Diving with BP at 140/102?

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Everyone over 40 should have their own BP monitor. Uncontrolled high BP is dangerous, but there’s no way to know if you have it unless you check. A lot can change between once a year visits to the doctor.

Once your BP is back under control, it will probably be safe to dive again.

 

[Shawn C]

Everyone over 40 should have their own BP monitor. Uncontrolled high BP is dangerous, but there’s no way to know if you have it unless you check. A lot can change between once a year visits to the doctor.

Once your BP is back under control, it will probably be safe to dive again.

How quickly do BP meds work to bring down hypertension? We're back in Cozumel in four weeks... Does depth play any role in elevating risk?

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

When I first started taking BP meds, it took some experimentation with the dosage, with several trips to the doctor over several months. My BP seemed to resist change at first. Eventually, got the right dosage and BP started to respond. After adjusting to the meds, my BP is very stable now. Has been for years.

Everyone’s different, but getting your dosage right in four weeks seems like a stretch to me, unless your Dr guesses lucky with the dosage on the first shot. But, even if the first dosage isn’t perfect, it should bring your BP down some anyway.

I’m not aware of any issues with diving. I’ve done deep Trimix dives etc. Again, having BP that’s properly controlled with meds, is way different than uncontrolled high BP.

Since almost everyone over a certain age gets high BP, there are literally millions of people on BP meds every day involved in all kinds of sports, including diving.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

When I first started taking BP meds, it took some experimentation with the dosage, with several trips to the doctor over several months. My BP seemed to resist change at first. Eventually, got the right dosage and BP started to respond. After adjusting to the meds, my BP is very stable now. Has been for years.

Everyone’s different, but getting your dosage right in four weeks seems like a stretch to me, unless your Dr guesses lucky with the dosage on the first shot. But, even if the first dosage isn’t perfect, it should bring your BP down some anyway.

I’m not aware of any issues with diving. I’ve done deep Trimix dives etc. Again, having BP that’s properly controlled with meds, is way different than uncontrolled high BP.

Since almost everyone over a certain age gets high BP, there are literally millions of people on BP meds every day involved in all kinds of sports, including diving.

As another example to show how everyone is different. My doctor put me on one med, the lowest dose, and it worked right away. End of story. I've been on that same med, same dose ever since. That was 15+ years ago.

So it just depends. Some people it takes time to get the right med and dose, others respond immediately. Talk with your doctor and go from there.

 

[Ghost95]

Like everybody said, it varies from person to person. And is depends on the drug or drugs, sometimes it takes more than one.

Some BP meds are relatively fast acting in that you take it and your BP will come down within a couple hours. Others take a couple days to build up and start working.

Losartan takes a few days to work and stabilize so it doesn't tend to produce the BP swings that can be uncomfortable like a faster acting drug can. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I have been diving for 36 years. No history of DCS or anything else. While I understand the inherent dangers of seeking medical advice on the internet, I also don't think my MD has a whole lot of experience or knowledge regarding recent (or even not so recent) research or studies on scuba diving and medicine. I felt this was a reasonable forum to seek expertise in this area.

Of course, and I hope that it's been beneficial for you. I did want to address the PFO testing advice from another poster since the topic seems to come up quite a bit in the medical forum - in your case, a PFO test would probably not be indicated.

Re your other question about depth and risk of a cardiac event - that's very individual. Immersion itself (regardless of depth) causes a redistribution of blood in the vascular system that can put an additional strain on the heart. Depth could come into play with increased gas density and work of breathing, but in someone healthy enough to dive, those effects probably would be less pronounced than the effect of immersion.

The latest info I have on the Toronto area is that there is a diving physician to whom the Toronto General Hospital hyperbaric physicians refer people with fitness-to-dive questions. Will DM you with contact info.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[RobPNW]

How quickly do BP meds work to bring down hypertension? We're back in Cozumel in four weeks... Does depth play any role in elevating risk?

An ACE inhibitor, which is probably what you need, should show a change within a day because it's basically relaxing the arteries. Some beta blockers on the other hand, may take a week to build up in the system. If you're going on a beta blocker, I would not go diving for a while until your body gets use to it. Your heart has to remodel to some extent to work with that kind of medicine. If you're going on an ACE inhibitor, you're probably fine to for diving right away imo. I'm not a doctor but have been on all these things so this is just real world personal observation.

 

[Shawn C]

Of course, and I hope that it's been beneficial for you. I did want to address the PFO testing advice from another poster since the topic seems to come up quite a bit in the medical forum - in your case, a PFO test would probably not be indicated.

Re your other question about depth and risk of a cardiac event - that's very individual. Immersion itself (regardless of depth) causes a redistribution of blood in the vascular system that can put an additional strain on the heart. Depth could come into play with increased gas density and work of breathing, but in someone healthy enough to dive, those effects probably would be less pronounced than the effect of immersion.

The latest info I have on the Toronto area is that there is a diving physician to whom the Toronto General Hospital hyperbaric physicians refer people with fitness-to-dive questions. Will DM you with contact info.

Best regards,
DDM

Very helpful - thanks much.

 

[Nick_Radov]

What can I do to mitigate my risk?

Try reducing fructose intake.

#194 - How fructose drives metabolic disease | Rick Johnson, M.D. - Peter Attia

“Fructose turns out to have been meant to be this wonderful system for survival, but in our culture with the amount of sugar in foods that we are eating (that either provide sugar or can be turned into fructose), this pathway has become hazardous.” —Rick Johnson

peterattiamd.com

Get some moderate daily sunlight exposure to stimulate nitric oxide production.

Sunlight Might Be Good for Your Blood Pressure: Study

Researchers figure out why, suggest not getting enough might raise risk for heart disease

www.webmd.com

 

[RobPNW]

Best results I ever got was doing healthy keto and intermittent fasting. Not the bacon and cheese diet, grass fed organic meat and plenty of mixed greens.