Do you have high blood pressure? Do you take meds? What do you take? What has been your experience?
Get exercise and don’t drink as much.
Go to the doctor and get a full blood work up done. You might be diabetic.
I was recently diagnosed with BP similar to your levels - prior to that I was always in very normal levels. I take metropolol but mostly I’ve changed my diet. I do not use salt on food, limit my sodium intake, eat healthier and have been exercising. As a result I’ve gone off my meds and am losing weight. I’ve dropped 25 pounds and have about 30 more to go. Mine is a product of age and poor personal maintenance. I’ve not had any of the vision symptoms you’ve described. But as a result of the changes I’ve made I feel better, more energy and can feel my core... forgot I had abdominal muscles. ha!
My physician has me on a beta blocker, diuretic and a statin for cholesterol.
No side effects, I'm very active and I maintain a FAA Class 2 medical certificate.
If you're prescribed medication take them as directed and stay on them. Chronic untreated hypertension is a recipe for heart failure, kidney failure and other undesirable stuff.
If it works, you might try an intermittent-fasting regimen, where you forego eating for a few days a week.
This is from an NIH site:
High blood pressure. Some research shows that garlic can reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure by as much as 7% or 8%. It also seems to lower blood pressure in people with normal blood pressure. Most studies have used a specific garlic powder product (Kwai, from Lichtwer Pharma).
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/300.html
I pickle garlic with vinegar, a little salt, cinnamon and sugar.
Aerobic interval training reduces blood pressure and improves myocardial function in hypertensive patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21450580/
I have the same problem. The lightning bolt looking thing that appears whether or not your eyes are open or closed seems to move around in my eyesight like something floating in my eyeball. The first time I experienced it, it was a bright white jagged lightning bolt that was very painful, but since then it is a rainbow color. If it appears in front of my pupil, I will be blind for an hour or so
, like reverse tunnel vision where you can only see with your peripheral vision.
There is something called an ocular migraine. You might want to check it out.
Getting medical advice here probably isn’t the best plan.
See a doctor.
(1) Nutritional aspects and approaches should be considered. The Life Extension Foundation has a good explanation of high blood pressure. and they also sell a premium line of supplements.
(2) The high protein, low carbohydrate Atkins diet usually drops blood pressure to normal levels and peels off weight without the grief of calorie restriction.
(3) An easy to use FDA appoved home medical device called Zona Plus works remarkably well to lower blood pressure.
(4) Regular, moderate exercise helps to lower blood pressure.
One word of advice that could save your life, ALWAYS CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IN BOTH ARMS. MY BLOOD PRESSURE HAS BEEN AS HIGH AS 215 OVER 190 IN MY RIGHT ARM AND NORMAL IN MY LEFT ARM.
Move to Colorado and eat very small amounts of “brownies” 2 times a day.
I’m the other side of the coin, wife(nurse) and I were just messing around one day and found my bp at 190/135, absolutely no symptoms or effects from it, just maybe 10-15 lbs overweight. I’ve never been a regular check-up kind of person, so who knows how long it had been like that. Doctor put me on Benicar almost 12 years ago now, haven’t seen it above 130/75.
I consider myself pretty lucky so far, we have a strong family history of hypertension.
Heck if my BP is not both triple digit’s I'm happy.
Keep in mind that 120/80 is “Textbook perfect BP”. Google it.
If I go to a doc it is because I hurt REAL BAD. Pain jacks BP.
I'm 100# over weight and had numbers that were high and had “Doctors” come in the room and out weigh me by another 75++ lbs and start giving me $&!t about my pressure.
I told them “well how about we check your’s right now”
They ALL changed the subject...
Back to what I came in to see them about.
Drugs for hypertension are plentiful, and many are remarkably inexpensive ($4/month at WalMart). Trust your physician to determine which drug is best for you. Diet and weight control do not eliminate the genetic predisposition to hypertension.
Seeking advice in an anonymous discussion forum is not the most wise decision for a health issue that left untreated will debilitate and kill.
Try not eating processed food of any kind...and adding beans to your diet...go to a Naturapath (ND)...unless you like taking drugs.
First re the flashes in your eye. More than likely they were and are floaters. For most of us floaters are harmless and offer a form of entertainment. The link below from NIH is an excellent explanation of flashers.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/flashesandfloaters/ot089103.pdf
Your high blood pressure is a different matter, and you should treat monitor it at home. If it is still high, you should treat it with appropriate medicine. We have had a few friends who didn’t treat their HBP, and they had devastating strokes which seriously impaired their life styles.
Before you go on your meds, buy a wrist BP measuring device. We use the OMRON made by Intellisense. You put it on your non dominant wrist, push the start button and put your wrist a little over your heart let it work. It only takes a minute and can retain your past pressure. My doctor has me keep a chart for a few weeks before my yearly visit. I take the chart in with my visit, he scans it and has his RN take a reading and says, “Your med is still, working. Stay on it.
A lot of people have white coat syndrome when just visiting a doctor’s office and having the nurse or doctor take your BP can raise their BP significantly. A friend, who was a personal pilot of a CEO had that syndrome. We had him walk a mile to the doctor’s office. The office RN, a friend of he and his family, met him in the little park surrounded by the medical building. She had him sit on a bench and took his BP. When, she did that, his reading was normal.
Then, if he went into the Dr.’s office and said high to the receptions and went to an exam to be tested by the same RN, his BP was high. When, the Doctor came into the room, his BP was in the stroke area. After he walked home, he used a wrist BP monitor, and his BP would be normal. His BP was normal for years when he monitored it at home.
You should monitor your BP as noted above. If it is still high after a week or two. You should see a doctor, and your HBP should be treated.
See your doctor and get a med for it. I have been on enalapril/Vasotec for about twenty years. I split a 10 mg tab and take a half tab in the morning and about dinner time. The drug is an ACE inhibitor. ACE inhibitors protect your kidneys and other organs. The ACE inhibitors for most of us work with basically zero side effects and impact on lab tests.
My generic enalapril 10 mg #30 costs less than $2 for a month’s supply at Walmart.
Good luck and take care of your BPH.
My blood pressure was normal until I hit my 70s (I’m now 81),and I had no symptoms. My M.D. put me on Lisonopril.
Two years ago I had a stroke,which also came without a symptom. My Lisinopril dosage was doubled and I was put on a blood thinner.
My ex had genetic HBP from age 40———he was very disciplined and did exactly what he was told,including regular exercise. He’s doing quite well at 83.
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At your age exercise could help considerably.
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There are a few supplements that could help with high blood pressure. Fenugreek for one, it also moderates blood sugar levels and is helpful when taken after meals for this purpose. It’s helpful for sexual dysfunction.
The same can be said for L-Arginine, although the blood sugar link isn’t nearly as apparent. You’d want to take L-Lysine with it because L-Arginine can at times to lead to activation of any latent viral infection when taken solo.
Dietary fresh garlic is good, too.
But, caution should be used and a doctor consulted if you’re already on statins, blood thinners such as coumadin, etc.
The exercise is important and in many cases genetics and age are a factor. My BP has always been slightly high, from the time I enlisted in the Marines to my retirement from the Air Force. It was never a areal problem nor was it flagged until about 10 years after I retired and they changed the specs on what was considered pre-hypertensive. My doctor at the time prescribed some meds to get it below 130 on the average when exercise didn’t seem to help. The meds had some irritating side effects so my military doctor reviewed my med records going back to the Marines and figured out that I had a higher than normal heart rate which is probably genetic. He put me on one med, Atenelol, to slow my heart rate and after that my BP is always in the normal range. Each case seems to be a little different from one person to another.