OT Blood pressure

[philo]

Since (self included) most here are a bunch of grumpy old men I thought this worth asking.

I'm 67 years old and have always had good checkups. I also take my pulse occasionally and it's always been excellent...typical 62 or so. My assumption was "all ok."

Have not had a physical in a few years but recently had one and my blood pressure was about 40 points high. Doc said not to panic...happens pretty often to men in my age group and I will return in a few days to probably get medication.

In the mean time I got a blood pressure meter and have cut back on sodium intake. After a few days my pressure dropped about ten points and I also noticed that coffee (thankfully) did not affect things.

Anyone else here taking blood pressure meds? If so, what are the results and how many pills a day do you take?

thanks

M

[Taxed and Spent]

yes. A bit younger than you, and I don't think I was 40 points too high. Take two pills per day (I opted for two separate pills as they are cheaper than if I had to buy the two different meds combined in a single pill - the doc was impressed with my figuring this out).

Results are fine. I don't bother to check my blood pressure, but it is good when I go to the doc (rarely) or give blood, etc.

I don't worry about sodium. That has been way overhyped, although some people (far less than all) have a sodium intolerance.

[philo]

Thank you very much...I do not want to take a lot of pills all the time but of course will do whatever it takes. If two a day is cheaper then for sure I will do that. This will be the first time in my life I'll be on meds so realize how fortunate I am.

My doctor is extremely cautious with my pocket book.

When I got my physical I told him I was due for a tetanus shot. Since that is not covered by my insurance he told me to just go to the drugstore across the street as it would be 1/4 the cost.

Quite nice to have an honest doctor. My previous doctor did not think twice in sending me a $500 bill for having my ear flushed out. My insurance company told him he was not going to get one cent unless he lowered the bill. He then knocked off $100

[dadiOH]

Until I was about 70, my BP was consistently 120/80. Then it started creeping up; when it got to 140+, doc put me on meds so now I take amlodipine and lisinopril once a day, don't recall the strength, which keeps my BP in the low 130/80-85 range.

[notbob]

My first doc gave me 100mg of atenolol (beta blocker). It gave me symptoms of a heart attack. Sweating, nausea, dizzyness, etc. This merely sitting on the couch. If I went for a little walk jes to stay in shape, I often had to call my daughter to come pick me up, as an episode would jes wipe me out.

I called 'em episodes and fer two yrs went to heart specialists that could tell me nothing. I self medicated down to 50mg of atenolol and the episodes ceased. Unfortunately, my blood pressure had climbed back up to borderline high.

I finally saw an old doc I hadn't seen in several yrs. He sed, "You need to take some lisinopril with that atenolol." He prescribed some for me and I tried it. It worked. I now take a daily dose of 50mg atenolol with 20mg linsinopril. Keeps my blood pressure at normal specs. I'm 68.

My advice is, try several doctors. Beta blockers may not work for you and every doc has their own solution. Keep looking until you find a doc that will prescribe what works FOR YOU! Don't let some doc jes mumble some prescription, then kick ya' to the curb. ;)

nb

[philo]

Thank you very much for the feedback.

I should probably loose a little weight too ...even if it's only five pounds.

Nothing to do with health...just too cheap to buy new clothes!

[philo]

Yep...with all the crap they did with my wife we are both aware that many docs just give the wrong meds and don't even care...I am very aware of the fact : If something does not seem right...then it's not.

[ChairMan]

Before taking any meds, try Red Yeast Rice.

I take it for cholesterol, but it lowered my ex partners BP to where he no longer takes his BP medicine. YMMV

[Frank]

My experience same as dad's. I take lisinopril and a water pill. Tough to lose weight but I tried and lost 10 lb and it did no good.

[gfretwell]

Be careful with blood pressure meds. They killed my mom. It was not a direct cause but the Dr over did the meds, she got dizzy a lot, fell broke shit and pretty much gave up the will to live. I stopped taking mine when I started monitoring my BP. It started when I got dizzy walking on the ribs of my screen cage, 15' above the ground. It turned out my BP would crash when I was up and around (doing the potentially dangerous stuff) but it was high if I was just sitting around.

Three lessons there.

1. Check your BP while you are in different activities.
2. Don't trust the Dr blindly.
3. Get up off your ass.

I decided I would rather take my chances with a heart attack instead of falling off the roof or cutting my hand off with the table saw.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Much of the over 50 crowd is on pills of some sort. I take metropolol

50 mg twice a day. In addition to thyroid and a couple of ibuprofen to keep the knees pain free.

I don't use a lot of salt and it does not seem to matter for me. I've been trying to lose 20 pounds for the past 10 years with no luck.

At 67 you should be on medicare with no cost for physicals.

[KenK]

philo wrote in news:ntr1hj$a64$ [e-mail]:

I currently take one/half 50 mg Tenormin a day. No side effects I notice. Been taking it for decades.

[Meanie]

Many people will swear by their meds which is fine if it works for them but I will never consume them unless it's dire. IMO, meds cause more problems and remedies are within our diet and exercise. When my doctor told me my triglycerides were too high, he asked me if I wanted a prescription to lower it. I told him no, I'll do it on my own. My next visit it was back to normal range.

I'm a strong believer in eating healthy and staying fit. It's worked thus far.

[Cindy Hamilton]

I guess I'm lucky, then. Almost 60, and all I take is a multivitamin and glucosamine-chondroitin (more out of superstition than anything else, I think, since I can't tell if it's working). I was on Prilosec for almost 15 years, but I've lost about 80 pounds and don't seem to need it anymore.

I was munching potato chips when I read the OP. My BP ranges between

110/70 and 120/80. I can't imagine it'll last, though. By the time I'm an old fart, I'll be taking medications, too.

Cindy Hamilton

[Tekkie®]

philo posted for all of us...

Me too. I won't bore you with details as your case will be different. Watch out for side effects such as lethargy, dizziness when standing up, sleepiness. The doc should do a round of blood tests as it can be treated several ways. It is good to be aware and treated as can affect the very vital parts of your body. I would pass on the leech's.

[philo]

I'd be very happy to loose five or ten pounds.

My dad dropped dead at 64 but my mom at 90 is doing very well.

The whole family was more pissed at my father's death than saddened. He was very athletic until 50 or so then let himself go and turned into a fat blob

[philo]

I really need to get my blood pressure down ASAP so will go with the doctor's recommendation.

My mother's side of the family has extremely high cholesterol but they have all lived into the 90 - 95 age range. On doctor's advice they briefly took statins and had horrible reactions.

If I do need something for cholesterol though I'd probably take your recommendation over statins though

[philo]

Thanks for the advice. I am glad I bought the blood pressure meter so I can check the results at different times.

I have no plans for going up on ladders again but of course do not want to go around getting dizzy.

Guess I will see what happens.

As I mentioned before, after what happened with my wife we will never blindly trust doctors again.

Fortunately she got through a very bad situation...her survival can be traced to the day I drove her to the doctor's office with two shoe boxes full of pills and demanded and explanation.

After several more doctors she is now down from 14 different meds to three and doing better than ever.

[philo]

I am on medicare and also have supplemental through AARP but they do not seem to cover a routine physical.

If I state something specific, then it will be covered.

First time I went there I said I wanted to physical and as long as I was there, to have my sinuses checked as well.

They told me that to get it covered they'd have to word it as "sinuses" but I'd get a brief physical in the process.

[philo]

Taking meds will be a first for me.

My wife and I also agreed to stop our chip munching habit.

We also got out of our daily walk and have happily started doing that again.