Forums: January 2011 Kickstart Forum: Developed High Blood Pressure
Created on: 01/05/11 12:02 PM Views: 2547 Replies: 13
marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 12:02 PM I became a vegan in March of 2010. In May of 2010 I had my blood pressure checked it was the best ever, 120/80. Fast forward to Oct., I'm in the Dr.'s office and the nurse said is your blood pressure always this high? (What??) Needless to say I got very concerned, I went back in December and my blood presure is ridiculously high, 168/94. She put me on a diuretic and after two weeks of no change, added an ace inhibitor. I'm in my early 50's and I'm extremely physically active, bicycling 1,000 plus miles a year, and I'm well within my weight range.I guess I'm kind of depressed because I thought being a vegan with lower my blood pressure. Any thoughts?
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mollyhorn Joined: 03/03/10 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 12:12 PM Do you have any other health issues that could be creating this? I would check that out first, before assuming the diet is the cause. Molly Horn
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cch22 Joined: 09/08/10 Location: New York State Posts: 1000	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 12:18 PM Hi Marge, Just a thought but which vegan foods do you choose? do you soak beans overnight & cook them or go for the canned? do you purchase the prepared frozen foods like Amy's that are high in salt? do you check your canned or jarred tomato products including ketchup for salt? you can even find salt in frozen veggies!! and of course salad dressings is your favorite snack food salty? my mom has to watch salt, so i have come to realize how hard it is for her to eliminate it or even drastically reduce it. i bet you have already thought of all this.. just wondering.
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Susan Levin Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1191	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 12:25 PM While a vegan diet certainly gives you an advantage, there are other issues to consider. Sodium may be an issue (as stated above). There could be another underlying health condition at play such as athlersclorosis. I have met people who have a genetic predisposition for high blood pressure. It's rare, but it can happen. I would suggest having your BP checked again and follow up continuously with your health care provider. Susan Levin, MS, RD PCRM Director of Nutrition Education
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 12:31 PM Susan Levin wrote: I have met people who have a genetic predisposition for high blood pressure. It's rare, but it can happen. I would suggest having your BP checked again and follow up continuously with your health care provider. This runs in hubby's family. Partially due to lifestyle choices but even with exercise and veg*n, low sodium eating, his blood pressure is higher than it should be (he's 42). He tried and tried to get it down and it would go down for a while and then creep back up again, without his doing anything differently. So, he's on medication for it BUT his goal is to lose enough weight (he's already lost some 80 lbs over the last few years) that he can reduce or eliminate the medication. --Deb R
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 1:05 PM I cook from scratch using mostly organic veggies. I'm not blaming the vegan diet, I just think its too bizarre that this happened. Everyone else reports their blood presure is going down, not up.
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 1:07 PM and I also watch the salt. btw I'm 5'2', 113 lbs, so weight isn't a factor,
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smday Joined: 12/31/09 Location: Kansas City Posts: 52	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 6:58 PM I would advise acquiring your own blood pressure monitor. You can get a wrist monitor for $30-$50. Then measure your blood pressure at various times of the day and keep a log covering a decent period of time. You will at least arm yourself with very useful data for you and your doctor. Well worth the money.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 8:46 AM I agree, get your own monitor and check it at home yourself regularly and track it A sudden rise in blood pressure like that (when you're eating healthy and exercising etc) can mean other things are going on. Thyroid issues can affect blood pressure for example. Lots of possibilities that need to be checked out because that 94 is indeed a red flag (the top number in blood pressure readings is the most variable, hubby's always goes up at the doctor's office so they account for that, but the lower number is the one that indicates something more serious because the blood vessels are not 'resting') --Deb R
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 10:59 AM thanks for all the suggestions and comments. I did buy a home monitor, I agree there got to be something else going on, it just freaked me out.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 11:06 AM Hate to ask it (and you needn't answer of course) but you don't mention your age - peri-menopause/menopause can do wacky things to your whole self, including blood pressure. Hmm while it might sound counter intuitive (since you're on a diuretic and all) but are you making sure to be super-hydrated? Odd as it seems, drinking more water is the best way to minimize water retention. Is it possible that last time you were at the doctor's office you were maybe a little dehydrated? Especially since you note that you do a LOT of exercise, if you're in a really dry cold area you might not notice it as you would in a hot humid situation where you recognize that you're sweating and need water. --Deb R
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marge Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 11:22 AM Deb. thanks, it's not very cold here in Seattle and I always have a water bottle with me as I agree, hydration is really important. I had it checked Dec 3 and checked again two weeks after that. I'd made sure I got there super early so I would be nice and relaxed, and that's when, after checking it twice, she put me on the ace inhibitor. Argh! tell me about menopause (LOL), I defintely going through it.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 11:27 AM yeah, I'm in the middling peri phase at this point (best I can figure based on what's happening). The other thing that I thought of was whether the potassium sodium balance might have been off - the DASH plan (dietary approach to stop hypertension) talks a lot about that. (DASH is not vegan but certainly could easily be - the focus is on fruits, veggies, beans/legumes, whole grains, but it also includes small amounts of lean poultry and fish as a nod toward the SAD folks). Maybe if your potassium level got low, that could also have affected it. Just tossing out suggestions to see if anything sticks... --Deb R
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2069	RE: Developed High Blood Pressure Posted Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 11:27 AM yeah, I'm in the middling peri phase at this point (best I can figure based on what's happening). The other thing that I thought of was whether the potassium sodium balance might have been off - the DASH plan (dietary approach to stop hypertension) talks a lot about that. (DASH is not vegan but certainly could easily be - the focus is on fruits, veggies, beans/legumes, whole grains, but it also includes small amounts of lean poultry and fish as a nod toward the SAD folks). Maybe if your potassium level got low, that could also have affected it. Just tossing out suggestions to see if anything sticks... --Deb R
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