Hypertension and weight loss!!

[LuLu]

Okay so I'm 23, and I have been feeling not so great lately and I went to the dr and my bp was 142/90!!!!!! I have never in my life had high bp pressure before. For the last 6 months I have been working the night shift and I have put on 35....yes 35 pounds in six months!!!

I need help, i don't know where to start but I'm afraid for my health now, I'm trying to do research online and I've seen that vegetarians do well with there bp but I also see it is hard to lose weight eating all the carbs that people tend to eat on a vegetarian diet.

help please! I don't know where to start!!!

[HWAY]

You are really young to have been diagnosed with hypertension. Do you have a family history of high blood pressure? What medication did your doctor start you on? I was recently diagnosed with hypertension (142/100) at age 38. My doctor prescribed Maxide (a diuretic that makes you urinate a lot!).I have have lost some weight already. You may have change shifts. Working the night shift and not getting enough sleep can raise your blood pressure. Are you exercising regularly? Regular exercise is extremely important in lowering your blood pressureand managing stress. It is also import to limit the amount of take out food you eat. Start reading food labels. Pay attention to the amount of sodium in your food. Black people tend to very salt sensitive and you have probably retained water which made you gain weight. Please let me know if these tips have helped.

[LuLu]

Hey, and thanks for your reply...yes I am very young for these problems to be starting, my family has a looooonnnnggg history of hypertension, but I think tipping the scale finaly threw me into it. My doctor put me on hydrochlorothiazide 25mg, which is a diuretic also.

Yes my sleep has a lot to do with it, they also did a sleep survey on me and I'm not sleeping well either...chaning shifts isn't going to work unless I change jobs :(

I dont' exercise like I should...I don't seem to have time between work and school.

I have started reading labels and doing a little research on eating habits, I have decided to go the vegetarian route for now...I think

Again thanks for your reply :kiss:

[DigitalRain]

Do you get nervous before seeing your doctor? I find that when I'm at the doctor's office, my bp registers high because I get nervous and anxious at the dr.s office. But when I get home, my bp is normal. Try checking your blood pressure at home.

[Supergirl]

Hey, and thanks for your reply...yes I am very young for these problems to be starting, my family has a looooonnnnggg history of hypertension, but I think tipping the scale finaly threw me into it. My doctor put me on hydrochlorothiazide 25mg, which is a diuretic also.

Yes my sleep has a lot to do with it, they also did a sleep survey on me and I'm not sleeping well either...chaning shifts isn't going to work unless I change jobs :(

I dont' exercise like I should...I don't seem to have time between work and school.

I have started reading labels and doing a little research on eating habits, I have decided to go the vegetarian route for now...I think

Again thanks for your reply :kiss:


You poor thing. Yes, there's research that says that not getting enough sleep has a correlation to weight gain. The opposite is true also.

[HWAY]

When do you return to your doctor's office? The hydrochlorothiazide should be making you urinate a lot and you will lose some weight as a result of the fluid loss. It is VERY important to decrease the amount of sodium and increase your water intake in your diet. Do you work with or are close with a nurse. Ask a nurse to take take your blood pressure manually and see your reading is lower after taking the medication for 2 weeks.
You will feel more like exercising after your blood pressure lowers and you have lost even 5 pounds. Start off slowly. Try walking in the park or around your area.

[beauty]

Hey, and thanks for your reply...yes I am very young for these problems to be starting, my family has a looooonnnnggg history of hypertension, but I think tipping the scale finaly threw me into it. My doctor put me on hydrochlorothiazide 25mg, which is a diuretic also.

Yes my sleep has a lot to do with it, they also did a sleep survey on me and I'm not sleeping well either...chaning shifts isn't going to work unless I change jobs :(

I dont' exercise like I should...I don't seem to have time between work and school.

I have started reading labels and doing a little research on eating habits, I have decided to go the vegetarian route for now...I think

Again thanks for your reply :kiss:

hey don't give up
There is this book called Eat To Live (very good vegetarian point of view) and it is available at www.drfurhman.com
You can go to the web site and read some of the testimonies there dealing with hypertension and weightloss.

[LuLu]

Thanks so much for all of the kind words, I had my first recheck of my bp and it went down to 118/84 so he is going to continue me on the meds but I seriously need to drop weight because I wouldn't have to be on them if I did.

Thanks for posting that website, I will take a look around. Maybe there is hope for me!

[1Specialk]

I'm glad your BP has gone down, but I don't understand some doctors. Why was he/she so quick to start you on medication, when he/she should have been working with you to change your diet and start exercising. I guess, I believe in trying to solve the cause of problem; weight, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, stress or sodium in-take.

[HWAY]

I'm glad your BP has gone down, but I don't understand some doctors. Why was he/she so quick to start you on medication, when he/she should have been working with you to change your diet and start exercising. I guess, I believe in trying to solve the cause of problem; weight, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, stress or sodium in-take.

The fact of that she had that blood pressure reading at age 23 is the very reason why her doctor should have prescribed blood pressure medicine. Prolonged untreated hypertension will result in heart and kidney damage, stroke and heart attack. Georgia is part of what has been designated as the stroke belt in the southern U.S. and it is frightening how many Blacks have kidney disease. I agree it is important to exercise regularly, eat a low sodium/low fat diet and get adequate sleep. Some people are able to achieve and maintain normal blood pressure through diet and lifestyle changes but that takes hard work and commitment. However, this young lady's physician would have been guilty of malpractice if she was not prescribed and advised to take blood medication. Untreated hypertension is not to be taken lightly.

