Is this it, then? Your experience welcome please…

[Spekky55]

I live in the Netherlands and Dutch doctors are famously dismissive and reluctant to treat their patients any more than the minimum requirement. I say this as background because, after a period of stress and years of heart palpations - which I was told are ‘because you are more sensitive to what your body is doing’ - on a recent visit (because I was finding sleeping difficult because of the palpitations) it was found that my blood pressure was 220/95 and I was quickly put on pills (amlodipine). These work, which is of course great, but when I asked ‘what next’ I was told that I would have to take pills for the rest of my life. 55 seems too young to me to have to rely on drugs because ‘if you don’t you might have a stroke’. I do appreciate that they are there and have changed my life for the better but there must be a way of lowering blood pressure through diet and exercise (I do a LOT of resistance and strength work because I am actually a Pilates instructor but I know I need cardio) because I don’t really want to rely on prescription medicines for my life!

Does anyone have any success stories or suggestions for me please? With thanks in anticipation…

[Madlegs1]

Me too!

A fine fit and healthy 75 yr old. Not a pick on me. No salt, no artificial sweeteners, no rubbish food ( I suffer from Restless legs) so watch my diet extremely carefully.

The only conclusion I've reached so far is that it must either stress or genetic.

Time will tell.

💚💚

[Sleepyholllow]

hello, my experience is similar, i was 57 with same diagnosis, five years on i have tried everything to get off the meds which i HATE! (lercanidipine) this is the third meds i have tried, they are all awful, my GP says it must be family history, i took early retirement from a stressful job thinking all would be well but no!!

keep doing your best and you may still see good results, i find taking the readings often only makes things much for me, as happy rosie and other contributors here say, put the monitor away!!

try to forget about it if you can while watching your diet and exercise.

good luck!

[Happyrosie]

along with what other posters have said - websites Blood Pressure UK and British Heart Foundation.

My own story: diagnosed hbp age 49, lost weight from about 72 to 62 kg (height 154cm), still needed medication.

26 or so years later, height now 152cm (yes you do shrink) weight stuck at 65 kg, bp yesterday was 115/66 having reduced medication gradually over last six months and I’m thinking of asking to come off everything.

Two of the crucial things are good hydration and low salt. Cook almost everything from scratch and plenty of veg.

[peter999999999 in reply to Happyrosie]

thinking of asking,its your body ,do as you like,never known anyone as low as you 66 dis i thought you would be dead with it that low lol, im surprised you not falling over i would be at 115,

[Hidden in reply to peter999999999]

My father got sick with the age of 36, never got properly diagnosed (it was in 1950-ties) and lived the rest of his life with BP 90/60. I remember our family GP saying that he does not understand, how my father can live with such a low BP, but he did. He lived to 81, longer than many from his generation who were "healthy". But you are right, it is already the case for A+E.

[Hidden]

Hi! I am going to tell you what you will not be ready to accept, but it is true.

If you go to Atrial Fibrillation community, you will see that most of the people there were kind of a sportsmen during their life - runners, cyclists, rowers, ... What brings your body out of ballance, is mostly physical activity you enjoy. Personally, I was nothing from the above, but have been very keen with the exercisse (weigths, springs) when I was young and continued to exercise till the age of 60 (70 now). The result - horrible palpitations in one occasion and AF almost every night (fortunatelly, without too unpleasant symptoms). Just remember how you react (most probably) to climbing the stairs or walking up the hill, and you will understand...

Arrhythmias started when I was 55. So, for you, it was about the time... What can be done?! Almost nothing - when it starts once, it is for the rest of your life. You can find some "remedies" in AF-forum, but there is no definiteve cure, arrhythmias always seam to come back, sooner or later after the intervention (mostly in the form of ablations).

[peter999999999]

if you accept 100 plus age and anything under 100 you will be fine,another friend on ramipril 73 fell first on her nose,then lasytyear fell again knee, last week went dizzy again fell broke leg and shoulder, she was fine till they started lowering her bp,i told her it was to low, but ignored me as usual lol, just eat healthy and exercise most would be fine, docs pestered me so far this year to have 5th covid jab ive had none,flue jab,malaria jab, and shingle jab,i dont have any,they get about 30pds a jab, someones making a lot of money on pills etc, and i cannot sell my live for ever pill with a money back guarantee, lol

[bamboo89]

The answer is a bit depressing really - you say you are 55 and female, so presumably post menopause, and females are more likely to have high blood pressure from that time, and as they get older, onwards. There are things you can do to help, such as not being overweight, low salt intake, being well hydrated and aerobic exercise (clearly you already do other forms of exercise), but the possible primary causes of raised blood pressure as we age are artery hardening, heart issues, kidneys not working as well as they once did, and some complicated interactions between angiotensin and other hormones/substances in the body. I seem to recall that Patrick Holford, in his book the Optimum Nutrition Bible, mentions certain nutrients such as Vitamin E, eating two tablespoons of ground flax seed daily, but essentially, once you've got high blood pressure, it doesn't go away completely. So yes, I'm afraid this might indeed be it...