Advice On Uncontrollable Hypertension

Heather,
it is very normal for you to want to question your pcp's health plan for you since there actually seems to be no plan in place. It woud behoove you to request to see the doctor not the np when you go in for your next appt. Tell the office you have some concerns and really need the doctors advice for this personal issue. (even though it is not really personal, they cannot ask you once you say it is personal)

after being treated for ten years there should be an entire volume of your medical records that just involves your blood test and pressure workup information and what meds they are using to combat this problem. You should be having ultrasounds of your heart to verify that the size is right and many other tests. It is time to demand to see a specialist! You cannot depend on the primary care doctor to be a cardiologist just like the cardiologist cant be your pcp. Somtimes it is hard to convince a well intentioned pcp that they are not qualified to treat a special problem like you have.

Good luck and let us know how you do!

How do you demand to see a specialist without offending your pcp?
Can you go to one without your pcp advice? I actually doubt my pcp would refer me to one! I am 28 and have suffered from uncontrollable high bp since I was 23 along with numerous other problems that are never resolved, just keep being told everything is caused by anxiety, even though I rarely feel anxiety!
My bp ( on 3 meds) is in the 140/90 range, after a recent trip to the er with pvc's it was 174/108 or around that, and at recheck with my doc it was 150/102. The bottom number is way too high! My doc will not switch my meds, just plays with the dosages,and says we will watch and see.
I am afraid he is going to let me die while he waits. Or that he thinks I am a hypochondriac because I worry. But those numbers are not right for someone my age, especially when I have suffered from severe headaches, dizziness, chest pain , adrenaline rushesand numerous other things, along with the recent er trip with pvc and low potassium.
What do I do>

I have been fighting very high blood pressure for 6 years or so. I understand all the frustration! I am currently taking the maximum dosages of norvasc & lisinopril. I am also taking 600mgs of labetalol and 50mgs of chlorthiadone ( was switched to that after being on over 200mgs of hydralazine and a high dose of HCTZ ). Last year, my pregnancy resulted in a placental abruption due to blood pressure. I eat a very healtht diet, stay very active, do not drink & take my meds religiously! I record by BP twice a day on an app through my phone and email it once a week to my PCP. I am very worried that I am not going to survive long enough to see my daughters go to their proms. My average blood pressure readings are extremely high. Today, for instance, my reading was 201/ 127. I have been told that I am a fighter because with some of my readings, I should have honestly stroked out. I have suffered a few TIAs and have a PFO in the heart. After 4 years on coumadin or lovenox, it was determined that my PFO had nothing to do with my hypertension or the TIAs. I have a neurologist, cardiologist and a nephrologist. We have ruled out renal artery stenosis. I lose my balance because of dizziness, regularly. Nothing helps the massive headache that I have had for over 3 months. I constantly have numbness & weakness on my left side and my speech slurs a lot. I have told my doctor that I have considered taking up drinking........at least I might have a chance of feeling better as the day goes by!! I am at a loss & honestly losing all hope!

I have been fighting very high blood pressure for 6 years or so. I understand all the frustration! I am currently taking the maximum dosages of norvasc & lisinopril. I am also taking 600mgs of labetalol and 50mgs of chlorthiadone ( was switched to that after being on over 200mgs of hydralazine and a high dose of HCTZ ). Last year, my pregnancy resulted in a placental abruption due to blood pressure. I eat a very healtht diet, stay very active, do not drink & take my meds religiously! I record by BP twice a day on an app through my phone and email it once a week to my PCP. I am very worried that I am not going to survive long enough to see my daughters go to their proms. My average blood pressure readings are extremely high. Today, for instance, my reading was 201/ 127. I have been told that I am a fighter because with some of my readings, I should have honestly stroked out. I have suffered a few TIAs and have a PFO in the heart. After 4 years on coumadin or lovenox, it was determined that my PFO had nothing to do with my hypertension or the TIAs. I have a neurologist, cardiologist and a nephrologist. We have ruled out renal artery stenosis. I lose my balance because of dizziness, regularly. Nothing helps the massive headache that I have had for over 3 months. I constantly have numbness & weakness on my left side and my speech slurs a lot. I have told my doctor that I have considered taking up drinking........at least I might have a chance of feeling better as the day goes by!! I am at a loss & honestly losing all hope!

