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Apart from BP Medication : Lifestyle Changes

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  10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication By making these 10 lifestyle changes, you can lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease. By Mayo Clinic Staff If you have high blood pressure, you may wonder if you need to take medicine to treat it. But lifestyle changes play a vital role in treating high blood pressure. Controlling blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle might prevent, delay or lessen the need for medicine. Here are 10 lifestyle changes that can lower blood pressure and keep it down. 1. Lose extra weight and watch your waistline Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Being overweight also can cause disrupted breathing while you sleep, a condition called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea further raises blood pressure. Weight loss is one of the best ways to control blood pressure. If you're overweight or have obesity, losing even a small amount of weight can help lower blood pressure. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of m...
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Managing BP in Winters

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Of late my BP has become somewhat difficult to manage in the peak winter at my place in north India. This was especially so in January 2024. I had much problem in managing my BP within safe range. I even consulted a new cardiologist who prescribed me Telmisartan 80mg - the highest possible therapeutic dosage of this drug. It didn't help at all for almost a month. In fact, anticipating such a problem, I had thought of migrating to a a more salubrious, tropical climate (Goa) for about 45 days for the those torrid December-January months, but, then, I was tempted to some wildlife photography project in the Thar Desert area of Rajasthan - almost as cold as my hometown - so no respite really.
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About Me

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I feel quite passionately about the proper management of high blood pressure, as I have had this malaise for 57 of my +76 years yet. That truly means that I have been on anti-hypertensive drug therapy for that many years - almost a lifetime. My major drugs-in-use have been Aldomet (Methyldopa), Hygroton (a diuretic - water pill), Ismelin (G uanethidine monosulfate), Amlodipin (besylate), Atenolol, Ditide ( Benzthiazide + Triamterene - another diuretic, water pill),  Envas (Enalapril maleate), Telmasartan, Telmasartan-H, and, as of today, Cilacar (Cilnidipine) and Olmat ( Olmesartan medoxomil). Though for the initial 10 years or so I had to get my BP checked by my consulting physician as and when I conveniently could, I procured  sphygmomanometer subsequently and used it routinely. However, using that instrument often proved quite cumbersome. In late 1990s I procured me first digital BP instrument, and maintain one to-date. Thanks to regular monitoring and the efficacy of my cu...
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DRUGS in BP Management

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Drug therapy for blood pressure includes various types of pills, and they all have some bothersome side-effect or the other. Doctors prescribe these drugs as for their perceived efficacy in managing our blood pressure to safer levels. This is invariably the sole concern of the prescribing physician. They hardly ever caution their patients about the possible side-effects of these drugs. And, they quite non-chalantly alter the dosage or the drug type if a particular patient does report back some side-effect, and if they do think of the alleged side-effect as potentially dangerous. To this extent, the patients seem to be nothing more than guinea pigs by the nexus of pharma companies and the physicians. For them, if patients do develop side-effects, it just goes into the profile database of that drug. That's about all. Medicines used to treat high blood pressure include: Water pills (diuretics).  These drugs help remove sodium and water from the body. They are often the first medicines...
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Why Blood Pressure gets High

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Any pathological or physiological factors that strain the heart too much, or cause constriction of our blood vessels or cause retention of excessive water in our body, tend to increase our blood pressure - as the space within our blood vessels is limited. So, narrowing of blood vessels would thus naturally increase blood pressure. Same happens when our plasma volume increases 'coz of excessive fluid retention within the limited vascular space. Factors affecting mild to moderate (reversible) increase in blood pressure : cold temperature, physical strain, excessive exercise, stress & anxiety, weight gain, lack of sleep, certain drugs and chemicals, sedentary lifestyle (lack of physical activity), pregnancy (gestational hypertension). tobacco and caffeine etc. Accordingly, most other factors being same, our blood pressure tends to go up somewhat in winters, and in colder climates, and tends to get a bit lower in summers, or upon moving to warmer, tropical climates. This happens b...
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Sudden BP Spike

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I had a sudden, unexpected BP spike today almost two hours after I had taken my medication in the morning. Usually, this is the time of lowest BP value, as around 2 hrs the BP drugs usually show their peak potency. I did check my BP repeatedly, but the spike was definitely there - almost 180/100. This sort of a value has never been noted ever during the last 57 hypertensive of my 75 years. Yes, I have had hypertension since a very young age. And, 'am currently +75 years. The only reason for this spike I could suspect was that I took my morning medication almost 2 hours later than what I usually do, as my morning BP was well within the normal range. I could manage today's BP spike well and effectively as I do maintain a wide range of medicines at home, especially to meet any hypertensive emergency . But it was definitely a scare, and I must confess that the thought of going to the hospital emergency did cross my mind indeed. The spike took almost 2-3 hours to be controlled. Righ...
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