High blood pressure, in middle aged men.

[Silver Penguin]

I went to the drugstore last night and tried the machine that measures your blood pressure. The result delighted me (although the scale told a downright lie, saying that I weighed that much).

My companion was persuaded to have his blood pressure checked, and came up with a number that concerned me. It was something like 167/95. Of course, he has been persuaded to make an appointment to see the doc.

I'm looking for advice here, from those who have been through this. My experience as a Pediatric ICU nurse would suggest bedrest with a continuous infusion of nicardipine but that really interferes with bike riding. How are adults treated for high blood pressure, in the outpatient setting?

I'm guessing that the salt shaker will have to go, and the favorite salty snacks. Exercise is going to involve legs instead of wheels. Meds? Diet changes?

What's next? Much as I complain about this person-who-shall-be-nameless, I would dearly love to have him around for a lot more healthy years.

 

[Nate]

I'm not a doctor but I did stay in a holiday inn express once about 10 years ago.

1. Get a checkup

2. Start laying off the junk food/salt

3. Start walking

There are drugs that will reduce blood pressure quickly, but some lifestyle modifications is the way to go for the long haul.

riding FJR = stress reduction

 

[FJRBluesman]

Many people can control it with diet and excerise, sometimes not.

Reduce salt, exercise more, stop smoking, stop drinking, and maybe meds. :dribble:

The diastolic is high but the systolic is way high.

Get this guy to walk the dogs a lot more.

 

[MCRIDER007]

My companion was persuaded to have his blood pressure checked, and came up with a number that concerned me. It was something like 167/95. Of course, he has been persuaded to make an appointment to see the doc.
I'm guessing that the salt shaker will have to go, and the favorite salty snacks. Exercise is going to involve legs instead of wheels. Meds? Diet changes?

How do you define a middle aged man? I found I had high blood pressure almost 30 years ago and tried everything to avoid meds -- diet, exercise, lost weight and while the blood pressure initially dropped, it didn't stay there very long. Since I started taking meds my blood pressure is usually 120-130/80-85. If it starts getting higher I up the dosage, if it drops too much I decrease the dosage. My doctor thinks I take more than I really do, that way I build up a reserve and don't have to get my prescriptions renewed as often. Its not a big deal, just a pill I take every morning and I have been on the same medication since 1985.

The doctors always tell you to cut down the salt intake but they have never been able to prove that there is any correlation between salt intake and BP.

 

[HYCLE]

I have been taking meds for about 10 years. I have a history of high blood pressure and so did my father and grandfather.

I was taking Atenolol (Tenormin), but read it was contraindicated for Asthma patients, currently taking Advair for that.

Now I take Lisinopril instead of Atenolol

Current dosage for hypertension is:

TRIAMTERENE-HYDROCHLOROTHIAZID 75-50 MG ORAL TAB

LISINOPRIL 20 MG ORAL TAB

Last official blood pressure was 114/71.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I would have his BP checked regularly to get more data points on what it consistently is.

My point comes from my experience after my mcy slide- ditch kiss in AR in the fall of 2008. The event happened on Saturday, when I got home Monday I made a orthopedic doctor's appointment to have my tweaked shoulder and ribs checked out. As part of that visit, they took a my bllod pressure...it was scary high...like 170 over something.

Well because of that we made a visit to my GP doctor for a physical. Took the BP at that time and it was down to 129 over something. Very different. Although I wasn't in extreme pain, the doctor said that my body was reacting to the pain from the accident.

I was just surprised at how much variance there was. He said BP can change alot depending on what time of day it is, and stressful situations.

I would just use a home kit, verify what the typical ranges are before dooming him to celery sticks, alfalfa seed, and walking the dog.

j/k Make him run a mile every day! :lol:

Hope he gets the help tender loving care he wants and needs. :clapping:

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

Well here is an issue one wish they were not too familiar with.

He should be concerned and begin a regiment quickly. Not to be ignored nor feared.

I have been in what some would consider great shape/former competative powerlifter/ so on and so forth...

however when I was diagnosed 10yrs ago, turns out I had a unhealthy kidney and the other was producing too much renin. Well, decided to fix that with a nephrectomy.

Years later, it came back the HBP that is.

Tried taking meds from doc, but they just don't tell you all the facts. It's not that most men don't want to deal with taking meds for HBP, it's the side effects those drugs have on men. Especially when they start to crest into the middle age 37-55. Most, not all will have a negative effect upon the reproductive organs and possible cause ED.

Now, start swinging that term around and most men will run for the hills, away from any meds.

But, if he continues to work with his doctor and try different ones, then he can beat the high blood pressure without sacrificing his libido.

Case, couple years ago, doc gave me some HBP meds, and they just took all the sting out of my libido. I asked him for some help, so he wanted to give me a script for Cialis...well even with insurance that was $16.00 per pill...WTH...I just stopped taking them all together and went on a regiment of flaxseed oil, nuts and vitamin E. That helped for a while, but I knew it was not where it needed to be.

Needed to have Shoulder surgery last year; doc would not do it, because BP too high, so here I go again with the fight.

My doc gave me Amlodipine 10mg (Norvasc), after a few weeks I felt much better, got me cleared for the surgery.

BP I thought was fine, but it wasn't enough for the doc, he wanted me to try another called lysinopril..that kicked off the old low libido issue all over again. So I dropped it and just went back to the Norvasc 10mg, eating better, back in gym, and eating mixed nuts and fruits...bp was 118-76 best it's been in years.

