my high blood pressure pills in half and take hail of each pill because sometimes I get readings at 104/60…that is kind of low. With the half pill dosage I’m back to 112/60 rage were I feel strong. My main goal is to get of the HBP. Pills and just stay with the supplements that have no side effects. Dr. Oz. said this is possible .
Hi Victor,
It seems you have a very good regime going there, more people need to follow your example and take responsibility for their own health. Setting yourself weekly / monthly targets be it walking, cycling, weight loss helps acheive your goals. People should try to avoid those symptoms !
Cyling 30 miles a day, you could make Rio in 4 years time ! Keep it up !
Victor, congrats on the great results. You describe a situation similar to myself, although I didn’t have a heart attack, just HBP. I had a similar experience with low BP from the meds once I started a plant based diet. Every month the dosage was reduced and I started to getting low readings as low as 88/43. My doctor said most heart attacks and strokes are due to plaque and cholesterol in the arteries and that if one’s total cholesterol is < 150 they do not occur. Based on your new diet, it sounds like that'll be the case. I would also probably add NO OIL to the regimen. A high HDL from olive oil, etc. does not protect one from heart disease. You should easily be able to get off the meds as I did with your plant based diet and supplements. I've been eating plant based for 8 months and my BP runs about 116/62 and I take CoQ10, Fish Oil and Magnesium also. Total cholesterol about 100. I also think the exercise helps keep BP down, but I think diet trumps exercise for the most part.
Thanks Jason and Mike , I totally agree with you guys. We all can get off of the meds with the right regime… Good luck to you two as well…
Great I’LL TRY THAT
Jason:
“My doctor said most heart attacks and strokes are due to plaque and cholesterol in the arteries and that if one’s total cholesterol is < 150 they do not occur."
What a sensible and honest doctor you have!