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Hypertension

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:11 pm
by sharonstar
I am certainly not new to this forum and am hoping that someone can offer some help. I have had an extreme jump in blood pressure although I take a daily medication called Diovan. I first noticed it at my last checkup which was 158/104, My doctor brushed it off as stress and didn't address it. Since that visit on Oct. 8th my blood pressure has continued to rise even with added medication. I ended up in the ER on Sunday night because of BP of 208/168. I guess all of the extra medication had kicked in by the time I was triaged and it had dropped to 158/94. I followed up with my doctor on Monday and he added clonidine and cardiazem.

Sorry to be so detailed but I am wondering if extra Vitamin C would help. I have heard of hawthorne berry for circulation and wonder if that would help.

My biggest concern is because I have carotid blockages and the last carotid doppler showed blockage of 50-<60% and this is much improved from when I first started taking the lysine, vitamin c and proline. I saw the surgeon who will do the surgery if I ever have to have it done and he said carotid blockage will not cause increased BP.

I do take a bunch of vitamins that include CoQ10, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin c 20,ooo mg, lysine 6,000 mg and the proline 2 gms. vitamin e-gems and several others. I wonder if raising the CoQ10 a lot more will help? Presently I take 200 mg.

I do appreciate any suggestions from anyone with knowledge about this ot has had the same problem. I do not want to take one drug more than necessary.

Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:28 pm
by Seymore Spectacles
Hello, Sharon.

I'm sorry for your recent troubles.

Can you think of anything, and I mean anything, that may have precipitated this radical change in your BP? Added stress? Exposure to heavy metals? A change in diet? A change in your supplement routine? Weight gain?

Earlier this year, I bought my parents a medical device called the Zona Plus. It's helped both of them to lower their BP and improve their circulatory system. Maybe this would be a good option for you as well?

More info.: http://www.zona.com/

PS - I have no affiliation with the manufacturer of this product.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:30 pm
by davsf
Sharonstar:

Sometimes we suffer periods of elevated blood pressure for no apparent reason and then it returns to normal.

A few months ago, after several years of normal blood pressure and after I had stopped checking it daily, I just happened to use one of those machines in Walmart and it registered over 155, which caught me by great surprise and also frightened me. For the next few weeks my pressure remained high and was checked at a clinic at 175, which caused a lot of anxiety. I started taking a higher dose of blood pressure medicine which didn't help at all.

Then, for no reason I can think of, my blood pressure returned to normal.

I have some blockage in my coronary arteries, but, I am guessing that my high blood pressure was caused by anxiety and nothing else. Give it some time and see if it doesn't get better on its own, unless you know you have a condition that causes hypertension. Anxiety is probably as often as not the main culprit for temporary high blood pressure.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:31 am
by sharonstar
Dear Seymore and Davst,

Davst, I am so hoping that my situation will be the same as yours. I don't see myself as a person easily stressed but when those numbers keep going up and up I do get very anxious. My doctor has added two additional BP medicines to take as needed. I spoke to a chiropractic doctor in Fl. this am and asked his opinion if high cholesterol and triglycerides can cause the BP elevation. He explained it as a thick sludge in the arteries especially with the high triglycerides. He has a 2 hour program every Saturday and takes call in questions. This certainly makes sense.I had been taking niacin but maybe not enough and also my diet has been horrible and I know better. So for now I will eat low carb but not Atkins and exercise. My doctor gave me a prescription for zocor but I don't intend to take it. Also I am drinking at least 8 glasses of water as I have heard that dehydration causes BP elevations. Hopefuly all of it together will work.

Seymore, thank you for in information on the Zona machine. If all else fails I will certainly try to get it. It is expensive but they do have a guarantee with it. Do your parents still have to take BP meds?

Thank you so much.

Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:11 am
by Seymore Spectacles
sharonstar wrote:Seymore, thank you for in information on the Zona machine. If all else fails I will certainly try to get it. It is expensive but they do have a guarantee with it. Do your parents still have to take BP meds?


