Pingu, if you are worried about your blood pressure, it can be very helpful to "know where you are at" if you buy a blood pressure monitor and take your own blood pressure a couple of times a day, for example, first thing in the morning and again in the evening. This will give you a good baseline feel for what your BP really is as it can tend to go up when in the doctor's office. My doc wanted me to start watching my BP a while back, and I was able to lower it quite a bit by eliminating a lot of salt in my diet. I had no idea until then how much salt I actually consumed daily. I was able to eliminate a lot of salt by eliminating prepared, packaged, canned foods. For example, canned soups or cup-a-noodles are chock full of salt. I also tried exercising more and trying to lose weight. Then because of a weird and isolated incident of atrial fibrillation I had following surgery, I did get put on a specific BP medicine, which is supposed to help prevent AF episodes. It is called Diovan and it is an Angiotensis Receptor Blocker (ARB). It has no side effects at all except for dry mouth when I wake up in the morning, which is not a big deal for me. It has lowered my BP even more. I hope to not have to take this forever, but my doc is being cautious because of that AF incident. No, you do not have to take your BP meds for life if you can manage your BP with exercise, weight control, diet, etc. It soiunds like you are doing really good.

What is your BP? My cardiologist said he wanted mine below 120/80 because of the AF. Previously, my family doc had wanted mine below 130/90, but this was before the AF incident. With Diovan, I am usually 115-120/80. Without it, I am more like 125/85-90.

Hope this info helps. Keep up the exercise plan. It sounds like it is really helping you in more ways than one.

BTW, one common side effect (in women at least) of ACE inhibitors like you are taking is a dry cough. So if you get that, be sure to tell your doc so you can stop taking the med and try something else (if you need it).