Natural Remedies to lower Blood Pressure?

[Rush20]

Hi all. I was curious if anyone else has experienced higher blood pressure post surgery?

I'm 42 years young and prior to my AVR two years ago, never had high blood pressure.

I had my annual cardio exam yesterday and my readings were 172/82 and 175/80. I know there is a "white coat" syndrome, however my cardio explained that if my readings are 120/80 when relaxed (which they are) and become elevated during daily work stress, etc. that I could have reactionary hypertension.

I am (was?) a type-A personality and I do work in corporate America so the daily work stress combined with business travel and a long drive/commute, probably compound the issue.

Anyway, outside of the AVR, I have always been pretty healthy and enjoy an active lifestyle. I never smoked, however I am carrying about 10-15 extra lbs of good living that I could try and drop. (6'2" - 215lbs).

Anyone have any natural remedies to help reduce my number? The cardio did not prescribe any medication, however he wants me to continue to monitor by BP and see him again in 6 months. He suggests that I go back on Toprol XL if the readings don't go down. (I was on Toprol after OHS mostly due to rehab palps and overall healing of the heart).

Thanks!

 

[PJmomrunner]

Cutting back on sodium in your diet will help. My cardio recommended cutting back to 1500mg a day and I believe the American Heart Association recommends something like 2400mg a day for people without blood pressure issues. I found that I really have to watch labels to even meet the 2400mg level. It is fairly easy to cut out a lot of salt and doing so does impact the BP. Nancy is our VR.com expert on this, she's got her hubby Joe on 500mg a day. That's NOT easy.

 

[tobagotwo]

BP does tend to increase with age. However, if you think you're actually experiencing white coat syndrome, ask for an overnight (ambulatory) BP monitor for 24 hours. It tells a lot more than a BP reading in a doctor' office can ever do.

My cardiologist insisted that I needed BP medicine, because my readings were high in the office. I countered that they weren't at home. We agreed on a 24-hour monitor, winner take all. The result: Cardiologists cause high blood pressure. My pressure was fine away from his office. No medication.

White Coat Syndrome is more prevalent than many suspect, and medication is often prescribed on the basis of only one or two BP readings in the doctor's office.

Unless you're in an emergency status, I strongly recommend that anyone who is being prescribed blood pressure medication for the first time wear the ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours to be sure it's needed first. It wouldn't hurt to try it if your dosage is being upped, too.

Best wishes,

 

[Nancy]

P.J.

You are SO right, 500mg per day of sodium is extremely difficult. I just got finished making breakfast sausage from scratch, and have to make all the baked goods from scratch as well, even hot V-8 juice that Joe adores and just about every other edible thing.

You are also right about BP and low sodium diets.

I have had high BP for many years, maybe 30 or so. Mine is influenced by stress (I can't imagine why) , and I also have white coat symndrome. I take my BP all the time at home. And most of the time it is normal and even very low, like 108/70 (at which point I don't take my BP med so I don't faint). Since Joe has been on low sodium, it has helped me too. I do add salt at the table, but you never add as much at the table as you would if you cook with it.

But I do have to watch it carefully when things are stressful. It can get up there in a hurry.

I'm on Cozaar. Does a good job for me without many side effects.

 

[JohnnyV_46]

I have had high blood pressure for about 8 years. I had my Surgery and my blood pressure was normal to low for the past 7 weeks! I didn't take any BP medicine what so ever...a couple days ago, i checked and my pressure was 136/90. It was higher today so I started back on the meds and put in a call to the docs office. None of the Doctors could tell me why my BP was normal for those 7 weeks...

 

[queness]

Natural rmemdies for htn

Natural rmemdies for htn

there are many ways to optimise your blood pressure. As a participant in the rat race, and it seems to agree with you except for some high blood pressure, you might try daily exersize, some form of meditation, yoga, pilates, tai chi or qi gong, or a specific form of meditation called heart math (it is at heartmath.com). there are many dietary modificatons and herbal supplements you can use successfully, I would suggest looking for a licensed naturopathic physician in your area, or if you can't find one, a wholistic MD to find ones that will be most effective for you and that will not negatively interract with any medications you may be taking now.

I am a licensed naturopathic physician, not currently practising as I am recovering from aortic valve replacement with complications.

Queness

 

[Eric]

Rush20,

Like you I'm 42 and am in good shape. I'm about 5 1/2 weeks post op (ascending aorta replacement and aortic root "remodel"). Also like you, before surgery my BP was normal - about 120/70, sometimes lower. After surgery I shot up to about 135. My surgeon believes in keeping his patients at around 110-115 post surgery (and long term) so he put me on 320mg of Diovan, 100mg of Atenolol and 10mg Novasc. After taking this regimen for a month, my BP was at about 107, so two days ago he cut me down to 160mg Diovan and 75mg Atenolol and my BP has skipped all over the place - from 103 to 123. Usually higher during the day because I'm also in corporate America and work very hard. For example, this afternoon it was 123 and tonight it is 109.

