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My blood pressure was normal, then I started taking Celexa. I was still thin, but my bp elevated from the SSRI. (Almost all psych meds cause an elevation in bp, especially the AP's.)
So I was prescribed more psych meds and my bp went up to "borderline", but didn't need treatment. Then I started taking Seroquel, gained over 100lbs over a few years. At this time my bp is high. I can't remember the numbers, but it's in the "dangerously high" range.
My GP prescribed a med that I had an awful reaction to. It was scary...I was disoriented to the point at which I literally had to tell myself my name because I couldn't recall it well. SO my GP tried something else, which gave me a chronic cough. There's a class of bp meds that give some people a cough. It's really annoying (some people do just fine with it).
Then GP prescribed Amlodipine. It's been good, except that it causes my ankles to swell. I have to take hydrochlorithiazide, which is a diuretic. It takes some of the ankle swelling down. But my bp is down in the low borderline range. I wish it was lower, but it's tough with psych meds.
As for exercise, I had surgery on my achilles tendon in May, so I'm still in the healing stage. The most I can do right now is some stretching and walk 1/2 a block. Getting better every day, though.
Diet. Normally, my diet is healthy. Since my surgery it hasn't been as good because I'm ordering too much take-out food. I definitely plan on returning my diet to healthy, though.
So that's my blood pressure story, thus far. I will say that it is seriously important to treat elevated bp, because it can shoot up fast and become very dangerous as far as stroke, etc. High bp damages internal organs, too, especially kidneys. It's not something to ignore.
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