The best advice I can give would be to ask for a referal and if your primary care doc refuses to give you a referal, he/she is in the wrong. There is something wrong with a pompus doc that tells you he will not refer you.

You sould do the leg work of finding the doc you want to see and then ask him to give you the referal. He doesnt have to have an idc9 code to send you. You can just go to check if there is a real problem and if you need to have other service to get your heart under control.

It isnt just my high blood pressure that concerns me, I have had numerous issues in the past, and of all of them, my doc will do "tests" occassionally , if I am very annoying about constantly asking, then when/if they are negative, he is kind of "i told you so". But he makes no effort on his own to find a cause.

Honestly,

i understand your frustration and also your fear of the unknown. If you have had the same pcp for years and trust this doc. You should do what your heart tells you. If your heart is telling you that you need to see a professonial that specialises in the area you are concerned with. Get the referal. If your heart is telling you to trust him and not become demanding with him, you should follow your heart.

I am one to demand answers, and if I made a mistake "thank god" and pat the doc on the back and say, "you were right" but at least there is nop chance for either of you to be totally wrong and have you or a loved one lose their battle with life over a point of contention.

Your body is yours and if your physician will not help you to maintain it properly, you really need to find one that will. If when you get all of your results back, the other doc is right on the money. He can be proud of himself but heaven forbid he be wrong even one time.

This is an interesting topic.

I was diagnosed with hypertension in my late 20s (i'm now 34). I've tried every lifestyle change I could (quit drinking completely, quit smoking many years ago, cut down on salt, upped the exercise), but nothing worked. My cholesterol levels are excellent and i'm not overweight.

Finally, I started on medication and nearly every one would work really well for a while. The first time I tried a medication, my blood pressure went down that very day. Even my doctor remarked that it normally took a lot more experimentation than that. Then over time, for almost every one, the effects would wear off.

For the last year or so i've been on diovan and hctz/tm. They've been working really well and my blood pressure has been under excellent control (usually under or around 120/80). Now in the last few months it's been creeping back up. Two or three months ago it was getting close to borderline. Now my numbers are usually 160/100! I'm not doing anything different and still taking my medication every single day. I have an appointment in a few days.

I would definitely recommend seeing a different doctor if you're not satisified. When I was first diagnosed they did a fairly completely screening, I had an mri and blood work to rule out kidney problems, blood tests to rule out tumors, etc..

Under my insurance, I don't even need a referral. I decide who I want to see, my current doctor is in internal medicine with a special interest in hypertension, which is why I chose her. I've switched doctors three times over the course of six years or so. So check your insurance, you may not even need her permission to see someone else! Don't feel bad about offending anyone, this could be your life on the line and you're entitled to a second opinion.

I can't believe someone would complain about taking 3 pills a day. I take about 30 pills a day and still have trouble controlling my blood pressure. I have a cardiologist, a nephrologist, an endocrinologist and a PCP. I've had about every test, x-ray and scan you can think of. I am a Medical Lab Technician who has hounded my docs about tests to be done. No specific cause and not yet able to control it. Talk about frustrating.

I had a similar problem with uncontrolled high blood pressure. I was fortunate enough to have a cardiologist group following me. I ended up with a small benign tumor on my adrenal gland. This is somewhat uncommon but a cause for high blood pressure. I was taking 4 meds and had a heart attack that I never knew about. My potassium was low and that was a small clue, but a CT scan showed it.

I have similiar uncontrolled blood pressure. I've spent time with pcp's, cardiologists, and nephrologist. I also find that blood pressure meds will work for a time then fail to work while my blood pressure rises. In the 90's I was running 160's/99 with about five meds maxed out. My pressure would increase to 180's at times. I also notice if I quit taking the med's my pressure would decrease. I wouldn't suggest doing this without monitoring it closely.

