What do you take for high blood pressure?

[braumeister]

Don't bother trying to dose yourself with potassium. The only supplements authorized for OTC sale are incredibly tiny amounts. Ask your doctor if you want to consider it.

 

[euro]

Don't bother trying to dose yourself with potassium. The only supplements authorized for OTC sale are incredibly tiny amounts. Ask your doctor if you want to consider it.

Yes, be very careful with Potassium. Remember, potassium chloride is used to stop the heart of people during the execution of the death sentence...

of course those are very high doses, but still! Only take this under medical supervision.

Other potential issues at lower doses:
What are the heart risks of having too much potassium?

chest pains
heart palpitations
a weakening pulse
shortness of breath
sudden collapse

 

[Koolau]

My doctor increased my Diltiazem dosage to 180mg. So far I haven't noticed any side effects from it, but it doesn't make a huge change in my blood pressure either. Still, I'm right around the 120/80 range, so that's good enough for me.

I can't tell if it's helping with the premature heartbeats or not. I started taking Magnesium regularly around the same time the Diltiazem dosage was increased. My heart rhythm seems "slightly" more regular, but I don't know if the Diltiazem or Magnesium is making the bigger difference. Or, it might just be coincidence, one of those lulls between the periodic flare ups. I want to wait at least a month or two before I feel comfortable saying either is really having an effect.

How is your caffeine intake? I've cut mine roughly in half and it has (apparently) reduced my palpations significantly. I often go days now without one though I still get a few every once in a while. YMMV

 

[Koolau]

When I was in hospital they made me take potassium not magnesium. I don't think you are supposed to just take it unless someone prescribes it though.

Years ago I was talking to my Cardiologist and asked if I shouldn't be taking potassium to reduce my episodes of SVT and palpitations. He said to take OTC magnesium instead. I think it has helped, though cutting caffeine has seemed to help more - but YMMV.

 

[Koolau]

Yes, be very careful with Potassium. Remember, potassium chloride is used to stop the heart of people during the execution of the death sentence...

of course those are very high doses, but still! Only take this under medical supervision.

Other potential issues at lower doses:
What are the heart risks of having too much potassium?

chest pains
heart palpitations
a weakening pulse
shortness of breath
sudden collapse

This just triggered a memory that many (many) years ago my PCP put me on potassium (10 milliequivalent). Apparently I had one "flagged" reading on blood test or else I whined about my palpitations. When I got a cardiologist, he took me off of potassium right away. No explanation.

Lots of "art" in the medical "arts" I guess. YMMV

 

[badatmath]

Yes, be very careful with Potassium. Remember, potassium chloride is used to stop the heart of people during the execution of the death sentence...

of course those are very high doses, but still! Only take this under medical supervision.

Other potential issues at lower doses:
What are the heart risks of having too much potassium?

chest pains
heart palpitations
a weakening pulse
shortness of breath
sudden collapse

Scary. I only take vitamin d as per my doctor right now.

I think blood pressure meds have a side effect of raising potassium in some cases though.

 

[Koolau]

Scary. I only take vitamin d as per my doctor right now.

I think blood pressure meds have a side effect of raising potassium in some cases though.

When in doubt - get tested for Pot/Mag/Ca, etc. All the electrolytes which affect the heart and kidneys should be on your doc's yearly list of things to check, I would think but YMMV.

 

[mountainsoft]

How is your caffeine intake? I've cut mine roughly in half and it has (apparently) reduced my palpations significantly.

I never consumed much caffeine anyway, but the last few months I have tried to avoid caffeine as much as possible. I brew my own decaf tea at home and only drink caffeine free sodas, with the occasional rare exception. In my case it hasn't made any difference.

I also haven't seen any connection with alcohol, not that I drink much anyway.

I lead a fairly stress free life, other than when my heart starts beating erratically. That makes me nervous and worrisome.