I hate taking the drugs because they make me tired. Since I cut down I feel better and I hope to cut down even more at some point in the future.

Just want to throw this out: My first BP machine (Microlife) registered about 10 points higher than when I was in a doctor's office (no white-coat syndrome with me) so I finally bought a new machine (Omron) and it registers about the same as when I go to the doc's office.

 

[Rush20]

Thanks for all the feedback. I will watch my sodium intake, however I usually don't salt any food so I guess I need to read the labels, etc.

I might try the 24 hour BP monitor. I think that would give me a better figure to work with.

As to the "white coat" syndrome, I agree it plays a big piece. Simply put, I hate going to the doctor. I am fortunate I went two years ago when my murmur was discovered, however the entire pre and post operation schedule was very stressful to me as I hate being examined, needled, weighed, etc.

However, considering the alternative, it's something I have learned to accept.

 

[TomS]

Takes a couple of weeks

Takes a couple of weeks

Rush20,

Like you I'm 42 and am in good shape. I'm about 5 1/2 weeks post op (ascending aorta replacement and aortic root "remodel"). Also like you, before surgery my BP was normal - about 120/70, sometimes lower. After surgery I shot up to about 135. My surgeon believes in keeping his patients at around 110-115 post surgery (and long term) so he put me on 320mg of Diovan, 100mg of Atenolol and 10mg Novasc. After taking this regimen for a month, my BP was at about 107, so two days ago he cut me down to 160mg Diovan and 75mg Atenolol and my BP has skipped all over the place - from 103 to 123. Usually higher during the day because I'm also in corporate America and work very hard. For example, this afternoon it was 123 and tonight it is 109.

I hate taking the drugs because they make me tired. Since I cut down I feel better and I hope to cut down even more at some point in the future.

Just want to throw this out: My first BP machine (Microlife) registered about 10 points higher than when I was in a doctor's office (no white-coat syndrome with me) so I finally bought a new machine (Omron) and it registers about the same as when I go to the doc's office.

Just a thought - My blood pressure had always been low, but shot up right before surgery ( to 150/90). They had me on medication pre-op and for six weeks post-op to make sure that it was lower. I was steady at 110/80. After the six weeks I asked to try it without medication because the pills were making me tired. I also had spokem to someone else and they said that the Atenolol put them right to sleep so tried, and was able to get off of it.
My doc agreed to let me try it without the meds. My blood pressure went back up (130-140/90) for about 2 weeks. My doc said to give it another 10 days and see if it settled back down. It did, and I'm now back to 120/90 without any medication.
You may want to ask to try it a bit longer and see if you can get rid of the pills.
Tom

AV/Root replacement 8-16-05

 

[inlaguna]

I found the opposite was true of me. I am also 42 and had surgery about 10 months ago. My BP went down to the point after surgery where I almost passed out every time I stood up. I was on Atenolol for about 8 years or so before the surgery and it didn't bother much. After the light headed episodes I stopped it.

One thing I did differently which caused the drop ( besides surgery) was increase my exercise intensity. I dropped about 20 pounds leading up to surgery and another 8 or so after. I am now on a very low dose of sectral(sp?) which I may be able to come off of too at some point. I will say that when my BP gets below 110 I start to have problems and I feel better at 115 or so. Hard to keep it there consistently, but that's my goal.

I too experienced the "white coat" effect and have battled with the BP thing for years. Controling my weight seems to be the best answer for me.

 

[tobagotwo]

I think TomS made a great point about the BP just having a hard time regulating itself at first. While you don't want to have high blood pressure for any length of time, the heart has been interfered with, and it is to be expected that it will take a bit of time to smooth its processes back out again. A bit of patience can be very rewarding in the short term after surgery.

While some cardiologists may want to keep people at a lower-than-average BP for a short time after surgery, I have never seen anything that indicates that any BP within the classic normal range is better than any other in that range post surgery. Perhaps it is to err on the side of caution for those who've had dacron repair work done along with the AVR.

My personal belief is that the heart will try to to reaclimate itself after OHS, and I would be concerned that medications could interfere with that process negatively. Blood pressure in the body is monitored and regulated by an intricate series of trip-and-levers that even include the kidneys. To me, extra medication given to someone who is anywhere in or very close to the normal range during early recovery is like throwing a bowling ball on that delicate balancing act.

All blood pressure medications have some side effects, one of which is that they lose their efficacy over time. I would not want to "wear out" medications I may really need later, in order to reach a low, unsupported "magic number" now.

Okay. I'll get off the soap box now...

Best wishes,