All that to say, you have to try a different balance of meds, and communicate with the doc if the stuff affects you adversely so that he can have a chance to fix it. Not fixing it will definitely lead to a side effect you don't want-DEATH

 

[dcarver]

He needs oral sex, daily, and frequently!

 

[user 6393]

He needs to give oral sex, daily, and frequently!

fixed it fer ya Don

 

[exskibum]

He needs oral sex, daily, and frequently!

Dr. Carver! Clearly, you're a cardiologist with expertise in this arena. :yahoo:

 

[Denver_FJR]

He needs oral sex, daily, and frequently!

"Hey honey, come over here and look at this. It must be true, it's on the Internet. What do you mean I don't have high blood pressure?"

 

[Patriot]

Mrs. Smith, the only way your husband will be OK is if you give him oral sex daily or at his every beck and call...

<turning to husband> Wow dear...you surely are gonna die...

 

[worldbound4now]

Here's the simple answer that I use. Read on.

 

[squeezer]

Here's the simple answer that I use. Read on.

Good stuff. Thanks for the link.

I'm on roughly the same meds as Hycle -- a little bit less THZT. These are the two most common drugs used to treat it and they're cheap. I seemed to get fatigued pretty easily when I first started, but that went away in a few weeks. No problems since then. I've been on the meds for about two years.

Home BP machines are cheap on Amazon. Pick one up. BP changes throughout the day and it's best to take it often and figure the average. If it's one that runs on both batteries and AC power, don't trust the batteries. The units are very sensitive to battery power.

The BP he's showing needs attention, but I wouldn't worry about an imminent stroke or anything like that.

 

[beemerdons]

He needs to give oral sex, daily, and frequently!

fixed it fer ya Don

Well Silver Penguin, you certainly cannot beat the expert medical advice Doctor Carver and Nurse Barb have given you; foremost practioners in their chosen fields!!!

Here is what I take daily, AFTER, my heart attack on October 8, 2005 while skin diving in Yokohama Bay, on the Northwest shore of Oahu in Hawaii, with my Son Seth.

METOPROLOL - 25 MG

FUROSEMIDE - 20 MG

PRAVASTATIN - 40 MG

LISINOPRIL - 10 MG

ASPIRIN - 325 MG

I also have not used salt since the morning the dive boat left the dock at Makaha! I retired from Metro Mechanical a year ago and go to a YMCA aqua aerobics workout every morning for an hour; let's me chase the old ladies in my class; 6 days a week. I also have never smoked a single tobacco cigarette in my life!

My vices, I just cannot give up: Mexican food, Guinness, Jameson, Harp and mint chocolate chip ice cream. What can I say? I am an Irish-Mexican with a sweet tooth!

 

[Allnight]

I too am no medical professional. However, I've had more experience in ER's and hospitals than most. I think I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once, too.

167/95 as a one-time reading is not horrible. A guaranteed way to make your bp get that way: slam a car door on your finger and take the BP inside the first 10 mins. Anything that causes a pucker-moment will do that to your BP, too.

Now, if, after resting quietly for a half hour, he still has a BP like that, you should probably start looking in the phone book for funeral directors.

I had some readings like that, when sick or in pain (severely twisted ankle). It's always much better a few days later.

Because I had a near-heart attack (no actual infarction, just chest pains from a 98% blockage), they are no longer happy with my 130/85 normal reading. Before my weight went up, my normal was 115/70.

They now have me on Ramipril (Metropol I thinks is the generic) 10mg per day. Keeps the BP under 120/80.

Keep an eye on it, and be sure to measure it when he's not stressed. Working in a NICU, you know how stress makes lots of things worse than they really are, and BP seems to be just about the first and most affected thing.

My 2 cents, now that April Fool's day is over.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Wow! I expected a little help but not the volumes of information posted, so far. Thanks everyone, especially Dr Barb. I like your prescription better than all the others, although there is a little consideration for DCarver's prescription.

Worldbound, that was a great document with a lot of useful information. I can see that I have a lot to learn about adult care. The management of hypertension in critically ill children is vastly different, since it stems from different causes.

So, it looks as though the pups are going to get a lot more walks, we're going to change the family diet and cut way back on the alcohol. What's good for him has to be good for me too.

He has an appointment with the doc for next week. The single value was too high to be ignored but previous values have been on the high side. He also has a history of hypertension on his Mom's side of the family.

Thanks all, you concern and advice is appreciated.

 

[Silver Penguin]

167/95 as a one-time reading is not horrible. A guaranteed way to make your bp get that way: slam a car door on your finger and take the BP inside the first 10 mins. Anything that causes a pucker-moment will do that to your BP, too.
Now, if, after resting quietly for a half hour, he still has a BP like that, you should probably start looking in the phone book for funeral directors.

Allnight, you're quite right. If that reading had been during a time of high stress, I would have given less weight to it, but it was at relative rest. We we meandering around the drug store, shopping for fun stuff. As for calling the FD, no problem. That's what our daughter does for a living.

 

[Allnight]

Allnight, you're quite right. If that reading had been during a time of high stress, I would have given less weight to it, but it was at relative rest. We we meandering around the drug store, shopping for fun stuff. As for calling the FD, no problem. That's what our daughter does for a living.

So, what I'm hearing, is that YOU think meandering around a drug store isn't stressful. He, on the other hand, might not agree! Is this BP machine, by chance, at the end of the aisle that has all the feminine hygiene products, lubricants, condoms, etc in it? That might have...uhm...well, "distracted" him from his former calm.

Funeral director for a daughter, eh? I'm not sure what to say to that. Definitely want her to not talk about work though, while at home.