Any audiophile who is on blood pressure medication

Hi Andrew-

In my early fifty’s, I was diagnosed with hypertension. My doctor scheduled a treadmill stress test, which I could not complete, because my blood pressure got dangerously high. I was put on cholesterol medication and a beta blocker. This motivated me to change my diet (mainly vegetarian with very low levels of caffeine), and I started exercising. After about three years, I was able to reduce my medications. So my doctor scheduled another treadmill test. This time I did so well, I was taken completely off my meds.

One thing that helped me was I got a home blood pressure monitor. I was motivated to stick with the diet and exercise program by seeing whether I was sliding back, maintaining or making progressing towards better blood pressure levels. Last week I went to see the doctor, because I bought a new BP monitor (Panasonic EW3152) and I wanted to check its accuracy. My BP was 127/70 on my monitor and 122/70 on the equipment in the medical offfice.

I’ve been off meds for about six years, and I’m about forty pounds lighter than went I was first diagnosed with hypertension. For me, exercise and diet allowed me to first reduce my meds and then get off them completely.

Good luck! -Don

Andrewdoan--the benicar you were taking is an ARB ---angiotensin receptor blocker--they have the lowest side effect profile of any of the bp meds--you may want to try another in the same class at the lowest dose and then work up from there--you are now taking an older ace inhibitor--most of the problems with this class is a cough which can develop at any time and is related to an increase in bradykinin---as you can see from the many responses--lots have had side effects ---I would encourage you to try to work with you doc to find the lowest dose that works with the least side effects---also look up the DASH diet ---rich in fruits ,veg and low salt--don't have time to write a primer on treating and preventing vasc disease but untreated bp is a major problem in this as well as other countries--every 20 mmHg (20) pts above 115systolic and every 10pts above 80diastolic doubles your risk--feel free to email me --Rich

I'm on Lotrel 2x daily (plus Clonidine at night to help with sleep). I also stepped up my exercise to daily (sometimes twice, before breakfast/before dinner) and increased my garlic intake. My HBP is under control now. Best of luck and stay healthy.

I've been monitoring and dealing with a tendency to hypertension for many years. For the last eight, I've been using TCM (traditional chinese medicine) with generally successful results. Prior to using TCM, my pressures were high all the time, now they generally stay within the healthy range. My pressure tends to be more unstable than consistently high, so I have to monitor it constantly to keep an idea of the real pattern. The biggest downside to using acupuncture and herbal therapy is the cost, insurance won't pay a red cent. My primary care physician was convinced it was uncontrolled and had me wear a 24 hour monitor. This convinced him I really was having "white coat fever." Of course, the question is how often is the b.p. of reactive patients is elevated because of stress. Because of the side effects and quality of life issues, my primary care m.d. is very reluctant to start patients on b.p. medicine unless he is convinced the average b.p. values are above 135/85 in someone without other symptoms like elevated lipids, being overweight, etc. Note: on average! This is why it's important for one to be responsible for self monitoring IMO. Readings in the doctors office may not be indicative of your total situation.

Hi Andrew..I was wondering how many days you monitored your bp before the medication was prescribed?