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Hypertension, High blood pressure on the trail

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    • Hypertension, High blood pressure on the trail

      About three years ago my previous doctor started me on a very low dose of hydrochlorothiazide to help with my high blood pressure - few really feel the onslaught of symptoms, but I did... it started with a lot of pressure within a few weeks at the base of the skull like an upside down headache. Once I got started the drug did great - then came a side affect I could not believe, my leg muscles feel like they did a thirty miler in one day - the pain was the worst on the bottom of the feet. My hiking a 15-20 dropped to 5 miles and then a few months later a three was hell. I kept doing 4-5 miles each weekend. Then my foot size went up two sizes. Apparently this is a symptom for a lot of Hypertension drugs. Yea we have heard it all, but to continue to exercise with weak muscles - well I kept asking for solutions...

      Class Thiazide diuretics:
      epitizide
      hydrochlorothiazide
      chlorothiazide
      bendroflumethiazide
      WIKI

      Well three weeks ago I was having a beer with some freinds and met a wonderful Nurse that works at a retirement home and after a discussion about her work I asked what she recommended for this issue... the answer was a complete surprise. A low dose of magnesium can remove some of the side affects of the drug. My best guess as the Thiazide is blocking the salt intake, it also blocks absorption of potassium and magnesium. The lower potassium levels also may be attributed to those small memory lapses. So at the moment I am using a pill splitter on the magnesium. The pain in the muscles of the legs are clearly reduced and somewhat relieved. So I am feeling "better".

      Back to the treadmill and hiking...
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • woo, i hope you get this all figured out. there are different types of meds for hypertension that work in different ways. you may want to consider another option. some of them cost next to nothing. i would also suggest a home blood pressure monitor. you can get one of the top rated ones at costco/sams for $50ish.
      2,000 miler
    • I am of the opinion that environment and habits should come before medications. Then again, I am not an expert.

      I suffer from borderline hypertension. I have a wonderful built in indicator. I have had 3 concussions in my life. The last one left me with pulsatile tinnitus. I hear my heart rate in the form of a screech. It is an alarm clock that never goes away. The noise varies with my blood pressure. The higher it is, the louder it is. This has forced me to not ignore my blood pressure.

      These are my findings:

      Stress causes the wildest swings for my blood pressure. When I am stressing, the screech gets about as loud as normal speech. When I am calm it almost goes away. Physical activity surprisingly does not increase the volume of the screech. I can hike over 4000' hills all day with 35 lbs on my back and barely hear the alarm clock in my head.

      Weight comes in second. In the winter, my weight and blood pressure and the noise all increase. In the summer, my weight and blood pressure and the noise all go down.

      Diet comes in third. I eat things high in potassium and low in sugar. Caffeine does not seem to effect the noise.

      I place drugs right up there with operations. Someday I will likely relent. I suspect I will not be very active when that day comes.

      Like many other issues, I feel people attack this in reverse order. They do so because it is easier than the alternatives. As you go up the previous list, it becomes more difficult to succeed. Please do not misread my thoughts. I am not a doctor or an expert. I do not now what is right for other people. I know what works for me.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • WOO, have you considered going to a DO rather than an MD?

      I hope I never get to the point of needing meds for chronic issues. Seems like it turns into a never-ending pattern. Take this for that, then take this one to counter the side effects brought on by that one, and now you need this because the second this causes another friggin' problem...
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • BirdBrain wrote:

      I am of the opinion that environment and habits should come before medications. Then again, I am not an expert.

      I suffer from borderline hypertension. I have a wonderful built in indicator. I have had 3 concussions in my life. The last one left me with pulsatile tinnitus. I hear my heart rate in the form of a screech. It is an alarm clock that never goes away. The noise varies with my blood pressure. The higher it is, the louder it is. This has forced me to not ignore my blood pressure.

      These are my findings:

      Stress causes the wildest swings for my blood pressure. When I am stressing, the screech gets about as loud as normal speech. When I am calm it almost goes away. Physical activity surprisingly does not increase the volume of the screech. I can hike over 4000' hills all day with 35 lbs on my back and barely hear the alarm clock in my head.

      Weight comes in second. In the winter, my weight and blood pressure and the noise all increase. In the summer, my weight and blood pressure and the noise all go down.

      Diet comes in third. I eat things high in potassium and low in sugar. Caffeine does not seem to effect the noise.

      I place drugs right up there with operations. Someday I will likely relent. I suspect I will not be very active when that day comes.

      Like many other issues, I feel people attack this in reverse order. They do so because it is easier than the alternatives. As you go up the previous list, it becomes more difficult to succeed. Please do not misread my thoughts. I am not a doctor or an expert. I do not now what is right for other people. I know what works for me.
      I don't have that ailment, but when my pressure is up my tinnitus is wailin' and viza versa.
    • socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      I have had 3 concussions in my life. The last one left me with pulsatile tinnitus. I hear my heart rate in the form of a screech. It is an alarm clock that never goes away. The noise varies with my blood pressure. The higher it is, the louder it is. This has forced me to not ignore my blood pressure.
      I don't have that ailment, but when my pressure is up my tinnitus is wailin' and viza versa.