I asked doc for some metabolic blood work and got the results back Friday. Everything looked stellar. Vitamin D levels were 31 ng/ml (up from 24 last April), and Potassium level was 4.4 mmol/L. Calcium, Sodium, Glucose, etc. were all equally good. While I'm happy there were no issues with my blood tests, I'm also a bit frustrated that I can't find a cause for the premature heartbeats.

I've also been taking Magnesium the last couple months. I tried Magnesium Oxide first as it's what I first found in the store, but have switched to Magnesium Glycinate recently. I haven't seen that either has any effect either. I still want to track down some Magnesium Taurate, but I have my doubts that will do much either.

Doc increased my dosage of Diltiazem to 180mg, but that hasn't had any noticeable effect either (neither did the beta blockers, or previous BP meds). Doc says to give it a month, so I wait...

 

[braumeister]

I've also been taking Magnesium the last couple months. I tried Magnesium Oxide first as it's what I first found in the store, but have switched to Magnesium Glycinate recently. I haven't seen that either has any effect either. I still want to track down some Magnesium Taurate, but I have my doubts that will do much either.

My doctor friend says it's best to use a chelated form of magnesium if you're taking it as a supplement, so anything that ends in -ate will check that box.

 

[badatmath]

When in doubt - get tested for Pot/Mag/Ca, etc. All the electrolytes which affect the heart and kidneys should be on your doc's yearly list of things to check, I would think but YMMV.

Yes they are. I just only started new meds recently though so I don't know if they will have an the side effect that makes it unworkable for some.

 

[bloom2708]

1 tip: stay away from the "How do you cook your bacon?" thread.

:-(

 

[fosterscik]

My doctor friend says it's best to use a chelated form of magnesium if you're taking it as a supplement, so anything that ends in -ate will check that box.

Unfortunately, that's not correct. "-ate" endings just designate a salt type. There are lots of "ates" (most people know sulfate, nitrate and citrate; there are many more). If you want a chelated product you should buy a bottle that specifically mentions this.

 

[badatmath]

mountainsoft I am not one to get medical advice on utube but have you ever looked at Sanjay Gupta York Cardiology videos. I was just directed to one on blood pressure but I notice he has some on other topics and wondered if there was anything there for you. He seems very down to earth and explains things better than some doctors I have seen anyway. One was titled Why pvcs, pacs, and ectopic heartbeats hurt so bad. I didn't watch it as not currently one of my problems.

 

[eytonxav]

Had my PCP visit last week and am getting new Rx going from lisinopril 10/12.5 to two pills, 5 mg lisinopril and a 12.5 mg water pill. I may spilt the water pill in half and take it in the morning, and the lisinopril at night. I am not sure if it's been mentioned, but cutting down your salt intake can have very positive results. My problem is I crave salty snacks which are probably the worst things one can eat and it makes me wonder if I could cut out blood pressure meds entirely if I could drastically reduce my salty snacks.

 

[street]

Had my PCP visit last week and am getting new Rx going from lisinopril 10/12.5 to two pills, 5 mg lisinopril and a 12.5 mg water pill. I may spilt the water pill in half and take it in the morning, and the lisinopril at night. I am not sure if it's been mentioned, but cutting down your salt intake can have very positive results. My problem is I crave salty snacks which are probably the worst things one can eat and it makes me wonder if I could cut out blood pressure meds entirely if I could drastically reduce my salty snacks.

I know for me; salt is not good for me. If I get too much from foods where it is present BP goes up and I don't feel well.

I bet you would see immediate results watch salts in diet.

 

[pacergal]

It depends on how much salt you are eating. One small serving a day probably won't cause a problem, but if you are jamming down chips, pretzels, dill pickles, processed meats/cured meats tons of cheese, and salting your table food, then, you might need to cut back!

Once my PCP added a diuretic, my bp has been much better. I rarely add salt when cooking or at the table, but I do enjoy a small salty snack several times a week, and it doesn't seem to cause a problem.

