Who has high blood pressure and what are you doing about it?

etsveteran

Well-known member
I got diagnosed with very high blood pressure recently after a first ever panic attack. Most days, my BP is 150/100. During the panic attack, my blood pressure was 200/120. Crazy high. After taking 5mg Amlodipine for a few days, my BP is down to 139/89. With weight loss and diet changes, I hope to bring it down to 120/70. However, if the medication causes reactions (very common with blood pressure medications it seems), I am screwed as diet and weight loss improvements will probably not counter my overactive sympathetic nervous system that is now suddenly causing panic attacks and huge spikes in BP.

If you have high blood pressure, please try to answer the following questions:

1) At what age were you diagnosed and what were your BP readings?
2) Did you reduce it via diet, exercise, meditation, supplements etc... or are you on meds? If weight loss reduced your BP a lot, how much weight did you lose?
3) If on meds, which ones have you tried to date? What side effects?
4) What is your current age and is your BP under control?
5) When your BP is lower, do you feel better?
6) Do you have parents or older relatives with very high BP that have successfully controlled it for decades with no obvious damage to their kidneys, hearts, brain etc...?
 
I used to take Amlodipine too and it made me feel like a zombie, never again.
I looked up online and many people have complaints about that medication.

1. I think I was 21, yes too young, it would go as high as 170/100 at night when I'm sleeping, this was due sleeping problems and anxiety. Sleeping not well at night made my blood pressure get high also during day because my body doesn't rest well.
I still have some sleeping problems but it's better now.
2. I used the medications for a while but I stopped taking them, I think exercise (jogging) does a great job at reducing blood pressure. Also I try to eat less, eating a lot makes me feel nervous and tired and my blood pressure seems to go up, it's difficult to eat less.
3. 10mg Amlodipine, felt like a zombie, had no energy, felt weird.
4. 23, it's mostly around 130/85 or lower now.
5. I do feel better when it is lower, on good days where I'm resting on bed and feeling good, my blood pressure would be around 117/80.
6. Dad uses medication to control it, he's fine.
 
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