High Blood Pressure - Water Pills

Each person is different. I had taken a mild water pill for a number of years. I was then able to go off it for some time. Now I am taking a stronger water pill together with potassium, as the pill that I am taking depletes the potassium in your body. I also take another medication for hypertension.

If I dropped the weight that I should, I would probably be able to go off the pills, as my blood pressure would drop naturally. Exercise, and eating certain kinds of foods, are also helpful in maintaining a healthy level of blood pressure.

There are other medications that work to lower pressure, and are often used in conjunction with diuretics. (water pills)

I think that the best thing that you can do is to see a doctor. He can design a regimen for you.

Here is an excellent article on the subject:

http://www.webmd.com/hw/hypertension/aa26996.asp

I took a diuretic , which was a sodium and potassium "sweeper". I wound up with a really bad hypokalemia (too little potassium). I had muscle aches and arhythmias. Now I take an angiotensin and vasodilator which keeps the blood vessels open and slows the heartbeat, but its side effects are similar to things like muscle relaxants. I get tired in the Am so I dont really kick in my work days until about 10 and then I work late like a cat.

Cello--

Welcome to A2K.




In lay terms "high blood pressure" means that your heart is pumping sluggishly either because the heart muscle is damaged or because you have too much fluid/blood to pump and your heart muscle is overworked.

High Blood Pressure has many causes and water pill (diuretic) is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to deal with many of these causes.

For some people, a diuretic is sufficient and other medications are not necessary. Other people have more complicated pumping problems and stronger measures are necessary.

I have no idea about effects of diuretics on borderline hypertension. I do know that misusing diureitics as diet pills (as many anorexics do) is very dangerous.

What sort of physical shape are you in? Are you overweight? Out of condition? Are you under a great deal of personal or professional stress?

I had progressed from a simple diuretic to a low dosage of Lotrel to a higher dosage of Lotrel because my blood pressure reading was 160/100.

After I started exercising regularly and lost fifteen pounds, my blood pressure dropped to a very respectable 108/70 without any medication.

Your blood pressure right now is not a death sentence. It is a warning sign.

Good luck.

Thank you to all of you for your caring responses.

Phoenix, thanks, the link you posted is the best one I have read so far. It is interesting that you were able to go off the pills after a while. But I wonder whether going off made the pressure go high up again. Was it much higher than before you started on the pills? My feeling is that the body gets so dependent on the pills that it cannot control the pressure on its own any more. So I wonder whether the stopping of the pills caused the boost in the pressure, which may have resulted in taking a second type of pill (hypertension) in addition to a stronger water pill. Could it have been better always to remain on the mild water pills, even if we feel better and the pressure has been stabilized. Phoenix, I do hope you will be able to lose more weight and lower your pressure. Exercise is good in any case to do. Noddy has managed to do it, and this is certainly very encouraging news for all of us.

Farmerman, I am sorry to hear your problems as a result of the diuretic and the new drugs. Take it easy in the morning, you are not alone in that. I am not a morning person neither, I start to "wake up" about 10 AM, after I have had my fill of coffee.

Noddy, thanks for your welcome and good wishes. If I understand well, you are off the pills now? Well, that's great, and I congratulate you on that. Both you and Phoenix have/had a weight problem. Farmer, do you have a weight problem? Although I do not look like a fashion model, I don't have a weight problem. I read that weight problem may be one of the causes of high blood pressure, so I can understand that reducing the weight should make the pressure drop. I don't have stress neither, and I exercise about an hour per day, so I don't know what caused the high blood pressure.

It is great that we can share our personal experiences like this. Doctors nowadays are so overworked and don't have much time to spend with each patient to answer all our questions and concerns. I often would research on the Internet before and after seeing a doctor, but nothing equals hearing real life experiences from people who have the same problems like us. And for that, I sincerely thank all of you for responding to my questions.

Chello--

What a gracious reply. Thank you.