 

[badatmath]

I don't want a diuretic because I think they are bad for kidneys but will see what doctor says in a few weeks. I want to change off the losartan first because I think it is what is making me cough. I realize it is not supposed to. . . but I have been coughing since November

 

[Marita40]

I can tell you what lowered my blood pressure rather dramatically within a few weeks, from around 135/90 to 100/68. (I am not overweight). I cut out all sugar and flour from my diet, and added two tbls of flax seed daily. I had reduced salt but I added it back in with no blood pressure rise. Same with coffee: no BP rise. I have changed nothing else.

 

[mountainsoft]

mountainsoft I am not one to get medical advice on utube but have you ever looked at Sanjay Gupta York Cardiology videos. I was just directed to one on blood pressure but I notice he has some on other topics and wondered if there was anything there for you. He seems very down to earth and explains things better than some doctors I have seen anyway. One was titled Why pvcs, pacs, and ectopic heartbeats hurt so bad. I didn't watch it as not currently one of my problems.

Yeah, I have watched several of his videos on ectopic heart beats. He's nice to listen to and informative, but unfortunately none of the ideas in his series helped me much. Still battling the PAC's.

 

[mountainsoft]

I can tell you what lowered my blood pressure rather dramatically within a few weeks, from around 135/90 to 100/68. (I am not overweight). I cut out all sugar and flour from my diet, and added two tbls of flax seed daily. I had reduced salt but I added it back in with no blood pressure rise. Same with coffee: no BP rise. I have changed nothing else.

I stopped drinking sugary beverages in 2022 and so far have lost over 30 pounds. Initially I switched to "zero sugar" drinks, but had concerns with the aspartame sweeteners, so now I only use stevia in home brewed decaf tea or Zevia brand sodas. My BP averages around 130/75 or so, though it's often lower and occasionally slightly higher.

These days the premature heartbeats concern me more than the blood pressure. They make me feel horrible and worry me a lot, despite doctors reassuring me, and when they really flare up it can be really scary. Of course, worry causes stress, which just makes them worse. So far meds haven't helped much, beta blockers and calcium channel blockers really haven't affected the PAC's.

 

[garyt]

I did notice my potassium level was only 3.5 mmol/L on my last blood test, the absolute bottom of the "normal" range accordingave toto Kaiser. Though I see other recommendations saying 3.6 to 3.7 is the bottom of normal.

In any case, it had been closer to 4 in previous blood tests. Since it didn't trigger a "flag" on the blood tests, none of my doctors have mentioned it. Might be worth asking about.

Kind of odd considering I eat a banana every day, as well as often eating potatoes and peanut butter.

Bananas aren't that high in potassium. At least not like oranges and vitamin C where one orange is all you need. You'd have to eat 7-8bananas a day to get your daily requirements

 

[mountainsoft]

Bananas aren't that high in potassium. At least not like oranges and vitamin C where one orange is all you need. You'd have to eat 7-8bananas a day to get your daily requirements

Just had new blood tests last week. Potassium was back up to 4.4 mmol/L. So much for that theory. All other readings were perfect too.

 

[Exchme]

Just had new blood tests last week. Potassium was back up to 4.4 mmol/L. So much for that theory. All other readings were perfect too.

I have PVCs and PACs too. My cardiologist said they are not immediately dangerous, but of course, it wears your heart out sooner to be doing unproductive beats. I agree about not feeling good when it happens.

The first thing my cardiologist said for treatment is zero caffeine - no coffee, tea, chocolate, etc. and sent me home. They kept happening, so I used my Kardia portable EKG to capture some of the events (it makes 30 second EKG traces that you can see on your phone). Sometimes the bad beats occurred on every second or third real beat and once I captured them occurring after every single real beat. So armed with some data, I went back. The doctor loved looking at the EKG and kept scrolling through what I brought him. With regard to the PVCs and PACs, he said, "ooh, that's a lot" - not something you really want to hear!

They outfitted me with a 24 hour Holter monitor and that showed that on average, the PVCs and PACs were 10% of my heartbeats. The bad beats went away at night - a sign that beta blockers would work as natural adrenaline plus life stressors are low then.

