[Naturefreak]

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?

personally atacand did NOTHING for me... but i get palpitations and my resting heart rate tends to be 100-120... so eventually i got put on a beta blocker, in this case metoprolol.. and i have not had an issue since.

[leahcim]

If it scares you it may be contributing to the excessive levels...any type of stress will do that. I really think you should call the doc before increasing on your own. Please be careful.

[susan888]

Babysteps, Please wait until you talk to your doc to change your dosage...You may just need to be on a different med.. Don't take any chances with that!!

[Rmdctc]

There are many different kinds of water pills out there maybe you could try a different type. High blood pressure is a bad thing it can lead to all sorts of bad health problems. I would call dr and try to get in sooner. I know you said besides exercise but that is one thing that will 100% bring down your blood pressure. Just 30 mins a day of walking will help it or swimming is a really good way since its hot right now.

[Rhapsody]

30 minute walks just 3 times a week does the body & heart good.

[sunrise]

I am on an angiotensin receptor blocker called Diovan. I take it because it is supposed to be associated with better outcomes for people who have had or do have heart arrhythmia. It also lowers BP, and I have been in that pre-hypertension phase. It has lowered my BP somewhat, but my doc may possibly ask me to increase the dose. I see my cardiologist on Monday.

There are many different classes of hypertension medication out there, e.g. beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, etc. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what works for a person. I do not recommend increasing your dose of the ARB on your own. Call you doc if you can't wait to see him/her in 2 weeks.

For BP, I also take omega-3 pills. The best things are lowering salt (has helped me quite a bit), losing weight, exercising. Many things help just a bit, so you get a couple of points off your BP here and a couple there. My doctor said I would probably not need BP medication at all if I would exercise more and lose weight. (Although I would still need it for the heart arrhymia.)

Good luck. Talk to your doc if you can't wait.

[wanttoheal]

I take an herbal supplement called Hawthorne Berry. If you do go a more natural way, be careful that it does not interact with any medication you are taking. Also, taking this, one needs to monitor their blood pressure carefully so that it does not get too low with other medications combined.

[Naturefreak]

Well I did increase the dosage on my own to 8mg and took my BP the last
two days with readings of 112/81 and 115/76 . It dropped significantly.
I may have made a big mistake by not taken your advice , but at least I know
now where I stand. I don't want it too low either . I will be honest with my
doctor and see how he feels about it . I will go back on his prescribed dose
tomorrow. Sometimes I do stupid things ,
Thanks for the replys all

Those readings are pretty good- a little low, but decent. The thing to remember is when testing blood pressure you should always do it three or even four times - I do two standing and two sitting. And then average it out. Because blood pressure can change within just a few seconds to a min, and also between sitting and standing. My GP always does three in a row, and if its up, has me sit and relax for fifteen min, and then do three more.

Also a good idea to keep doing that each day for a couple of days!