I did find one thing that would reduce my blood pressure....and only one thing. Oh, by the way, I also tried all sorts of eastern style medicine without success but with enlightenment. This included acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractics, diets, reiki, massage, cranial sacro, chinese energetics, prayer.

The only thing that actually worked for me was doing the "Master Cleanse" diet. Look it up on the internet. I did this diet for 5 days and it would drop my BP to 120/80 without meds. That was in the nineties.

I had my bp down for a while without meds(140/80's), but then it started creeping up and I wasn't watching it(now in the 2000's).

It got high again and I went to the doctor and of course they put me back on meds and everytime I see the doc I get new meds and increased doses of my old stuff. I thought I'd let this doc give it a try since I also damaged my kidneys some since my bp was so high.

I'm current talking the following meds and my bp is anywhere from 180/99 to 240/120. Not good....

4mg Doxazosin, 200mg Metoprolol, 60mg Furosemide, 50mg Hydralazine, 10mg Enalapril, .3mg clonidine

Since the increase of meds hasn't seemed to help I started the "Master Cleanse" again. I'm on my 3rd day and I hope I will see my bp drop soon.

The biggest problem with the Master Cleanse is that I can't live on this. As soon as I start eating regular food my bp goes up. This time I'm going to start with just raw vegetables and fruit when by bp is back to 120/80 and I'm going to keep a good journal of what I can and can't eat.

Also, I'm 48 and look like I'm 30. I'm in good shape but I haven't been good about keeping my cardio up thought I work and physical job every day. I'm not overweight and people would never guess I have high bp.

Hope this helps someone and maybe give data back if you find something other than the Master cleanse.

CaptAndy

This is for everyone. It is very long, and perhaps at your leisure you can read it and gain some information. I am thorough in all my investigation of disease, and this time was no exception. In the past, I have had 3 cancers, and successfully came through them with prayer, positive attitude and visualization. I had a child after doing jin shin (acupressure) when 4 of the best dr's in nyc told me it was impossible due to fibroids and adhesions. I still don't have the exact answer to my hypertension, but I am getting closer by the day. My insurance paid a lot of my visits and tests, and some I had to pay out of pocket. I hope that even one thing in here will help you find the answer to your hypertension. I do feel that more than 1 medication to control the bp is cause for concern especially if it is elevating it. Push for tests, that is my biggest message.

I am not a proponent of medications; I am scared to death of them. I am 56 and do look much younger too. I was thin my whole life, and when I went into menopause about 10 years ago, I actually had no hot flashes. However, i did have other symptoms I wished I hadn't ignored. They were PMS symptoms. I was irritable, had mood swings, terrible cravings and weight gain. Even after I had my daughter at 42, I went right back down to 103 lbs within the first month, so for me, 5lbs was a huge weight gain. I ballooned up to 150lbs and it wouldn't budge no matter how many diets I tried. I had a complete cardiological workup in January 09, and everything was normal except for my cholesterol which was up to 205.

The tests I had were: EKG, 24 hour holter monitor, 24 hour bp monitor (my lowest bp was 109/62 and higheset 128/76), echocardiogram, carotid ultrasound (because when I layed down on my right side, I could hear my heart beat in my ear; I have a relative that started that way and then the heartbeat in her ear was all the time; she had fibromuscular dysplasia of her carotid artery - it is a narrowing but none one caused by atherosclerosis). I also had a stress/echo (while on the treadmill, they take your bp and then you do an echocardiogram afterwards).

Bear with me, as I want anyone with uncontrolled bp to demand tests from their doctor or find one that will give you the tests and tell him so! In Feb 09, I had a cyst in my breast and had it biopsied. It was a benign fibroadenoma. The surgeon put in a titanium clip (she said it was hypoallergenic, but at this point I'm still not sure).

Suddenly in June, I went to a periodontist for some gum problems, and he took my bp before doing the exam. It was 158/98. I thought that highly unusual, and figured it was anxiety. He insisted I see my cardiologist. He happened to be on vacation, and I monitored my pressure for a week. I was getting hideous numbers on my omron like 162/104 and the like. I saw my dr's partner who took all of 5 minutes, and he said my pressure was 130/100 - my machine didn't calibrate with his. So I started not to worry. He prescribed diovan hct. Right in my chart it said I was allergic to sulfa drugs (amongst many others), and the diuretic part (hct) had sulfa in it. So I called really irritated and told him I wouldn't take it. In the meantime, at home, my pressure was ever increasing. I went to the ER one night at 5pm with a bp of about 180/115, and I'm sure it was a lot higher when I got there.

