Posted on 08/13/2015 12:25:56 PM PDT by rey
Turn off the TV and listen to something soothing on Pandora.
You’ll go to the Dr’s and be so stressed about getting there and the potential to have a high systolic/diastolic reading that you are going to sabotage yourself.
It will really help you to get to the appointment with time to spare,sit quietly,breath,steady and slowly and envision the numbers being as low as possible.
My borderline high blood pressure was actually discovered when I went for a job physical back in 1980. I got the job, but the doctor said I should follow-up with my family doctor, which I did. He initially put me on HCTZ, but after several years, he added a beta blocker. My pressure has been on the money each and every time I see him, which is every six months. Good luck.
That would do the trick!
Epsom Salts under the tongue is a good way to ingest Magnesium without getting diarrhea.
Allowing it to pass thru the GI system can loosen your stool, and was even an old timey method of addressing constipation.
Thus the under the tongue method.
I’m not the one with the problem... I do have hypertension but it’s well-controlled. I was responding to the original poster.
I’m well aware of white coat syndrome. I never had it until I had episodes of high BP and they searched for the right pills—some had bad news side effects. So, in the MD’s office, I developed it. Lately, since I’m controlled, it’s gone away.
I found that Omega makes good BP monitors. I’ve also found (YMMV) that the ones with an upper arm sleeve are more reliable than the wrist ones, or the finger ones, and in that order.
I’ve always THOUGHT BMI is a stupid metric.
I've been on blood pressure medications for 40 years, and I ain't dead yet.
There is some good advice here, Rey. Don’t fall for the scam way of taking your blood pressure either, especially with your cdl at stake. I’ve never had high blood pressure but having had my bp taken with my legs hanging off a gurney and arm hanging down it bumps it up quite a bit. The old traditional way sitting with feet on the floor (do not cross your legs) and your testing arm on the table is the proper way, except no other.
I wouldn’t mess with BP. It can damage internal organs. Go ahead and let the doctor figure out what it is and he will probably put you on something like the lowest dose of Benicar which is designed to bump both your numbers down about 15 points into a region where your internal organs are safe.
Very spicy food - say salsa made with scorpion peppers or ghost peppers - will lower your BP by a good 10 points on both the top and bottom numbers.
The hot pepper capscium oils dilate the blood vessels. Lasts for a day.
Ohio excellent advice. In my years (a few now) I have only had my BP taken according to AMA standards once.
http://www.amednews.com/article/20070611/health/306119977/4/
Interesting thread, I hope all goes well for you tomorrow!
I know celery IS a great BP lower. Might think about making a tea of of
fresh ginger root, too - reputed to be fantastic for quick results.
On a side note, re: BP meds, I’ve been married twice,
and both of my M-I-L’s died 2 days after being prescribed
a new BP med - no, I don’t know the name and wish to hell I did.
Both of them bled out through the nose and mouth, while sleeping.
One was dx’d as “heart attack”, the other as “pnuemonia”.
Scares the crap outta me. Anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Have the physical put off until Jan. 20th 2017. Once Jug Ears is out of the white mosque, the blood pressure of millions of men and women will go down.
I have the same issue when getting the DOT physical. Not having coffee beforehand helps mine. Blood pressure medicine is cheap but I think you need a prescription. Once when taking the physical, my numbers were a little high. The doctor sent me home with a few pills and said come back in a couple of days. I passed. Good luck to you.
I took a beta blocker for about 5 years,but my heart rate got too slow.I’m taking lisinopril now.
L-arginine, celery juice, hawthorn, ginkgo....
HBP is nothing to mess with - that is if you want to live a long life without HBP complications. To each is own.
I wish you the best. I like someone else’s suggestion to be there on time and not late. Running late could really do a number on your numbers! I have ‘white-coat-aphobia’ so it wouldn’t matter what I did. LOL Relaxation techniques are worth looking into.
I’ve had high blood pressure ever since it was first measured as a teenager and my doctor said “oh my goodness!”....that was 45 years ago. I monitor it almost daily and watch the fluctuations from one set of readings to the next and have tried to come up with some common denominators as far as what affects it. It’s not all that easy but some of them are the same as what are already stated here. For example, I find that if I exercise long and vigorously the day before, my bp will be down substantially. Thus since I like to bike, I’d go out for a 50 to 100 mile bike run on a decent trail somewhere. The other thing is that simple brain activity affects it greatly. I’ve taken back to back bp readings on my home monitor and if I’m by myself somewhere with my brain completely in idle, I can drop my bp by 15 to 20 points... turn the tv on or have someone in the room trying to engage in a conversation, up it goes. This is why when people say “so what is your blood pressure?”, my response is usually “well what number do you want?” If I really wanted to optimize both the systolic and diastolic numbers when going to a doctor’s office, here is what I’d do.... 1. Go to bed early the night before and get up in plenty of time so that you don’t have to rush. 2. Take nothing in the morning that has any caffeine and eat only a very minimal breakfast. 3. Get to the doctor’s office with plenty of time to spare. 4. Walk slowly in and engage in as small talk as possible.....especially about politics and especially anything that involves the Clintons 5. Make sure that you have been seated in the office comfortably for at least 10 minutes before they take the reading. For that entire time, keep your feet flat on the floor.....minimize your eye movement to avoid any distractions. Just before they take the readings, ask if you can have a few minutes by yourself....close your eyes and breathe deeply and calmly. I know this is virtually impossible but DO NOT THINK ABOUT SEX IF AT ALL POSSIBLE..... I can increase my numbers by at least 15 to 20 points if I do everything else ‘right’ and then start daydreaming about sex. Do all the above plus some of the other ideas here and your numbers will be as low as possible.
And get yourself a home bp monitor so that you can experiment as I’ve outlined to see what does it for you.
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