      Bouncing your brain off the inside of your head can cause all kinds of neat symptoms. My favorite is sometimes when I am lying on my back my skull feels like a bowl that is slowly being filled with cool water. Nothing is happening to cause that other than the bruise on my brain.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • I should hike with you BB. Your "warning" system would be useful. I have no ill effects or problems other than the existence of a "berry aneurysm on the right trifurcation of my mid cerebral artery".
      Knowing when my blood pressure is high would be useful. As it is I just stop and rest as soon as I feel stressed.
      It is probably something that I will still have when I die in my nineties but it's effect on my attitude to life has been substantial.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • OzJacko wrote:

      I should hike with you BB. Your "warning" system would be useful. I have no ill effects or problems other than the existence of a "berry aneurysm on the right trifurcation of my mid cerebral artery".
      Knowing when my blood pressure is high would be useful. As it is I just stop and rest as soon as I feel stressed.
      It is probably something that I will still have when I die in my nineties but it's effect on my attitude to life has been substantial.


      Going to have to look that condition up. As to hiking with me, I suspect my OCD would cause anyone's blood pressure to rise.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      I have had 3 concussions in my life. The last one left me with pulsatile tinnitus. I hear my heart rate in the form of a screech. It is an alarm clock that never goes away. The noise varies with my blood pressure. The higher it is, the louder it is. This has forced me to not ignore my blood pressure.
      I don't have that ailment, but when my pressure is up my tinnitus is wailin' and viza versa.

      Bouncing your brain off the inside of your head can cause all kinds of neat symptoms. My favorite is sometimes when I am lying on my back my skull feels like a bowl that is slowly being filled with cool water. Nothing is happening to cause that other than the bruise on my brain.
      oh man that sounds horrible, mine is just an annoying high screech with a Frequency that fluctuates a bit, like Neeeeiiiieeeeiiiiiieeerrrreeeeng I can't even describe it really, sounds like nothing in nature...YOU KNOW...pretty hard to fall asleep, or stay asleep once you do, and at the slightest bump in the night, Bing! wide awake, quick like. On those nights you'll find me on the net or reading tryin' to get tired so's I can just pass out. Wouldn't wish it on anyone, it really can be quite maddening, don't cha think? Doctor says nothin' we can do for you, called it an impingement if I recall correctly.
    • I have that tinnitus too. Sometimes it keeps me awake , sometimes I can tune it out so it's just like "white noise". Docs say they can't do anything for me. My daughter is studying to be an ear doc so maybe she'll discover something that can help.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • Most of the time it is hearing related. My is not. They did many tests on my ears. My ears are fine for my age. 3 MRIs later, their best guess was I am hearing blood flowing. Not hearing it with my ears though. My brain interprets it as a screech. Technically I have no idea what normal tinnitus sounds like.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • Mine is sometimes a ringing sometimes a screech and other times sort of like one of those dog whistles. Tonight its bad so I am blaming it on the 4 year old that is running around our house screaming. Time to go to the garage for a bottle of wine.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • I have a real problem with the press reporting on various clinical trials and how they do their job. Their job is to sway public opinion to believe something that may have little truth behind it. My dad pounds me with these articles that are full of holes... for example "studies suggest..." or "can cause..." much like a food product package that you think has Chicken in it, but is labeled "with" or Chicken flavored" Where there is regulation on truth in foods, there is little truth in the press. If the story doesn't fit the social narrative it doesn't get reported. The press has a real problem reading are reporting such studies and writing about them. One only has to Google some topics and its like looking for a needle in a haystack of public opinion... Tea Tree Oil for example.

      However, My dad found an article on artificial sweeteners in Scientific American. Delving into obesity with sugar drinks and artificial sweeteners. Multiple science laboratories around the world are looking at the flora counts of bacteria in the gut of mice. An Israeli group now has a stronger case, that Artificial Sweeteners enhance microbes in the gut or increase the populations of bacterial that cause food to be created into fat. Left unchecked the glucose intolerant mice after 10 weeks showed signs of diabetes and high blood pressure and that caught my eye... Because the experiment reversed the symptoms. A broad spectrum antibiotic was introduced to kill off the bacteria, and the population of bacteria returned to normal and the blood glucose returned to normal. Although the scientists are convinced on the link on sweeteners and fat, I am not.. bread, beer, and calories & air conditioning are the primary causes of obesity. but to have multiple clinical trials link High Blood pressure to artificial sweeteners... I am convinced.
      ARTICLE
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().