Hello, Sharon.

My mom isn't/wasn't on BP meds. But, her BP was creeping up. The Zona Plus put a stop to that and has allowed her to have ideal readings as of late.

My dad was able to eliminate one BP med and halve the dosage of the other. His aim is to eventually get off the (half) med altogether. I think this is certainly a very real possibility.

I should say that both my parents are on a variety of supplements. But, the supplements didn't seem to be enough. Perhaps if their diets were better, and with the proper supplementation, it would have been adequate.

The thing is, they eat a pretty healthy diet. They also exercise quite a bit. And, they're not overweight. So, they're ahead of the game, when compared to most people. Still, I know there's some tweaking that could be done with their diets.

I hope you find success with whatever approach you decide to try. Please keep us posted.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:51 pm
by ofonorow
sharonstar wrote: I have had an extreme jump in blood pressure although I take a daily medication called Diovan.

My biggest concern is because I have carotid blockages and the last carotid doppler showed blockage of 50-<60% and this is much improved from when I first started taking the lysine, vitamin c and proline. I saw the surgeon who will do the surgery if I ever have to have it done and he said carotid blockage will not cause increased BP.

Sharon


My guess is that the drugs you are taking are the cause of your hypertension.

I am assuming that you are maintaining your vitamin C/lysine intake in the amounts you listed in a consistent manner, is that true? Are you taking any other drugs, especially blood thinners?

The supplement I would add while you are considering other options if vitamin K, for it sounds like your blood vessels are becoming calcified.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:33 pm
by sharonstar
HI Owen,
The actual prescriptions that I take are the diovan for BP. My Dr. added clonidine and cardiazem CD to use prn when the pressures go really high. The other prescriptions I take are synthroid, elavil (for migraine prevention) and clinoril(for wrist tendonitis). My doctor is a nephrologist and I see him simply because I used to work for him but I have no renal problems, My cholesterol was 307 and triglycerides were 275 and of course he prescribed zocor. So far I haven't taken it. I am surprised the numbers were that high because I have been taking 8 fish oil gels for a very long time. I have also been taking niacin 1500 mg.Also I have been consistent with taking 20 gms of vitamin C and 6 gms of lysine for at least two years. And before that I was taking maybe 16 gms of vitamin C and 6 gms of lysine. Do you think it would help if I took even more of vitamin C? The vitamin c used to give me gas but hasn't for a long time so I have wondered if I needed more. I also have been taking vitamin K as MK7 for at least a year or more. What I now take is from Vitacost and it list the ingredients as Vitain K1 200 mcg and K2(MK7) as 200 mcg. I also take a lot of supplements such as D3, CoQ10, magnesium, E-gems , etc.

Owen, I have recently read that acetaminophen can raise BP but I rarely take that. I appreciate your help if you can think of anything else that might. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if I added extra C. Thanks so much.

Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:58 am
by ofonorow
Very strange. It might help if you provided a little more history. What have been a historical problems, and what has appeared recently?

Are those cholesterol numbers new?

Yes, I think you should explore and determin ewhat your vitamin C bowel tolerance is. I still have a "gut feeling" that there is an interaction between the drugs. However, if you are taking vitamin K, then the "calcifications" I was guessing were building up may not be.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:51 pm
by sharonstar
Owen,
I sure hope you are right about the calcifications. And the cholesterol numbers are from early this month. I was shocked at those numbers because I have been taking regular niacin 1500 mg for at least 6 months and the flush free niacin the previous 6 months. I honestly don't spaz so much about the cholesterol numbers but I was trying to raise the HDL with the niacin. The doctors are the ones that flip out. But I will do whatever it takes to lower the triglycerides. I have been on blood pressure medicine for at least 10 years and been hypothyroid for as long. Heart disease runs in our family as I have had 4 siblings, ages 29,37,51 and 53 all die of sudden heart attacks. Three of them smoked and I have no doubt that it contributed largely to their death.

