High Blood Pressure

I recently was admitted to hosp. in Australia with Heart Block?? on return to u.k. my G.P. states it was a faint due to Low B/P and states I must :-
1. Loose the extra weight i have gained .
2. If attack re-occurs -Cross legs and tighten hand repeatedly to increase blood flow.
But he assures me it’s not life threatening. Can I believe him ? It certainly leaves lots of questions. I do have occasional dizzy spells with no obvious sign or reason before hand, i.e. no sudden getting up or exertion in any way. A Herbalist friend offered me Ginseng as an alternative to relieve tiedness but I am reluctant to take him up. What advice can you give? will loosing weight improve my condition?

Hi I have been on medication to lower my blood pressure for around 6 months but i want to stop as i dont think i need it.

can i just stop i monitor my bp at home on a 2 week basis and it is alway around 129 / 80 somtimes it shoots up to 140 / 90, but to be fair i do drink a bottle of wine per day, i know thats far to much, but i like it and dont really want to stop i enjoy a few glasses of wine after work, the high blood pressure is pure stress related as i run my own business

I know that eating more fruit and vegetables is good for you but does anyone actually have a list of fruits and vegetables that lower blood pressure.

I’m thinking of things like tomatoes and beetroot - I’ve read that both of them are good at lowering blood pressure levels but I’m sure their must be more than that.

Can anyone give - or point a link to - a fuller list of all the fruits and vegetables that are good for you if you have problems with high blood pressure.

I want to experiment to see if adding certain fruits and vegetables can reduce blood pressure levels

OK

Can anyone help me out to understand this better?

I know that countries like Spain and Greece seem to have less health problems and I’ve read that it’s due to the mediterranean diet. I also heard from my doctor that the good bits are the red wine and the olive oil. And also not too much salt in the food.

Is this true?

I would like to use more olive oil but surely having fried food is not what we are supposed to be doing?

Am I missing the point about the connection between olive oil and high blood pressure? Should I just take some from a spoon every day?

Is it fish oil or olive oil thats supposed to be the most helpful.

Please help - I’m getting very confused about all of this stuff

Thanks … Jess x

I love to eat salty peanuts but is it going to cause problems with my blood pressure?

Surely peanuts are good for me - high natural fats and the salt level doesn’t seem all that high really.

If I look after my blood pressure in other ways is it OK to keep eating peanuts? I heard that the protein content in peanuts is a good way of getting energy. I always take the dry roasted ones so I dont get too much fat added

Can blood pressure tablets cause bad dreams?

Ever since my doctor started me on atenolol I’ve been having the most vivid dreams you can ever imagine. Not always bad I have to say - but the intensity of them is sometimes overwhelming.

Is it the tablets. Does atenolol cause bad dreams - or could it be the blood pressure problem itself.

Certainly seems to have started since the drugs were changed.

Has anyone else had bad dreams with blood pressure tablets?

Can blood pressure cause me to have joint and muscle pains?

I’m on medication and my BP control is good at the moment but I seem to be getting stiff and painful joints all the time at present.

Will high blood pressure on it’s own cause me to develop pains in the joints - or is it my blood pressure meds that’s doing it?

I asked my doctor and he said that he didn’t think there was a connection but when I read the leaflets in the medication package two of them do say that joint pains or muscle pains can arise.

What should i do?

Chocolate and blood pressure …… mmmm

How much chocolate should I eat if I want it to lower my blood pressure? And is it a special kind of chocolate that I need or is it just the normal sort I can buy anywhere.

I need to be careful because I have borderline diabetes but if I balance the other bits I’m sure I can add some into my daily diet.

I find some of this food and blood pressure stuff a bit confusing really.

On one level it would seem that a daily diet consisting of chocolate, tomatoes and red wine could see me live forever …. hey ….. might try that actually

I just read an article about how taking the blood pressure reading round the ankle is a good way to predict my risk of stroke or heart attack.

Can I do this ankle blood pressure test with my own home blood pressure monitor?

What readings should I look out for?

I have a history in my family of heart attack - my father and my uncle both had one - so am always looking for things I can do to protect myself.

Is there a special knack to getting ankle blood pressure readings or do I just experiment a bit and figure it out for myself?

Thanks