What is peculiar to me is that every book and dr tell you that when you take your bp you should be relaxed and sitting for 5-10mins before you take it. In both hospitals I've gone to with elevated pressure, they put the cuff on and ask a lot of questions. I could barely talk because I was so nervous, so I don't think their readings were accurate. The first time I went, the dr told me to just take the meds - this time straight diovan without the hct. I was cold and then hot and I felt a burning in my head. I told him to do some basic blood work and it came back fine (after 5 hours of waiting).

I still knew something was wrong, and when my dr came back, he ordered a different medication forme to take, and I sat him down and said "look, you did all these tests in january, and it is now july, how did my pressure go from normal to these high numbers." He was concerned, and then I mentioned I had been in menopause 10 years, could that have something to do with it? He didn't even realize I could possibly be in let alone for 10 years. He said "you know when you go through changes your bp and cholesterold change a lot". They hadn't in the 10 years, but now they had. He said he'd do more blood work and I insisted he check my renin-aldosterone levels. I had read an article by the dr who discovered this connection to high blood pressure. He was Time magazine's man of the year. So I also asked the dr for some other tests and then had my gynecologist order a hormone panel including Vit D3 levels. I had read that low vitamin d levels could also cause high blood pressure.

When all the testing came back, it showed high aldosterone levels, and almost zero estrogen and progesterone. My vit D levels dropped from 39 (50-55 is a good baseline and you can go up to 110), to 23. Not good. FYI: if you have your blood tested at Quest labs, you are supposed to divide the number you get by 1.3 for your true levels.

At that point, I told the doctor that I would NOT try any meds, until we figured out why my aldosterone was up. He ordered a renal doppler ultrasound which concluded that their was a blockage in my left renal artery. Sometimes they can be wrong, so they ordered an MRA with gadolinium (I am allergic to ct dyes, so i couldn't have an angiogram, and I preferred the MRA because of that). In order to have gadolinium, make sure you have very recent blood work that checks your egfr values (they indicate whether your kidney function is normal). If it isn't, there is a chance you can have a severe reaction for which currently there is no cure (your body hardens and turns to stone). They only found this out after several cases of people with kidney problems and those who didn't realize they had kidney problems developed the disease. Mass General is trying to find a cure for it, but so far they haven't.

My test indicated that the inferior left artery showed thickening most likely due to artherosclerosis, but the artery was looped (like when a garden hose gets a dent in it is what I was told). They still indicated that in order to see the % of the block, they'd have to do an angiogram, and with my allergies to drugs, they didn't think it was advisable. Angioplasty sometimes works (with renal artery stenosis, you can have a stent put in and have serious complications; or the blockage could occur again within 3-6 months and you can still have high blood pressure). They told me it would not prolong my life from what they read in recent studies. So they decided to treat with bp meds.

In addition, I had a 64 slice cat scan to check my calcium scores (that is also a good check on the heart and its function as well as any potential plaque build up - the higher the calcium score the more likely the plaque - an angiogram of the heart would be a more definitive test). I had a chest xray (since I hadn't had one in years, and it showed a fat pad around the heart, so they did a cat scan which showed an undetected lung matter - either a bronchitis or pneumonia that never healed or TB!). I knew I didn't have TB as I am not a smoker, and the test proved that.