About a year and half ago I lost a lot of weight and have gained it all back plus . The weight problem has yo yo'd for years and that is probably part of the problem. But I can't help but think that you are right about medication causing the problem and it may be due to taking a NSAID(tendonitis) for at least 10 years also. I have tried several times to stop taking it and the pain gets unbearable. I went thru 3 bottles of flexcin which I was sure would help. Unfortunately surgery may be the only answer for that.

I am increasing the vitamin c to see if that helps. I have never missed a day taking vitamin c and the lysine. In fact I keep a supply of the c and lysine in a handy travel bag in case I should have to go away for a few days in an emergency.

Thanks .
Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:30 am
by Ralph Lotz
The low carb diet should help.
Insulin resistance inhibits magnesium and vitamin C activity.

Graves, Kwasniewski and Lutz all have had success with low carb diets. And they did it without any added dietary supplements, without avoiding saturated fats or cholesterol. Also Mercola and Rosedale diets improve both insulin resistance and leptin resistance.

It is possible that iodine deficiency plays a role in hypothyroidism and other metabolic functions that require iodine.

http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:07 pm
by sharonstar
Thanks, Ralph. I do take the iodoral 12.5 but probably need to increase the dosage. When I saw an alternative doctor a few months ago and he looked at my med and supplement list he asked what the iodoral was for. Needless to say I was disappointed and didn't pursue the subject . Maybe I need to ask an endocrinologist. Just out of curiosity I am going to do the iodine patch test this weekend. I do take 112 mcg of levothyroxine.

It may be wishful thinking regarding my increased BP but for the past 2 days I have increased my D3 to 10,000 IU and have been taking hawthorn for a few days. Hoping it is kicking in because today my BP's have been wonderful, from 108/75 to 119/80. When I decreased the D3 from 10,000 IU to 4,000 IU(per doctors request), this is when the BP started creeping higher and higher. Sure would be nice if this is the solution.

Thanks for your help.

Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:21 pm
by J.Lilinoe
Sharon,
After reading Dr. Meinig's book, Root Canal Cover-Up in which he summarizes the 1174 pages of research done by Dr. Weston Price on root canals, I learned that 90% of our degenerative diseases begin from the mouth. I also learned that root canal teeth NEVER heal and that this ongoing infection can affect other parts of the body through toxins that travel through the blood. If you don't remove the tooth and clean up the infection, it will cause much sickness for as long as it is there.
So my questions to you is, do you have any root canal teeth? Are you experiencing any dental or tonsil infections? If you have had a tooth removed and the dentist did not do a good job of removing all of the infection from the socket, you could be suffering from focal infection.

P.S. I also learned from the book that 95% of atherosclerosis is from calcium and ONLY 0.5% is from cholesterol.

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:17 am
by ofonorow
I also learned from the book that 95% of atherosclerosis is from calcium and ONLY 0.5% is from cholesterol.


This is part of the problem, bad information mixed with so much good from an otherwise reputable source!

I'd say "none" is from either calcium or cholesterol, but that depends on what the meaning of "from" is...

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:33 am
by sharonstar
Thanks J. Lilinoe and Owen,

No, I have never had any root canals and only one tooth that was pulled in my very early years. I do have several fillings from my grade school years. If the question of a root canal was ever raised I would definitely decline. I have read some of Weston Price's articles and they are very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Sharon

Re: Hypertension

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:26 pm
by J.Lilinoe
ofonorow wrote:
I also learned from the book that 95% of atherosclerosis is from calcium and ONLY 0.5% is from cholesterol.


This is part of the problem, bad information mixed with so much good from an otherwise reputable source!

I'd say "none" is from either calcium or cholesterol, but that depends on what the meaning of "from" is...


okay Owen, this is what Dr. Meinig said in his book. Bill Sardi also said something similar to this too. Why are doctors saying this in the first place? And if its not mostly from calcium or a little cholesterol, what is atherosclerosis made up of? Can you supply any links to the info? Thanks.