Blood Pressure Meds and fasting

(Mark) #1

I have been in ketosis for about a month, my weight loss has slowed and I want to try fasting, working my way up to 36 hour fasts. I am concerned that I take metoprolol 50mg x2 daily, losartan 100mg daily and atorvastatin 40mg daily. Anybody taken these types of meds with an empty stomach? My long term goal is to rid myself of all these meds, my blood pressure is around 150/90 most of the time. I know the answer for the most part, see my cardiologist. I am looking for someone with personal experience with one or all of these meds.
Height 5’9"
Weight 250 on 1/1/2019, currently 228
Goal: get to and maintain a healthy size
Lipid numbers:
Total Cholesterol 212
HDL 43
LDL 151
Triglycerides 121

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

You should expect your blood pressure to lower considerably on a ketogenic diet, so if you start feeling dizzy or lightheaded, you may need to cut back on the BP meds. (Be sure to get enough salt and to drink to thirst—neither under- nor over-hydrated be.)

Give yourself six months before worrying about your lipid numbers, if ever. I am not a big fan of the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis; there’s too much evidence against it.

That said, however, saturated fat in the diet has been shown to raise HDL, if you want to impress your cardiologist, so cook with butter, bacon grease, tallow, or lard, and avoid the “vegetable” (actually seed) oils, which are loaded with unhealthy polyunsaturates. The only PUFA’s you need are omega-3 and -6, and not a great deal of either. Omega-6 fatty acids are inflammatory in quantities above the essential minimum. If your doctors are enlightened, they are not going to put all that much stock in your cholesterol numbers, anyway.

After watching a number of lectures on YouTube by the neurophysiologist, David Diamond, I have become very wary of statins, and it appears that the mechanism by which they clear cholesterol from the bloodstream puts a real strain on the liver. Not to mention all the other side effects. You may want to take that into consideration at some point, whether your lipid numbers improve or not.

(Mark) #3

I was hoping, but the fact is my blood pressure has been unaffected by Keto and my doctor doubled the losartan from 50mg daily to 100mg daily. I have been on the higher dose for 10 days, no change to my blood pressure. One thing to note is I have kidney stone history so I drink at least a gallon of water daily.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #4

I’m not where I can give a proper response now. I fast and am on 3bp meds. My bp is slowly coming down. Will respond more later.

(Bob M) #5

It can take a while to get blood pressure down. I found fasting helped more than low carb. I’m working from home today, or I’d post the 5+ years of blood pressure data I have, so you can see why I think this.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

About the statin drug, have you had a heart attack in the past? If not and it were me I would stop that drug. Don’t buy the cholesterol hype.

And metoprolol I did take in the past, if I had known it’s a beta blocker then I would have refused that one too, but I trusted my nephrologist. May lead to ED.

I am not familiar with the other drug.

I am still using a clonidine patch but I am hoping to get rid of it soon. Last time I tried it was too early into keto. Always remember that you have a choice about medical care and treatment.

(Bob M) #7

I have taken a beta blocker (carvedilol) and an ACE inhibitor (lisinopril) for the last 5.5 years and have taken both on an empty stomach many times. Fasted many, many, many 4.5-5.5 days, 3-3.5 days, 36 hours, 22 hours, etc.

#8

I can’t address those specific meds. I’m on a BP med, thyroid med and 2 different meds for bipolar. I can take them on an empty stomach as long as I spread them out through the day.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

Just bear in mind that some medications require food in the stomach to work properly, or even at all. That’s different from cushioning the stomach against a harsh chemical, such as an NSAID. Your pharmacist should be able to tell you which of the drugs you are taking falls into which category. I used to take a drug that fell into the former category, and was relieved to be told that a small glass of milk counted as “food,” at least as far as that particular drug was concerned.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #10

Bob,

My BP is coming down with IF, OMAD and recently EF fasting. I’m also noticing that the reading are less volatile as I get more fasting in. Why does fasting help? Is it reversal of insulin resistance, just less insulin or something else.

I seem to remember in “the Fasting Movie” someone’s BP went to normal and never returned high after a long water fast.

Thanks

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #11

@ctviggen Funny thing is this video I’m watching now is explaining how the kidneys are responsible for essential hypertension. An insulin-dependent state.

https://youtu.be/5nC-F5_cx64 go to 31:20 mins and listen.