On the MRA, it also showed lesions (hemangiomas) on my liver and lower lumbar spine (I was beside myself as I don't drink either), and an adenoma on my adrenal gland. The left one on top of the left blocked renal artery. I had been feeling anxious the previous months and just not myself. I had also suffered bouts of insomnia since I went into menopause averaging 2-6 hours of sleep. I did extensive driving as well. And was eating in the middle of the night from all the stress. No wonder I was falling apart. My other big concern, which should have been an eye sore to the doctor, was that in 2.5 weeks, I shed 25lbs. Yes, I was nervous, but in 10 years of strict dieting and not having lost more than 2-3lbs, this should have been a concern. I've kept the weight off, and I discussed the lesions on my liver with my gastroenterologist who was very adamant about me doing an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy since I hadn't ever had the former, and had the latter about 15 years ago. However, he can't do either without my bp coming down first as no anesthesiologist would touch anyone with uncontrolled hypertension.

I made an appointment with an endocrinologist to do a 24 hour urine test and more blood work. In the urine and blood they test for adrenal disease by measuring epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, dhea and she also tested my inflammation markers (again) cardio crp and c-reactive protein (all of which can cause high blood pressure - inflammation does that), and vit d3 (remember not vit d2) D3 is what you get from being in the sun - you can get up to 20,000 units from one day in the sun which is a good thing. I never was one to sit in the sun as I had a melanoma years ago in my fingernail so I avoided it. But this time, I went in the sun on 2 random days, and both times, my bp dropped to 120's and 130's over 80's. That was very low for me. When I exercised, my bp dropped initially to 119-120's/80's. But now it doesn't budge much - maybe to 140's.

I fought the dr's tooth and nail not to take meds, but they insisted since my pressure was raising to 160's, 170's, 180's. I tried the lowest dose of norvasc (2.5mg) since they give that to pregnant women. Within 2 hours I got a severe headache and my bp was up to 230/135. I went to the ER, and they were dumbfounded. They kept me there for 3 hours until it lowered to 178/94. I was so angry that I felt worse than without meds. They tried plendil (same family of calcium channel blockers) and same reaction. Next they tried lisonopril, but I refused to take it since the pharamceutical insert said "do not take if you have renal artery stenosis". The dr insisted it should not be taken only if you have bilateral stenosis (both kidneys) . I called the manufacturer of the drug and they said it didn't matter - if you had it in or both arteries, you shouldn't take it. The last one the cardio recommended, which someone mentioned, was doxysosin (which I haven't tried as I was too scared of the potential for fainting or dizzyness). It was only 1 mg and since I go to bed between 1-2am and am up at 5am to get my daughter to school, I felt it wouldn't work for me (the dr told me to take it at bedtime). My neighbor is on it for his prostate (1mg), but had to stop it, as it dropped his pressure so low he couldn't drive. He got off it.

Since I had the adrenal tumor (which I had to point out to the cardiologist and vascular surgeon) - it was right on the MRA report, but they did not concern themselves with it since it was NOT a cardiological issue - they said I should try aldactone (give to people who have adrenal problems and also teens with acne and men who are balding - go figure). I had such high hopes for this medication, but within 3 hours the headache was simply unbearble. I was crawled up in a ball with pain - I took 400 mg of motrin despite the fact that you shouldn't if you have hypertension - and it didn't put a dent in the pain. It was confined to the left side of the head, face and jaw. I couldn't wait for this pill to get out of my s ystem. My bp went up over 200 again with a diastolic of 133. I had had it. I felt that unless something was done with this blocked artery that there would not be a fix for my hypertension.

I had tried acupuncture, jin shin (acupressure), massage (cranial made the pressure go up and gave me a severe headache), resperate (don't waste your money), relaxation, pranic healing and chiropractic (NUCCA) the one that is supposed to work in one treatment (with a slight adjustment - no popping or cracking). The chiro charged me $795 with 2 sets of xrays, a special p illow and said my atlas was completely out of whack and I had a reverse curve (I did have to say that after the adjustment, I felt like the blood was flowing through my brain better, however it didn't reduce my pressure). I didn't go back because it was an hour and 15 mins away from my home, and the dr, get this, wanted $4100 up front for unlimited visits for 1 year. I said "are you kidding me?" - who has that kind of money to put upfront in this economy? And he very arrogantly said "my practice isn't hurting; maybe you should give up camp or lessons for your daughter" (and what fill his pockets?). I went home and called the doctor who ran the study (the head of the hypertensive unit at the cleveland clinic who worked with the chiropractor who initiated the study), and he said that they had monitored people for 3 months and so far it worked, however, there was no long term commitment and more studies need to be done. I also tried raw natural cocoa (which apparently keeps the Kuna indians in Panama healthy and none of them have high blood pressure; the testing was done in conjunction with Harvard - they took the indians to another part of Panama and took away the cocoa and their bp elevated). I tried it and the first day it worked by bringing my bp down to 120's but the second and third days, it didn't budge it. I was so ecstatic the first day, I thought I found the cure! Sad.... I have recently read about the purple sweet potato grown in Okinawa that may be the answer to hypertension. The people there all live to be over 100 and have no heart disease or cancer. They attribute it to the purple sweet potato. So the Univ of Kansas is trying to make a purple sweet potato with purple skin as well, and they are very optimistic that this will help with hypertension. We'll see. I'm going to order a unit from Hawaii or see if I can find some in a Japanese specialty shop. It's worth a try.