The usual beta-blocker meds caused my heart rate to slow too much, so I take 1/2 of the pediatric dose of nebivolol. So far, so good, the bonus is it also lowered my blood pressure.

My electrophysiologist said that it was possible to do a cauterization procedure like the ablation procedure for AFIB, though I don't know how bad you have to get before they will do that.

Best of luck!

 

[mountainsoft]

The first thing my cardiologist said for treatment is zero caffeine... Sometimes the bad beats occurred on every second or third real beat and once I captured them occurring after every single real beat.

Yeah, I immediately cut caffeine and alcohol. Never smoked so nothing to quit there. I work from home so I don't have much stress in my life. None of these had any effect on my PAC's. Same before and after. I get the every second or third beat pattern too (bigimeny and trigimeny), though other times they just occur at random.

I took Metoprolol for several months, and tried Atenolol for a couple days before I had to give it up. Neither had any significant effect on my PAC's, but the side effects were horrible.

I'm now on Diltiazem which didn't seem to do anything at 120mg. Doc increased to 180mg which didn't seem to do anything for a couple weeks, but the last week I have had very few PAC's and a mostly steady rhythm. Maybe coincidence, but a positive sign. Doc said I could try 240mg, so I'm gonna start that this week to see what effect it has. So far I haven't noticed any side effects from Diltiazem which is a first for me with all these meds.

They outfitted me with a 24 hour Holter monitor and that showed that on average, the PVCs and PACs were 10% of my heartbeats. The bad beats went away at night

Doc referred me to cardiology and they want to do a monitor first. I'm waiting till I'm done with my cold to pursue that. I'm also waiting to see what the higher Diltiazem dosage does.

My PAC's seem to go away overnight too. I feel them when I go to bed sometimes, but most mornings I wake up with a regular heart rhythm. They usually start up again a couple hours after I get up.

I also want to have my thyroid checked. I started losing weight last year at the same time the PAC's started. I've lost 33 pounds in the last 12 months but have not made any change to diet or exercise other than switching to sugar free beverages. I wouldn't think that simple change would amount to a 13% weight loss, but who knows. I haven't had my thyroid checked since 2020, so figured it can't hurt. I'm losing about 3-5 pounds per month with no signs of slowing down.

I'm starting to feel like a hypochondriac. I keep thinking doc is gonna tell me to stop researching stuff online.

 

[stephenson]

BP is high when I am over about 200# ... 6'1" tall. When drops to 195 it seems be diminished. I have a hard time staying below 195 ... usually 205#.

I take 20 mg of and it keeps me below 120, and below 80 - https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-16800/telmisartan-oral/details

Given the HBP, and my age, I also take 40 mg of atorvastatin - https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-841/atorvastatin-oral/details

And, since I had a heart calcium scoring done at the same time as starting the statin, three years ago (was asymptomatic then and still am) that indicated bad juju calcium it was good alignment.

I also started Vascepa - jury still out on Vascepa, but perhaps there is something there, there. https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-162888/vascepa-oral/details

Net - eat very little dessert, stopped sugar drinks 15 years ago, stopped sugar in coffee three months ago, don't eat much red meat, almost never eat burgers at a fast food place (once a year?), love my martini(s), don't drink my beer, cabernet (oh yeah). Have always had higher than normal glucose.

Current LDL is mid 40s, triglycerides mid 40s, cholesterol 106, HDL 45-48 (it has been this for forty years including time when I was 185-190 pounds in my 30s). During the addison of the various meds I THINK I have felt exactly the same.

Advice for everyone - don't kid yourself about your weight and terrible eating habits - fix what you can fix, or regret not doing so. Get blood work called Cardio IQ (or advanced lipids panel). Get second opinions - use your PCP, then go to another PCP - if you have a cardiologist, get an opinion from another cardiologist. Ignore youtube doctors.

Edit - if you smoke, OMG STOP!