Time to get comfy

For about 12 months now, I have been under the watchful eye of my gp who had concerns about my blood pressure.
I always seemed to suffer from "white coat fever" where you can feel the rise as you walk into the surgery for a check and averaged around 150 / 95 ish - Not very high but high enough to keep an eye on.
These readings carried on, so in June I took a 24 hour bp check, which averaged out at 140/80 - healthy - but with some rather high and rather low peak and troughs...
Then in the last two weeks the doc has taken two more, both 150 / 95ish.

Now you may know that I am an active so and so, and while I like a drink, I have cut down on all the bad stuff and even lost 5lb since my June visit to the surgery. Cholesterol is safe etc so lifestyle is no concern. HPB does run in the family however.

So the doc has decided to try me on Candesartan tablets (8mg) for 6 months to see what impact it has... Then take me off them for a month to see whether I keep low or go back up before deciding on a long term solution. Thankfully, the days of being stuck on these tablets for life is no longer essential.

I just wondered if there are any other SN'ers out there who are / have gone through HBP and what tablets / side effects / sucess stories there were (especially in relation to the tablets I am on).

 

I had highish BP before I had a quad bypass. After I recovered from the operation my BP was down to 120/70 ish and has stayed that way. I do not do so much exercise not since I am disabled. I was on some BP pills before but was taken off them later.

I have an Omron BP machine at home and check my own BP occasionally when I am relaxed in the evening.

When I had to go to the hospital for an endoscopy exam the other day, my BP was up to 175/90 so I know all about the white coat syndrome-that is just a one-off and no need to worry about it.

I do have a good friend who has high BP even after an angio operation with the little stents they put in the veins and he has to continue to take the pills. Doesn't seem to worry his lifestyle though.

Hope this is of help

Les

 

141/85 with 300mg aprovil 2.5 mg water tab + 40 mg simvastatin

 

after googling candisartan its the same as aprovol an angiotensin II antagonists

 

Les - for your own good, I suggest you add me to your ignore list

I wish you well, seriously

Brendan

 

I was up to something like 210/98 at one point, and should have been ready to keel over.
Been on Coversyl for about 2 years now, and BP has come on a long way, now back in a save zone.
I was on 2 sets of tablets, came off one after about a year, now just on these.

hoping at the end of the diet I will be safe to come off them. Next appointment at Guys is in July.

I would recommend using a home BP tester too, I always get a much more consistent reading when I am actually relaxed and not stressed about what the doctor will say.

 

I would never ignore you Brendan

It looks bad doesnt it but they seem to have done a good job with all the surgery including the last real frightener as well as the bypass bit so I find its best to just ignore the whole thing!

Thanks for the good wishes-much appreciated.

Les

 

I don't start anyone on BP pills unless they have borrowed one of our home monitoring machines to take home as the differences in levels can be huge. Before they were freely available there must have been thousands of people taking pills unnecessarily.

 

Abdabz,

They make your **** fall off and reduce your ability to avoid local Scoobynet meets.

You have been warned!

 

I have similar symptoms, can be high first thing in the morning and then drops during the day - can be high during driving (don't allow the portable monitor to function while driving!!).

High point 180/110; long time since, but now the highs are 160/98, dropped recently to 138/83.

If you're younger than 40, try and avoid medication as your low readings are not high enough. Keep monitoring until a definitive trend has been established.

Avoid too much caffeine and alcohol, eat regularly to keep blood glucose in check.


Nik

 

I had a minor stroke caused by a head injury 4 years ago.

Are you taking Omega 3, Folic Acid and B6 tablets as well to keep the old blood cells happy? If not, suggest you do so.

Also, you probably should be on 1 x daily 75 mg soluble aspirin. It is recommended for anyone over 50 now - men and women. 100 tablets are available over the counter for 99p from Boots.

At 135/80, I'm on 1 x 10mg Amlodipine, 1 x 4/1.25 mg Coversyl Plus [the 1.25 mg is a diuretic to remove water from my legs as they swell a bit during the day], and 40 mg Simvastatin.

Cholesterol is 3.9 - under the 4.6 figure that is now the target [used to be 5.6].

 

Hmmm, come to think of it, I did drive past the Micklehead pub last week, calmly