I have since increased my Vit D3 to 5000 units a day (per the endocrinologist and this is a normal amount for most people, especially women, to take; I might have to increase it to 10,000 units depending on whether or not it brings my levels up) as this might be a potential factor in the hypertension . Secondly, I went to a dentist to see if an old crown I had root canal done with could be causing the headaches and have an effect on the bp - there is scar tissue there so they will watch it (and I do remember the pain it caused years ago when I had an abscess there). Then I made an apptment with a neurologist (I booked him in august and the earliest I could get in is November 3). I also saw an eye dr to see if the hypertension has caused damage to the retina, and he said the vessels are beginning to show signs even though I have only had elevated bp since June). It is all so frightening.

The biggest thing I did was call Dr Laragh's office - the Time magazine man of the year whose article got me going on my quest for answers. He is still head of the cardiovascular unit down at Cornell-Weill in NYC, but he is semi-retired and teaches; however, he read my email (which I was very impressed with), and he had one of his dr's call me. All of his drs were trained under him with at least 17 years of experience. This is all they do - deal with people with elevated renin and aldosterone and blocked arteries. I am seeing the dr tomorrow (i had to wait one month but they got me in as an emergency since they were booked well into 2010; they determined, based on all my tests, that I needed to be seen asap). I haven't told my cardiologist yet, as I want to see what they say and suggest. If they think surgery is an option (which I am not keen on due to the risks and complications; however, if it is a one time experience and could keep me off meds, I think I may consider it. If I didn't have the allergies, and the artery wasn't looped, I would do it but there are too many other factors to consider).

So my message? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep at your doctors. Ask for more tests, bring in articles and studies to show you are empowered. Ask lots of questions. I, too, had a nurse practitioner who cornered me and told me if I didn't take the meds, I would wind up in renal failure 100% for sure and then my daughter would grow up without a mother. I hammered back and said I know my body, and I won't stop until I get answers. I told her I had been under monumental stress for the past 10 years, and with all that my bp never rose. She laughed and muttered and I heard her telling the dr that and she said "10 years ago, her bp was 120/80, so it must have been starting then..." She didnt' realize I had been in the ladies room next door. So I walked out and said, then if I had what you consider high blood pressure then, I would think this practice is responsible for not telling me or advising me to go on bp meds! Then I told the dr I would no longer deal with her, and he said that would be fine. So speak up.

Good luck to everyone!

I too had hard to control hypertension all my adult life. I was also put meds after meds and mixes and combos and sometimes they worked, then they didn't.
I was a triathlete, non smoker, organic foods nut, perfect cholesterol & 3 month glucose levels.. you get the picture, just no reason for readings like 208/116 !!

I was seeing an endocrinologist for a thyroid growth to be removed an told him about the high BP and the side pain I experience and low potassium levels and other things and he put it down to "women problems" or the thyroid. I got the thyroid lump removed, normalized and still had the terrible BP and potassium problems.
I did some googling and came across Conn's Syndrome.
Odd because I'd had an abdominal CT recently for a burst ovarian cyst and a lump was discovered on my left adrenal. Things started to ring bells.
I took the information to the Endo and his response was to blow it off, tell me off for the silliness, tell me it's rare and I wouldn't have it and that it would be too much hassle to get me off all my meds and run all the tests for Conns and Cushings for nothing.

