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Jul 23, 2009, 07:12 PM
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Member Since: Jun 2009
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 5,146
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I have high blood pressure that I keep under control with medication. I started taking a water diuretic called hydrochlorothiazide but it raised my uric acid levels which brought on gout attacks . It took me awhile to figure out what was causing these gout attacks but it was definitely the water diuretic.
I've been off it for about a month now and the gout has gone away.
In the meantime my doctor put me on a new medication called
Atacand , which is an angiotensin receptor blocker. He started
me on 4mg which is not even the recommended starting dose.
It's been about a month since I started it and I noticed it is
not helping as much as the water diuretic. My blood pressure
was 149/85 when I took it today . On the water diuretic I was getting readings around 125/80 consistently. I was just wondering if anyone else knows of ways to lower your blood pressure other
than exercise or low sodium diets. I was going to try and increase
the dosage on my own to 8mg just to see if there was an improvement being as I don't have another doctor's appointment until 2 weeks time. Would this be wise or should I just wait to see my doctor. High blood pressure scares me  Any suggestions?
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 Depression is not a weakness ...... it is a sign that you have been strong for too long.
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