High Blood Pressure?

[DirectDrive]

Lot's of people around here and around the world are dealing with high BP. Many of them are given medicine to lower the blood pressure. Assuming the high BP is due to clogging of the pipes, does lowering BP with meds cause a reduction in blood flow volume moving through the pipes?

Here is my reasoning. Assume you need a given amount of fluid to move through a pipe in a given amount of time. If the pipe is obstructed with build-up, the inside diameter will be reduced. That would require a pump, feeding the pipe, to increase pressure to move the same amount of fluid through the pipe in the same amount of time.

My belief is, the body needs a certain volume of blood to move through it's pipes. If those pipes become restricted, the heart works harder to increase pressure to maintain the needed volume. If our pipes are clogged and we reduce the pressure the heart puts out with meds, wouldn't that reduce volume moving through our pipes?

However you want to slice it and dice it, you have to keep pressure down to recommended levels or organs like your kidneys will not last and your risk of stroke/heart attack increases.

 

[TTSX]

Lowering my blood pressure!

View attachment 1857473

I confess, I didn't read OP's original post.

That is, to date, the only time I've ever seen a chamber flag used outside of an advertisement and at a range, no less. Do they make you use those there?

 

[HA556]

Do they make you use those there?

They are recommended and I use them all the time! Let's anyone know who may enter my shooting area and who may want to go down range, that the firearms are unloaded and no round in chamber.

 

[GrayGoose]

Stop watching the news.

 

[Cavedweller]

There can be different causes of high BP. It's not just about clogging of pipes. I had uncontrolled BP for years and years, despite being on multiple medications. When a med failed to control my BP, doctors would add another. Last year I had surgery to remove my plantar fascia because of tumors that had been causing chronic pain. After the surgery, my BP nosedived to normal levels.

Take home message: When high BP fails to respond to medication, be on the lookout for sources of chronic pain.

 

[billdeserthills]

I agree, just because alot of cool rich people keep their BP managed, doesn't mean I should follow them. That would be keeping up with the Joneses type behavior. Back to my projects I go.

You don't hafta be rich to want a full life & if you have high blood pressure you won't be getting one

High blood pressure ruined my Dad's kidneys. Now he's on home dialysis and he's too weak to do much but watch TV all day long

 

[The Heretic]

I have hypertension, but with meds (4 to control BP, statins for cholesterol) it is under control.

I had high BP for years and ignored it as the only time I seemed to have issues was when a healthcare provider noted it.

Then one day at work I had what seemed to be a migraine aura, but this was different in appearance than in the past, and it did not go away like it did in the past (I get them auras a couple times a year and they are more entertaining than anything else - kind of like watching a kaleidoscope). Plus it was occluding my vision.

So I left work and went to a clinic, who sent me to the ER at the hospital, who diagnosed ocular hypertension, and I then went to an ophthalmologist who said the eye would be ok, but I should see a cardiologist, who in turn put me thru some tests (nuke, etc.) at the hospital, and put me on the meds.

Occasionally I am a bit light headed due to low BP in the morning right after taking meds. It took a couple months but now that is rare. At times I have noted low BP in the mornings - but not too low - just on the low end. It has not caused problems and high BP is a lot more dangerous. As long as I don't pass out, I should be ok, and I have not passed out, even when I am doing something strenuous (e.g., cutting/splitting/stacking firewood - which I usually did in the mornings).

I do have several plaque occlusions in my heart, but they were borderline for putting in stents (i.e., the stent procedure was more risky than the occlusions). I now have some abnormal heart rhythms, but not serious.

This is what getting old includes, especially after decades of a sedentary lifestyle in an office, ignoring symptoms (especially high BP) and not getting annual checkups.

 

[joken]

My Doctor originally prescribed Lisinopril. He wanted a blood test a week after prescribing it and I told him That I was leaving town in three days so I had the blood work after two days of taking the drug. The next day, I was notified to stop taking the Lisinopril immediately. My potassium was very high and it may have killed me if I kept taking it. I now take amlodipine. I asked my brother what BP med he was on and he said Lisinopril. I asked if his doctor had ordered blood work after he prescribed it and he answered no!

 

[Paolung]

Diet and exercise are the main culprits for the majority, but some draw the genetic short-straw and are destined for a short life.

It's also important to realize that some people, despite having congenital high blood pressure, are just fine - that's how they're built. My mother, for example, has had high blood pressure and high cholesterol her entire life, despite being pretty fit. She's in her late 70s and just rocking along... her parents lived until their late 80s (father) and early 90s (mother) and also had the same numbers.

That said, I agree - most people have high blood pressure (and/or a high blood lipid profile) because of poor diet and/or lack of exercise. If your BP was normal for the first half of your life, and now you're sedentary and wolfing down double cheeseburgers all day and your BP and lipids skyrocket, I'm leaning heavily toward the "lifestyle" cause, and it's not normal for someone like that to have those problems.

I really try to avoid any medications for things unless I truly have no better options.

