Blood Pressure Progress

#1

Was up around 135/90 on a good day. Every time I visited my GP she measured 150/95 or so.
Been on Low Carb High Fat for about 18 months now.
BP is consistently now down to 115/72 +/- 5 on each number.
I am 68 and not on any meds.
Weight went from 235 down to now 201.
Goal is 190.
GP gave me no help and direction. Just tried to push damn pills on me.
First GP visit post-covid is this week. She better not complain. Do these docs get spiffs for writing scripts or something? That is all they seem focused on.
I call it Disease Management. Not Health Achievement. Two different mind sets. I am of the latter.

(Omar) #2

Most of them can not deviate from what they studied.

You could replace them with a database or Dr. google.

#3

You are right.
But I have to report for an annual to stay in the VA health system. An my state (CA) requires me to have insurance. This is of no cost to me. So I just minimize the participation.
I have found far more help on a forum like this than at VA.

(Robin) #4

Same here. This forum has replaced my dependence on the medical community. Even when the forum provides multiple or conflicting information…. People on here understand that our diet is vitally important.

(Jane) #5

They might. Or just might want to keep their medical license. They are required to advise a “standard of care” based on lab and other tests. You, on the other hand, have a choice to refuse.

My husband just had 2 stents put in and of course they prescribed statins. He told several doctors who saw him he wasn’t taking them and none argued or commented - just nodded and moved on. His cholesterol ratios are excellent.

#6

I recently added valsartan to metformin as medications my doctor has taken me off of because my blood sugar and blood pressure dropped so much on keto. I honestly like her and appreciate her persistence. I find her caring to the point of annoying, like a mom. She was always telling me to handle my ills through diet and exercise, although she had no idea how keto takes the weight off and gives you the the energy to get moving. I’ve now lost 20 percent of my body weight, and the doc has not hesitated to advise me to taper meds and stop if symptoms didn’t return. She even tried to get me off my PPI, but I’m not quite there yet.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

If you are taking the PPI to control acid reflux, there is some evidence to suggest that the problem is lack of enough stomach acid rather than too much acid. If that is the case, then a proton-pump inhibitor is exactly the wrong treatment. Food for thought, anyway. :grin:

#8

Nothing wrong with either in context, the *sartan’s let your blood flow better by relaxing everything (I take Telmesarten) and Metformin although it does nothing diet won’t, there seems to be a more and more coming out on it for it’s anti-aging benefits.

That one is most likely doing you no favors at all, PPIs can do permanent damage and running without enough stomach acid is never a good thing. Very few people have reflux from (too much) stomach acid, and almost always from too little.

#9

I like food for thought almost as much as I like edible food. In this case, though, I suffered miserably from nightly heartburn twenty or so years ago, with some visible injury to the esophagus. The PPI when first prescribed gave me remarkable relief within a few days. I don’t want to take anything I don’t need, and was keen to experiment by phasing it out, but after a couple of weeks I had noticeable sour stomach again from time to time.

#10

I appreciate the observations about valsartan and metformin. I really do wonder if it made sense to stop the metformin. I’ve seen some of those anti-aging claims, which I find interesting but far from established. It wasn’t enough to make me argue with my doctor. The valsartan was a little different. Not to bore anyone with my personal medical issues, but I went to the emergency room a few weeks ago after I got dizzy and discovered my blood pressure stuck at a little under 85/55 for a couple of hours. I also had some signs that could have suggested internal bleeding. I pay attention to these things because I had colon cancer in my 40s that was discovered nice and early because I chose not to ignore them. I’m still getting tests to get to the bottom of this episode, but I’m now maintaining my blood pressure at below 130/80 with no medication, so stopping valsartan seemed like the safest course of action.

(Robin) #11

If you were eating crap for most of your life, like the rest of us, of course you had issues with acid, heartburn, etc…
Now that you have taken away the cause, you should no longer need the cure (PPI).

Disclaimer: I know nothing about the drug or your experience. I just know that my nightly reflux issues disappeared when I went keto, then carni.

(Edith) #12

Mostly likely, it was the type of food you were eating (cough, cough, carbs) that resulted in the heartburn. My brother used to get terrible heartburn until he went keto/carnivore, and then his heartburn went away.

(Robin) #13

Same same

(J) #14

Congrats!

(Duane) #15

Take the meter you use at home with you to the appointment, and check blood pressure with both meters. If both show similar readings, you have what is euphemistically called “white coat syndrome”. Your blood pressure goes high due to just the stress of seeing the doctor…I have it and my in-office BP’s are always high while running 110/65 at home.

(Robin) #16

Good idea. And welcome!

(Linda) #17

I never had “white coat syndrome” until a few decades back when they started pumping the cuff up so tightly it brought tears to my eyes.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

I complained about that when I was in the hospital a few years ago, and the nurse discarded the cuff. They eventually start to go, it seems.