Further help please

[Junglegirl_1998]

Hi,

I know blood pressure is different for everyone, following a recent overnight stay in hospital where my levels scared them 222/201, they discharged me the next day with follow up by GP. Having now changed medication to Candesartan, low dose 1 a day of 4mg which I’m taking at night (started last night) I have had no other information, so if possible can I ask

How often you should take your blood pressure yourself (I’m becoming a little obsessed..lol). Should you sit down and try to be calm before taking it? So no taking it after say walking to the kitchen and back?

What is a reasonable b/p figure to aim for - lots of different advice out there, I’m in my early 60’s, over weight and relatively inactive. I know I need a lifestyle change, but that won’t change things permanently overnight, so a general idea of levels would help.

GP by email has told me to stop taking the drug if I get side effects....how long should I have side effects before I stop taking it? I know you can have these for awhile before they stop?

Apologies, getting a GP appointment is like gold dust as the practices aren’t really open.

Thanks for any help, greatly appreciated.

[Ropa511]

Hi Junglegirl,

It sounds like (understandably) you may currently be experiencing some issues with anxiety.

My advice would be to not go overboard with taking your blood pressure readings, but if you do try doing some relaxing deep breathing exercises before you do.

As for the Candesartan, the good news is that ARBs are amongst the better tolerated BP drugs. I would give it 3/4 weeks by which time any side effects should hopefully have settled...but of course talk to your GP or Pharmacist if you do have concerns...and of course do speak to them about any feelings of anxiety you may be having.

Good luck and hopefully better times ahead soon! ❤️

[Ropa511]

PS If you are having problems accessing your GP you can always call the BHF Helpline.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[Junglegirl_1998 in reply to Ropa511]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, which has eased my forever questions, however what would you say is enough times to test your BP on a daily basis? I do have some anxiety issues and have suffered on BP Meds before. Knowing that over 200 is bad (have suffered with this for years unmedicated) not having had access to anyone to ask questions, I have no idea what/when/how often/what’s good/bad etc etc.

Thank you for the link

[Heartoheart in reply to Junglegirl_1998]

Try and sit quietly for 3 minutes before you take it and don’t move around or talk when you are doing it. Maybe listening to some relaxation tapes would help. Can be done by an App.

[Ropa511]

Personally I would say twice a day is enough....maybe once when you get up in the morning and then again in the afternoon/evening....

Avoid taking it after you have eaten or had coffee/tea.

[Junglegirl_1998]

Thank you so much, I have been doing 5 to 7 times a day with varying results. I will try to cut down ...

[Hidden]

That is a low does. I'm in my late 60's supposedly over weight at 75 Kgs, should be 65 Kgs so I'm instructed and definitely not particularly active for the most part. My BP was 160 over 110 and I'm now supposed to be on 32mg per day. I have been having a lot of side effects and my GFR has dropped 5 points in the 6 weeks I have been taking it. Interestingly my BP hasn't changed with the increase from 8mg to 32mg over the weeks. I'm experiencing side effects that are not supposed to be associated with Candesartan! They are real, not imagined and debilitating.

I actually feel like crap. Yes I have tried many different meds with all similar problems and too many side effects. My body does not like meds and lets me know. With CKD I'm now restricted as to what meds I can have, just to throw another spanner into the works.

I have decided to revert to 8mg per day as the severe migraines are gone at that level, which was a fair indicator a stroke could be around the corner. Now the side effects are manageable and BP is down to 150 over 100 average, not great but better. Dr's don't like it but tough, it is my body and I will take a better life for shorter over a miserable one for longer. I'm tired of Dr's with their own agenda. My agenda is a comfortable life, now, however short that might be.

The target shifts according to which Dr I see, but my target is 140 over 80 or there a bouts. Not one I'm likely to reach unless another wonder drug comes along.

I take my meds once a day in the evening after a meal.

As I understand it you should try to keep to the same time of day each recording and take 3 readings 15 minutes apart while not talking or moving.

So I do one reading before no breaky and one before evening meal and never get shocked at the high spikes I can have. I record it for a weekly average and rely on that as the indicator of how I'm doing.

[Junglegirl_1998 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Cheyne13,

Thank you for your reply, I am so fed up with myself right now. I have over the years suffered greatly from being bullied into stuff by doctors, I took the decision years ago (after a 20 year battle to get off some medication I had been placed on, which I couldn’t just stop myself) to always say no if I thought it was wrong for me.

I can’t tolerate statins at all, so cholesterol is high, but think that runs high in the family, Dr’s don’t like it. I don’t like these BP meds, they push up my blood sugar, so if I can shed some weight I am hoping for an overall better improvement so I can get off them. Dr’s messing with me overall is never a good thing. Like you I would rather be comfortable, non stressed and sensible, than struggle to attain the levels that are written on paper but not lived with on a day to day basis. I wish you every luck going forward.

[Hidden in reply to Junglegirl_1998]

I seem to wear out Dr's regularly. I'm always mindful that medicine is not an exact science which means neither are the diagnosis offered. I always check the fact sheets on any particular medicine foisted on me as I don't believe any of the local Dr's have any idea how to treat anyone with more than one major complication. I make my own rules and diets and pretty much sort myself in the end. I have put up with high BP and cholesterol for over 20 years and I'm still here to cause trouble!

Because of my recent problems I have had a full blood workup. An eye opener, cholesterol down from 9.8 to 7.8, blood sugars fine, everything else fine. All without heeding Dr's pushy advice.

But kidney function is down again. I put this down to finally relenting and going on meds for the last 5 weeks, although I'm only using 1/4 of the dose!

I make the point that I do research the health problems I have and believe I know them better than my Dr's now, so I use this information to make the changes and adjustments to my life and health.

I monitor as many functions as I can from amount of energy expended daily to BP recording and on to blood sugar levels, sleep habits etc. Anything I can record I do to build up a picture of what is going on with me. This way I know when there is a change and can adapt immediately, if required.

Some of the results I don't like but they are what they are I can't change them, only influence them.

I'm a firm believer that to be fore warned is to be fore armed. Probably not as much fun as being ignorant until the day of reckoning! But a lot wiser and likely to give me more time.

Interestingly I have been to the pearly gates and got refuse entry, not sure if they were white or black pearly! But still here none the less.

I use scientific fact and not anecdotal evidence to base my health manage on. So far I'm into the positive direction, hopefully it continues.

If I believed all the Dr's pressure to conform I wouldn't be able to walk anywhere for fear of possibly being hit by the next bus along my way! Same principal. Yeah, yeah, the remedy would be to take bus tickets twice a day! Precluding the need to walk there and back.

Sure I joke about my health but never found sitting and worrying about it helped.

Yes, heard of Nattokinase. There is a significant cost here for that and as yet I have not been able to decide the outcome. Cost benefit ration sort of thing against lack of conclusive scientific evidence. Can't rule it out but equally can't rule it in. It must be black or white for me to act.

Cheers

[Junglegirl_1998 in reply to Hidden]

PS... saw this mentioned in another post, have tried it?.... Nattokinase