My blood pressure had been creeping up - I’m sure a combination of diabetes, age, genetics. I finally gave in to medicine and approached it with an open mind. Over time, I have tried several different classes - each lowered BP but each brought awful side effects - and yes, I gave each time, hoping to “get over” the various side effects. I am not highly suggestible but even so, I avoided reading the side effects to ensure I did not plant any seeds. Some were worse than others - like having every joint ache all the time. Anyway, I was told that diabetics are more susceptible to the side effects than others because of our compromised immune system.
I was rather depressed about this, but then happened to see a snippet from Dr. Oz about Taurine. I did some further reading and have now added 500 mg Taurine twice a day, as well as L Arginine and L Carnitine to my diet, and have stepped up my whey protein and cocoa powder usage.
I can’t recommend anything for anyone else, of course, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am off all BP medicine and my BP is consistently under 125/80 (I check it all the time).
It just makes sense to me that, as we age, we do not generate all the enzymes we did when we were younger.
I had hit the 150/100 level a few years ago and started w/ Lisinopril. It doesn’t bug me too much. Exercise seems to have made a much bigger difference and it’s come down to the 115/70 range. It’s a lot of work but I’ve sort of gotten addicted to it…
I am very interested in what you say as I too fight the side effects of BP meds. can you list some of the sources you read, I’d like to check up on this.
I did recently start a CoQ10 supplement, not sure if it is having much effect. My problem is the Systolic reading, Diastolic is always great, less than 70.
I have autonomic neuropathy. My BP at home in the a.m. is seldom over 80/50, sometimes lower. But at the doctor or dentist it’s rarely under 150/85. I was given Lisinopril just because of the high readings in the doc’s office - he totally would not listen to me. When I showed up at the ER with a BP of 67/43, he finally said OK, stop taking it. Then he prescribed Maxide, which I never took because it’s rumored to be even worse. I take my own BP twice a day and I know what goes on with it, and frankly I don’t give a hoot what a doc or dentist thinks anymore. I’ve even had my monitor calibrated with the doc’s and he still would not listen to me. If they want to see the whole picture and try to do something about that (it’s my understanding there’s nothing to be done) that’s fine. But they never do, they are so quick to just prescribe that s*#t and send you on your way.
I just Googled this and I am interested also. Can I ask what brand you bought? I looked on Iherb (I have bought a bunch of vitamins & supplements from them before) and they have a bunch of different brands. I have gone thru so many different BP meds and give up on them because of the side effects. I never realized that we were more susceptible to the side effects because of our compromised immune system. Next time some doctor calls me a wuss, I will throw that back at him!
I applaud your independence. I mean, I do understand the concern - NOTHING good - and many bad things can come from high blood pressure. But I think we often know our bodies much more than someone who spends so little time with us. I check mine several times a day.
Yes - some of these “designer drugs” out there I honestly believe are nearly as dangerous as the condition they are supposed to address.
You tell 'em Kelly! I hate it when they act like I’m imagining things - I wanna say, HEY, you don’t know me well enough to make that judgment!! And yes, I know it’s important…how would YOU like to live with these side effects?
I have just been getting it at GNC. It’s not expensive. The L-Carnitine is kinda spendy - it’s capsules. For the L-Arginine, it comes in tablet, but I bought the powder that I mix with water (I got the fruit punch flavor and only use it at half strength).
I have had extreme side effects too with bp medication. I am now on Ramipril 1.25mg which I take after my evening meal. I am getting no side effects. I too have white coat hypertension, but agreed to these tablets to protect my kidneys, another diabetic problem. I tend to take problematic medication in the evening so that the worst side effects happen when I am asleep.
It didn’t look too expensive on Iherb. I will have to look for it locally first so I don’t have to pay shipping. I am kind of like you with some stuff - I don’t look at the side effects until after I start taking it. I can guarantee you could lock me in a room without access to anyone, whether by internet, phone or in person & I can tell you side effects of something! This just came the other day and is how I feel about some of these drugs they push on us.
I have autonomic neuropathy also Jan. Mine seems to be like yours - very low at home in the mornings but high at doctor’s offices. Mine does go up sometimes at home too later in the day. They see that high number and just don’t get that you already spend over half your day with it too low and BP meds will only drive it lower. I am going to make an appointment with a cardiologist. I did read there is something that you can take when you have autonomic neuropathy that will help level the readings out, but I can’t remember the name. I recently lost all my links because of a computer crash so have to do some Googling to find it again! Last summer, I zonked out early in the AM from a low BS and was in the ER. They had me hooked up to a monitor and my BS was really low like it always is in the mornings. My nurse sister was sitting there looking at the monitor and said she didn’t think I had a high BP problem!
I wish that were the case, but my worst side effects happened all day long. I swear, at one point, I thought, that’s it, I’m just getting old and arthritic and I’m going to be in pain all the time. Then it occurred to me that it might be the meds. I stopped it and in one day all the pain went away.
I have already gone round with a couple doctors because they wanted to add drugs to correct the side effect of another drug. I would rather not take them than to keep adding more!