[lkg4healthyhair]

I got hypertention during pregnancy (resulting in delivery of my daughter 4 weeks early) and it continued for months after she was born.

I have never had high blood pressure a day in my life. My pressure was consistently 100/60. Prior to emergency delivery it went up to 175/165. I know it sounds crazy and it was.

Anyway, they put me on medication (procardia 90 mg/day) post delivery my pressure was still 150/90. Finally after months my pressure is now consistently 120/70.

Now I stopped taking my medicine for months (i know stupid) but I believe what helped get my pressure down was exercise. I started working out consistenly once I started working again in January and I went to dr recently to confess and she told me since my pressure was down and had not been taking it I don't need to take it anymore just to monitor my pressure a few times a week and send her a log.

My mother suffers from hpb also and exercise is what keeps hers down as well (along with her medication).

[Allandra]

After I had surgery (December 2004), my blood pressure (which as always been normal) went up to 198/90. I remember the nurse calling my doctor at 3:00 a.m. because it was so high. She had to give me an injection vs. a pill to get my blood pressure back down to normal. I had the nerve to worry about the needle more than my blood pressure. :lol: That only lasted for a few seconds though. The stress of the surgery caused my blood pressure to skyrocket. After I was released from the hospital, it went back down to normal (thank goodness). LuLu, please continue to have your blood pressure monitored. I know a lot of people that only get a high reading when they go to their doctor's office. You may want to try and monitor it from home to see if it's any different.

[LuLu]

LuLu, please continue to have your blood pressure monitored. I know a lot of people that only get a high reading when they go to their doctor's office. You may want to try and monitor it from home to see if it's any different.

Thanks Allandra, I will try to monitor at home because I always get stressed at the dr office, but even though I get stressed my bp was never high until now.

I have taken this very seriously, my diet has completely changed for good, I am eating fruits and veggies mostly and I am trying not to eat a lot of meat(no red meat for sure) but I may cheat every now and then and eat baked chicken. I am allowing myself one caffeine free diet coke a week and the rest is water, no more than 2000 mg of sodium a day.

I've been told this is genetic and my parents and grandparents on both sides suffered from hbp, my dad has already had a stroke (at the age of 38) and my grandad died of a heart attack. I am not going to let this happen to me...not when I can prevent it.

Thanks again for all of the support and ideas...feel free to post anymore tips for getting this weight off ;)

[1Specialk]

The fact of that she had that blood pressure reading at age 23 is the very reason why her doctor should have prescribed blood pressure medicine. Prolonged untreated hypertension will result in heart and kidney damage, stroke and heart attack. Georgia is part of what has been designated as the stroke belt in the southern U.S. and it is frightening how many Blacks have kidney disease. I agree it is important to exercise regularly, eat a low sodium/low fat diet and get adequate sleep. Some people are able to achieve and maintain normal blood pressure through diet and lifestyle changes but that takes hard work and commitment. However, this young lady's physician would have been guilty of malpractice if she was not prescribed and advised to take blood medication. Untreated hypertension is not to be taken lightly.


Yes, left untreated would be a problem, but diet and exercise should have been allowed (at 2 months) before prescribing medication. A couple of years ago, my bp was 147/84 which is considered high. My doctor at the time prescribed diet and exercise first, then after 2 months at my next check-up if it had not gone done then we do medication. I don't know how high her bp is, since I don't believe she mentioned it, and I agree that if it is extremely high yes start on medication. Popping pills are not always the answer. Lifestyle changes are hard, but this is about your life and you got to take an active part. I personally know of a lady that is on 14 different medications from hbp, chf, diabetes and kidney failure, she never changed her diet nor did she start exercising. Now, her doctor wants to put her on antidepressants, again why not counselling or some form of a support group first.

LuLu, have an active roll in your health. Read all you can about hbp and find out what you can do to improve your health. Modify your diet and exercise, you do not want to depend on medication if you don't have too.

[BrooklynSouth]

Such an old thread but found it, needed to post. I am so down because my blood pressure yesterday was 173/101 !!! I had it checked due to a first time ever serious nosebleed {and the urging of a friend who's had 2 heart attacks} after I gagged while brushing my tongue. I was scared as heck because a nosebleed was such an unfamiliar thing. First I attributed it to having a raw throat for the past week but the flow was too much. Doctor covering for my primary MD prescribed Nifedipin{I understand why, he does not know me} which I'm holding off taking until I see my regular doc. on Monday. I'd rather follow a more holistic plan. I swallowed some ACV which lowered it to 163/80 after 30 minutes. I do not want to start the circular medication spiral at all; nor do I want a stoke or M.I.! I never gave much thought to my sodium intake or blood pressure other than keeping the sodium amount below 2000mg per day. Wow, what a wake up call !!!!

[BrooklynSouth]

Will not be a drugged up hypertensive! I bought a new bp monitor, salt free beets, beet borscht, fresh fish, green veggies. My diet will be drastically changing for sure. An hour after having the beets and the borsct my bp began to lower. I'm going to control it naturally if I can...all it took was remembering the 'older ones' and their talk of beets/garlic for bp control...that and hearing Dr. Ronald Hoffman on radio then reading the study from the BARTS and THE LONDON SCHOOL of MEDICINE about the results of daily beetroot to lower bp. My lazy *** even dusted and began to use my elliptical machine again!!