I am a 34 year old man recently diagnosed with HBP. My reading the first time I went into my doctor's office was 158/100. I drastically changed my lifestye (now I only eat fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats (fish, turkey, chicken), drink lots of water, and I'm exercising more). The second doctor's office visit registered my bp at 156/98. The third visit, 153/77. My BP is going down, yet my doctor is still prescribing meds. The first meds I took (hydrocholorothiazide) gave me a really adverse reaction, and I ended up being rushed to the hospital because of it. He's now suggesting calcium channel blockers. Whenever I mentioned lifestyle changes (i.e., diet & exercise), he was sort of flippant about it and said that its still important to take the meds NOW, and then maybe you'll get off of it later. I've heard that once you go on meds, you'll never get off. I'd like to try diet & exercise FIRST, and meds as a last resort.

Why are doctors so quick to prescribe meds instead of lifestyle changes FIRST?

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Doctors are more prone to prescribe meds because there is no money in prescribing GOOD HEALTH!
Drug companies woo and court the med profession with dinners (and doctors get golf trips and carribean "conferences" I have heard) and gifts and incitives to buy their particular type of poisin!
I've been in this (RN) business 30 years.
It's obvious to me!
I balanced my Ph and lowerted my BP to normal without drugs! (IMG:http://forum.resperate.com/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

can you tell me how you went about lowering your Ph and your blood pressure without meds? that would really help me out! thank you for your post!

This is my second time on meds (through my own fault of not paying attention). If there is no underlying medical condition causing the HBP, there should be no reason why you cannot get off BP meds. Also, a lot depends on which med is prescribed. You may want a second opion from a trusted cardiologist. msmiata (IMG:http://forum.resperate.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I agree that it is best to avoid drugs, if possible. Unfortunately, high BP can cause damage during the time it takes to lower the BP. Traditional doctors probably think most patients are more likely to take a pill each day than to walk two miles each day.

Fortunately, I have a D.O. doctor, who is very affordable, and gives patients a choice to treat for optimum health, or to just treat the disease symptons. He was not aware of RESPERATE, but readily recommended it when I showed him the webpage printouts. With his encouragement, my weight dropped from 320# to 270. He told me to keep losing; each 10 pounds lost means lower BP.

The concept of FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE is becoming more common, where MD's use alternative approaches and/or work with alternative practitioners. Unfortunately, treatment can be very expensive. Last week, I went to the Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning, and told an intake nurse that I am interested in finding more natural approaches to treating high BP. She suggested that there are choices available, including chelation. To start, the initial doctor visit is $600, and the lab work is at least $2,000. Then chelation could add another $3,000. Unfortunately, not everyone has $6,000 laying around to treat high BP.

The bottom line is that only 10% of the population is able to continue exercise and diet over a long period. If you can do this there are 6 year and 8 studies that show vigoruos exercise can signficantly lower your resting next day blood pressue over a 9-12 month period. As the subjects got older they all saw an increase in BP but less than the no exercise control group. So if you combine exercise with a diet change then you might have a chance but the odds are against most people over 40 doing the exercise required. I am 44 and I am doing this and my biggest fear is that something will wear out that will prevent me from doing the exercising I love.

I was quick to speak in my ignorance (IMG:http://forum.resperate.com/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) !
I did NOT lower my pH....An MD informed me of that!

But, I DID take powdered magnesium citrate and Potassium gluconate (potassium CITRATE tastes like salt). I take 800mg of mag and 1000 of potassium in water....I take it before sleep.
I wake up with a nice "poop" and it keeps my BP down. When I DON'T...BP goes up!
Stephen C.

I'm trying to get off drugs too!!! The last time I bought accupril at http://www.drugdelivery.ca/s38-s-ACCUPRIL.aspx was two weeks ago.. i'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables.. I think i might like to be vegan for once in my life. we just have to play with the taste and colours.. it looks good and tastes heavenly.. + I'm looking for gym information in my locality...

In the "for what it's worth" dept I just ran across this product on line. It is a natural supplement that makes the claim to lower bp 20 pts or more in 30 days. That is ususally easy to say since most internet products give you a "return within 30 day" guarantee, (which is required by law).
What is different about this product and company is they give you a 90 day, unconditional guarantee. That gives you 60 days easy to decide if it is working. Then you have 30 days to return it and not worry about the "we didn't receive it within the 30 days" response some internet companies use to avoid refunds. The other option is read the main ingredients and buy them yourself at a health food store if they are available. That rules out the money back gurantee though. Anyway I just discovered it and have not decided if I'll give it a try, but thought I would pass it on. HAS ANYONE TRIED THIS PRODUCT?? IF SO PLEASE GIVE SOME FEEDBACK.

www.hyperzosin.com for info on the product

www.nutritionalsciencelabs.com for info on the company