I gave up and just kept seeing my PCP who pushed me for 3 years to try another endo and made recommendations.

I finally did and yep, you guessed it, after a battery of tests, some of which were very uncomfortable or tedious (and getting me off the interfering meds was about zero hassle), I do indeed have Conn's Syndrome, a major cause of unexplained hypertension.
Now I have to have a nasty Adrenal Vein Sampling outpatient procedure at CU to determine 100% the right adrenal to take out, then have THAT surgery. After that, I should be rid of high BP, kidney risks, dangerously low potassium and have a chance of bringing down the risks to my already damaged heart walls, ergo, heart disease.

I despise that first lazy Endocrinologist, but I should have been my own advocate sooner.

Don't let people tell you, you just have to live with it. Besides Conns, which is pretty rare (although new information is showing it may not be as rare as once thought and possibly the cause for a number of uncontrolled hypertensive situations now), there are other possibles for crazy hypertension and you should exhaust all avenues before "living with it".

Hope that helps,
Cee

I've had high blood pressure for years 157/96 and nothing worked. I tried 5mg Norvasc and 30 mg of procardia. My blood pressure is now 138/87 but my doctor said that I should not take these medications together. Please help.

Get a catecholamines test to rule out a pheochromocytoma. My husband had his adrenal gland removed that had a hormone producing tumor and no longer has to take bp meds at all!

It sounds to me like you may be taking a thiazide diuretic with the potassium issue. This can lead to a lot of other problems. I think you need to see a nephrologist, that is a doctor who specializes in hypertension. If you have a Polyclinic in your area that might be a good place to start or another multi functional health center.

I was diagnosed with high blood pressure 17 years ago. The gp started me on Atenalol 100mg with no advice at all.

I moved to a different part of the country due to my job so had to sign up with a new surgery.

The gp here was very thorough, he sent me to see a cardiologist, who advised I were a 24hr tape. After having the results of the tape I was put on a cardiac monitor to check my heart rate. This also was fine. I saw the cardiologist who informed me that my heat was ok but that I had an ectopic beat, which in his opinion was not unusual in someone of my age, I was 60 then.
The results found no reason for my high blood pressure, but as it was always up and down I was given another drug Amlodipine 30mg, as well as Atenalol 100mg.

I have now retired from work and moved again b'cos we lived in tied accommodation, I have another new gp. My blood pressure is still not what you would call stable, but as this doctor is a very young man he feels that there is now no need for me to be on Atenalol as he maintaines that high blood pressure is no longer treated with this medication. He hasn't said that he will give me some other type, so that will just leave the 30mg of Amlodipine.

I am really concerned b'cos I don't know whether to trust his judgement or not, I have not heared that high blood pressure is no longer treated with Atenalol.

Has anyone else heared this?

my father is also hypertensive. He had minimum of 5 pills per day as prescribed by his cardiologist and was to be taken as maintenance (meaning long term). Unfortunately those were synthetic drugs and the long term use as we know will damage the kidney and liver of the patient. But the doctors wont tell that. So instead of making my father take all those pills, I gradually shifted him to organic supplements. But not just supplements, I researched long to find the best among the best and Im happy to share that my father is now in great condition and his BP was not a problem anymore.there are those stressful times that his BP will go up, but glad to say not that high. I made him take USANA Essentials, Proflavanol and Coquinone. And now he's totally free from synthetic medications. Of course with regular laboratory exams and check up i can say that the supplements work! Try them, email me for help or if you have further questions..

I've actually heard of resperate, and have done a little research on it. It seems like an interesting idea. I guess it's a type of breathing exercise? Anyone know anything else about it?

I have also problem of blood pressure. I have started genericprinivil to a reduction in blood pressure.

Don't used Prinivil. It has a side effect of fatigue, dizziness, and extremely low blood pressure. Try the one recommended by JomKen. My brother also use Essentials, Proflavanol and cocquinone. It do works wonder as he's blood pressue is back to normal...