i am a pretty young guy just past my middle 30's. i eat really well, work out 3 x a week, and look in good shape. i started having high blood pressure this summer when i was diagnosed with sleep apnea. got the sleep apnea taken care of but the high blood pressure is still there.

i've had some family illnesses and job change that has stressed me out. i worry too much causing panics (not as much) and anxiety. at times, i feel depressed. i dwell on my health all the time to the point of not being "myself" especially now that i think of what could possibly happen if i don't get this hbp down. 3 of my grandparents have died related to stroke/heart attack and both my parents have hypertension so i worry a lot.
appy
i've been on bp meds this past month for the 1st time and i hate it. my blood pressure before the meds ran up to 150/100. since the meds it has gone up and down from 135-145 / 85-95...still needs to be lower. i can't stop dwelling about my blood pressure.

i've received the resperate 5 days ago. i'm really happy about but i havent seen any improvement yet in terms of blood pressure readings. i will say that i'm a lot calmer with the anxiety.

tomorrow i go to see the doc and she may want to raise my meds. i really don't want to because i don't feel like myself with the meds. i'm discouraged but i'm hoping in time that the resperate will work for me. i've been using the machine 1-2 x a day.

glad to share my experience....

i can't stop dwelling about my blood pressure.

There is a saying that might be appropriate here; What you resist will persist!
For the moment accept the fact that you have this condition. But you are actively trying to bring it under control.

i've received the resperate 5 days ago. i'm really happy about but i havent seen any improvement yet in terms of blood pressure readings.

Rather than thinking in terms of days, think in terms of weeks - 6-8 weeks to begin to see continuous results.

tomorrow i go to see the doc and she may want to raise my meds.

If Panic/Anxiety is an issue, BP readings in your doctor's office can be very misleading. I'd go with home readings as being closer to the mark. Also, if you are using a digital kit you might want to consider an aneroid monitor with a stethoscope. CVS has them -

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_home.jsp#

In the search box key in Blood Pressure Monitors. The one I'm referring to costs about $16.

When you are monitoring your BP at home put the deflated cuff on before you begin using RESPeRATE. When you have finished the session take the reading.


Good luck.

great advice. i have a tendency to have readings higher on digital vs manual readings. i will heed the advice. also, i have to accept the fact and move on with my life. weather it be meds and/or resperate, i have to change my counter productive thinking....thanks again.

billy,
went to the dr today and my bp was 130/78...that's the lowest its ever been in over 6 months. at the dr's, it was a manual take. the night before was 146/90 on our digital reading. i'm going to order that bp kit you recommended...thanks.

Hey, I agree with Billym. I also would recommend working out at least 5 times per week, with at least 30 minutes of cardio. And definitely give Resperate more time to start working.

Also, check out ccc3's list of blood pressure lowering tips!

<a ######="http://forum.resperate.com/index.php?showtopic=806" target="_blank">http://forum.resperate.com/index.php?showtopic=806</a>

great stuff jbc....i would add garlic and q10 if i didn't see those tips too! thanks.

From what I have read the type of Q-10 used is important. Oil based Q-10 seems to work better than powder form. One also seems to need about 300 mg/day to get results. The amount can probably be reduced later once BP comes into line.

I have also seen references by credible sources to alpha lipoic acid as being effective in lowering BP although I have not actually read the studies. I take this supplement for my T2 diabetes and have had very significant results. However, most lipoic acid sold has both the artificial and the natural molecules. The all natural molecule lipoic acid, R(+) Lipoic acid, is much more effective and is without some of the negative effects of the unnatural lipoic acid. But you also need biotin with R(+) lipoic acid. The brand I use is called Glucorelle. It is formulated with biotin. I take 600 mg/day because it helps my blood sugar. However, you may not need as much to help BP.

Many health care plans pay for test strips. Usually if you buy 100 strips you get a free glucose monitor at least in theory. But the tests strips are about a buck per strip. The problem is finding an accurate glucose monitor. Some are all over the place in terms of readings.

I've been using resperate for six months. I take my bp before using and after I now find a slight decrease in bp after session. Hang in there maybe it will take you longer for results like myself. I look at any decrease as a plus. I have had nothing but terrible side effects with bp meds.

Although MOST people begin to see results within 3-4 weeks of regular use, we have heard from a very few people where it actually does take months! We really don't understand why, but we feel better late than never! So please hang in there!
Breathe Easy!
Marguerite (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

I was also having problems getting consistent readings at home with a very good quality automatic BP device that is until I found an article on the importance of arm position. In the article the authors stressed that it has been known since the 1930s that the arm that the reading is taken from must be perpendicular to the body. Readings taken with the arm parallel to the body can be up to 10% too high. The authors also stress the importance of taking multiple readings, something few, if any MDs do.

By perpendicular the authors say the forearm should be supported level with the heart and that there should be a slight bend at the elbow to allow the forearm to drop down to heart level.

Once I started taking my BP this way my readings all of a sudden became consistent with readings taken by professionals using manometers.

If you have a computer start plotting your blood pressure. Try to pick one time a day... then take your blood pressure record it. some take two readings and take the lower of the 2.

The point is that blood pressure naturally fluctuates a lot. Mine will rise with cold, with lack of sleep, stress, diet, for reason's I don't understand. Similarly sometimes it drops too. When you plot your blood pressure on a computer you can start computing 7 day and 30 day averages. (I use excel but open calc in open office works fine and its free too!).

Your eye won't see any change in the blood pressure levels amongst all this natural fluctuation but 7 day moving average can pick up trend in changes quickly, and 30 day even better for getting a good feeling where you are really at. mathematically one can show that variation in an average drops as square root of the number of readings. So 9 point moving average has 1/3 the variation of raw points, and 36 point moving average will have 1/6th the variation of the raw points. So if say your blood pressure varies from 120/80 to 180/120 the 60 point swings on 9 point average drops to just 30 point, and 30 day one drops to just 10 points. that the range of the readings, but if bulk of the readings are in 1/6 of the range, then 30 day average will be done to within a point.

I like 7 and 30 days because that roughly one week and one month. Both averages let one average out weekly (and monthly) activity differences also.

One benefit of being able to detect small changes is that you start to see your blood pressure dropping even a few points fairly quickly, and as few weeks go by, you can start getting excited about the direction you are going. Of course there will be set backs, but that just means you have to hang in a bit.

Can you elaborate on this? I cannot picture this description. It seems that if I bend my forearm at a 90 degree angle from my upper arm (so perpindicular to my body), then it is lower than my heart, so the "drop down to heart level" does not really make sense. To get my forearm level with my heart, it would need to be raised up, it seems? Do you hold it out in front of you, or across your chest? The diagram in my BP monitor manual says to sit at a table and rest your arm straight out on the table, so that's what I've been doing.

Thanks.

35 years ago, as a 35 year old psychologist with 160/95 in my doctor's office, I performed an experiment on myself. For one month, I took the average of 4 consecutive measuremenets 10 times a day. Within 3 weeks I was down to 130/75 where I remain today, UNLESS I HAVE MY DOCTOR TAKE IT WHERE THE READING IS ALWAYS 150/90. I am a hopeless case of Iatrogenic Hypertension)Physican Caused!) and will remain so forever.