 

[The Heretic]

My Doctor originally prescribed Lisinopril. He wanted a blood test a week after prescribing it and I told him That I was leaving town in three days so I had the blood work after two days of taking the drug. The next day, I was notified to stop taking the Lisinopril immediately. My potassium was very high and it may have killed me if I kept taking it. I now take amlodipine. I asked my brother what BP med he was on and he said Lisinopril. I asked if his doctor had ordered blood work after he prescribed it and he answered no!

My PCP started me on Lisinopril, cardiologist switched it to Amlodipine and Metoprolol. I also take ER nitro and a statin.

 

[bolus]

My mother had high blood pressure. I assume I inherited mine from her.

As I complained above, my blood pressure was controlled with Lisinopril and Hydrochlorothiazide until my provider decided to change to something else. They never gave me a reason. I assume cost was a factor. It has taken well over a year to get the new treatment (Lostartan and Amlopine) to work right.

My blood pressure is finally back to normal (120/80) but my Potassium is still a little low. They are talking about having me take a fourth tablet each day. My observation is that no matter how much they make me take, my blood only contains the same amount. They keep doing the same thing over and over to change this, but have the same result. Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome - where have I heard this description?

Lisinopril and HCTZ are cheap good meds so cost is not a reason to change. Lisinopril can cause cough and so it often gets changed to losartan which works similarly but does not cause cough.

HCTZ can lower potassium so one can add potassium if it is low, or change the HCTZ to something else.

If potassium is still low in the setting of high blood pressure, then we consider hyperaldosteronism as a possible cause. Though this is pretty rare (<1% of all cases of high blood pressure).

But if a patient had persistent low potassium after stopping hydrochlorothiazide I'd consider screening for hyperaldosteronism.

In my experience, not many primary care docs know to check for hyperaldosteronism. I do because there is no endocrinologist (gland specialist) anywhere near me so I had to learn extra endocrinology to help my patients.

Nonsuppressible (primary) hypersecretion of aldosterone is an underdiagnosed cause of hypertension. The classic presenting signs of primary aldosteronism are hypertension and hypokalemia, but potassium levels are frequently normal in modern-day series of primary aldosteronism.

 

[Mikej]

Lisinopril and HCTZ are cheap good meds so cost is not a reason to change. Lisinopril can cause cough and so it often gets changed to losartan which works similarly but does not cause cough.

HCTZ can lower potassium so one can add potassium if it is low, or change the HCTZ to something else.

If potassium is still low in the setting of high blood pressure, then we consider hyperaldosteronism as a possible cause. Though this is pretty rare (<1% of all cases of high blood pressure).

But if a patient had persistent low potassium after stopping hydrochlorothiazide I'd consider screening for hyperaldosteronism.

In my experience, not many primary care docs know to check for hyperaldosteronism. I do because there is no endocrinologist (gland specialist) anywhere near me so I had to learn extra endocrinology to help my patients.

Forgot about the cough. I get a little of it. Not enough to make me want to go through what some here have mentioned.

 

[Nosferatu]

Lay off the weed and your blood won't get high.

 

[Mikej]

Lay off the weed and your blood won't get high.

Her-Der.....

 

[The Heretic]

Lay off the weed and your blood won't get high.

Can't use THC/CBD due to interaction with statins.

 

[JRMadrid]

Recently my BP has spiked.

No cause, low to non-existent cholesterol levels.
Unexplained. One med doesn't help.

 

[Bobbygun]

Recently my BP has spiked.

No cause, low to non-existent cholesterol levels.
Unexplained. One med doesn't help.

I recently went in for my first LIPID panel since I started taking Olmesartan last year. I was pleasantly surprised by the large improvement in my cholesterol levels. I didn't even know my BP meds would have any effect on cholesterol, but Google tells me Olmesartan can have that effect.

 

[Stomper]

Lay off the weed and your blood won't get high.

And that hacking cough will fade away…..

 

[Provincial]

Lisinopril and HCTZ are cheap good meds so cost is not a reason to change. Lisinopril can cause cough and so it often gets changed to losartan which works similarly but does not cause cough.

HCTZ can lower potassium so one can add potassium if it is low, or change the HCTZ to something else.

If potassium is still low in the setting of high blood pressure, then we consider hyperaldosteronism as a possible cause. Though this is pretty rare (<1% of all cases of high blood pressure).

But if a patient had persistent low potassium after stopping hydrochlorothiazide I'd consider screening for hyperaldosteronism.

In my experience, not many primary care docs know to check for hyperaldosteronism. I do because there is no endocrinologist (gland specialist) anywhere near me so I had to learn extra endocrinology to help my patients.

Since I've been off HCTZ for years, that isn't the problem. Thanks for mentioning hyperaldosteronism. I had no idea that existed. I'll try to avoid mentioning it with my primary care doctor, since they don't like amateur ideas. I'll just press the lack of change no matter how much Potassium supplement I take, and see if he will send me up the ladder to a specialist.

If I can't get action, I'll have to press harder.

Thanks again!!!!

 

[Kcee]

The nice thing is clogged arteries can be reversed just by diet, and by avoiding things that harden the arteries, like salt and cigarettes.

I used to have angina, and it cleared up with a good diet.