Blood Pressure Question

[Bosch]

I have been taking my b.p. with a home tester for about a week.
I'm averaging 134/82.

Age 38
Male
6'-3" 195lbs.
I'm in good shape.


I'm not on any b.p. meds (yet).
I tried some a while back, and hated the side effect of a raised resting heart rate.
I got stubborn and ignored it.
I admit that.

So is this a really bad thing to go diving next month without addressing this head on?
I realize I've been my own worst enemy here, so don't bag me too hard.

:shakehead

 

[rakkis]

Go get checked out by your doctor.

Do you really trust the mish-mashed opinions of a bunch of random people over a medical professional that knows your medical history?


To be candid, many people in worse shape than you are out diving without much ill effect. But that is a risk that they are taking. As a prudent person concerned with your own well being it is to your benefit to make sure your body can handle the exertion before putting yourself at risk.

 

[fisherdvm]

Leave your wife, and join a cloistered seminary. I guarantee that your BP will decrease.

For now, you might want to cut back your caffeine intake. Perhaps to only 1 cup of coffee in the morning.

Move closer to your work place, or let someone else drive for you.

Cut back on your drinking to no more than 1 drink a day.

Take up Yoga .... Pet a dog. Beat up a cat... (Just kidding - petting my cat lowers my BP)...

If you smoke, cut back.

Your home tester should be checked against another one, go to your Dr.'s office, or fire station, and compare your reading to theirs.

Check your BP at different times of the day. It likely will be high in the morning, and lower late at night.

Don't check it within 30 minutes of exercising, or after getting home from work.

Don't check it after you've had a fight with your wife....

38 yo is a good age to see a Dr. and get a good health screening. Your BP alone should not keep you from diving... But if you have high cholesterol, chest pain, smoke heavily, and have a strong family history of heart disease, your doctor might say otherwise.

 

[Cacia]

That's not too bad. 134/ 82.... you are catching yourself at a perfect time.

Try fish oil. (pharmecuetical grade)

also try garlic caps. Exercise, get a book on lowering your BP. Taking control of your own health/ BP is a good thing. It is really easy, even a physician will tell you to do these things and you can drop ten points, probably.

My doc at UCLA thinks celery is very helpful also. Get a home digital cuff and start seeing what works for you. It might take a month or two!

JB got his down a lot. Don't jump to drugs unless other dietary and exercise measures fail.

This notion that it is dangerous to get thoughts and opinions, I don't agree with. If you read up on this, and get invested in the process, your doctor will applaude you. That is what they want more people to do, if you ask me.
Recognizing you have been not ready to deal with it, probably a good first step. You have so much control over this! When I am getting my HR up to my target zone for 30 minutes a few times a week, I run ten points lower than when I don't. Get a polar HR monitor and they have a very cool website that helps you calculate a program (HR, intensity, duration) and have fun with it. You will be amazed, I bet, that you even considered drugs before this option.

 

[Bosch]

Thanks for the replies. Let me elaborate on a few things..

First off, I'm only testing the waters, so to speak, by throwing the question on the table here. Obviously the internet isn't the place to diagnose anything.

I don't smoke.
Consume about 3 drinks a week.
Limited caffeine, it's in a weight training supplement that I take (125 mg) That's it, no caffinated drinks.
Run and lift 5 or 6 days a week.

In short, the blood pressure thing isn't because of poor lifestyle decisions on my part. I'm just the victim of whatever bad genes I've inherited.

Interestingly, my b.p. seems to not vary much during the day.
It's always within 5 pts of 134/82.

Spending less time around the wife, and more time with the girlfriend would probably help...

 

[spectrum]

Gee I'm no doctor but I think you are on the right track. It sounds like you have good lifestyle habits and you are paying attention.

See you doctor, you ready for the anual regime anyhow, especially if you will be diving. It may be as simple as watcing your salt intake, condiments are not your friend.

Goodluck,
Pete

 

[Cacia]

Well, that BP alone is not going to keep you from diving.

(unless you don't understand that, and put it on the waiver)

What supplement, out of curiosity? L-Arginine, by any chance? Your aerobic conditioning is what will drop your BP, you probably know that.

DHEA will raise your BP also, I think.

When we go off our garlic and fish oil, we both pop up ten points in a week. I take CoQ10 also.

 

[TSandM]

Spending less time around the wife, and more time with the girlfriend would probably help...

Not going there.

134/82 is in a mildly elevated risk category. The intervention suggested for this type of very mild elevated BP is a diuretic (water pill). You can try to accomplish a lot of the same thing by drastically cutting your sodium intake. This means no potato chips, no french fries, no jerky, and watching the sodium intake in any processed, packaged, or restaurant food that you have.

If you do go on hydrochlorothiazide, which is the first line intervention, you shouldn't see an elevated resting heart rate.

As a non-smoker, with moderate alcohol intake, and no obesity, and good baseline fitness, you have a ton of things going for you. Lowering your BP is a laudable goal, but I'd think about things like getting even more physically active (lower your pulse into the 50's and reassess your bp) or salt restriction, or meditation, before I'd think of meds.

The girlfriend might work, too, but as an obligatory member of the female corps, I am honor bound not to recommend that strategy

 

[redrover]

There are a number of medications for treating hypertension. Giving what you said, and if I were you, I’d follow up with your Doctor. Keep a pro in the loop and stay ahead of the game. And I’d look for one that is not adverse to holistic or natural remedies.

 

[fisherdvm]

A comment need to be made about your biceps size. If you are a weight lifter, and has large biceps, your upperarm BP cuff might be reaching the maximum size of its range.

As a rule, a small cuff will artificially raise your BP - even if it is normal.

A large cuff will artificially decrease your BP - even if you are hypertensive.

Of course, I could be wrong, and have it backward... Any case, make sure your cuff is the right size. If not, get the next larger sized cuff.