Fibromyalgia Support Group

Hey Dakota.. There is a vitamin/ herb that you can take that naturally lowers your blood pressure. I believe Unduki knows which one I'm referring to.

I too had low BP for years. It's slowly creeping up and I know my weight plays into it. So I naturally avoid as much sodium as possible. And I don't drink. Things like that.

But I once went into an minute clinic place for a cold I had. I knew I needed an antibiotic. I didn't want to mess with Urgent Care and the docs office.
I always get the white coat syndrome. As soon as they break out that cuff, I get nervous. And if you add that with a new docs office/ environment, it's even worse.

So, when they took my BP, it was high. They urged me to go immediately to the ER to take care of it. I tried explaining that I normally am not like this and that if they took it after we were done talking, they could see the difference.

LOL, later that night my cold took a nasty turn for the worse, so I did end up at Urgent care. And they took my BP, it was fine.

So I know what you are going through. I think my anxiety plays a huge roll in my BP....but to consider taking BP meds simply because it's out of whack not even 5% of the time I think is silly.

But I'm being smart about it. Keeping an eye on it. And yes, if need be, I will consider taking it. But for now, I don't think I need to.

OK...I am thinkin I was just a TAD Freaked yesterday..and it was FREEEZING in that Room...did you know ur BP can be Up if the temp is Cold ?? I was shaking I was so Cold !! wearing jeans in Sub Zero temp prolly not a good thing either...didn't get warm til I put on my Cozy jammies last night...

I really do NOT care for this Dr...he seems like one who has no interest in What you say...only what appliances read..he was the one who helped me at the hospital, Dean didn't like him either..a Med Pusher...I mean he gave me an Anti Depressent...he did Not tell me it was one of those...he said it was something to slow my heart rate, get rid of Palpatations...which I TOLD him I don't even have those anymore, Told him I USED to really bad..but really Not since I started taking Omega 3s....an Anti Depressent ?? I am SURE I Told him I do NOT take THOSE meds !!

Man...I just Cannot WIN !!

That's crazy that he gave you a script for antidepressants without telling what it was! He's an ASS!!!

I would continue with what you're doing. Take your blood pressure regularly and monitor it on your own.

I started taking that hawthorne extract after you recommended it....not for blood pressure but my poor leg circulation. I found a more potent version of what you took. It's the same name brand as what you took but it's a different formulation. I read the consumer reviews and there were so many people that have controlled their blood pressue with it. It's called HeartCare by Nature's Way.

I think you're doing the right thing by following your instinct. In this litigious society, doctors are more interested in covering their ass. I'm sure anyone that walks into their office with blood pressure in the danger zone, they MUST write a script for meds so they can't be sued later if someone has a stroke. You know your body better than he does. I think you're doing the right thing.

hawthorne totally works for me.....mine goes up in proportion to stress/anxiety(i always seem to have buckets of it)...hawthorne still brings it down. It was 170/110 when I saw the ASS of a Dr. & 3 wks later it was 118/72. It just kept going down by 10 every couple days.

Yes, and I take my Hawthorn religiously...1/2 dose...so I am Thinking I was Just at MAX Point yesterday..I never took mine for lower BP either...that was an Effect i didn't know it had til mine dropped TO Low..I take it for Circulation issues as well !

I have Completely backed Off the caffeine, I have had None for several days, and SO Far NO Headache from withdrawals..so Fingers are Crossed..

Hi. I always had low blood pressure too and the last few years it went up and I am on medication, which slows my heart rate down. Anyway, I do believe it has to do with having the diseases I have. So now my blood pressure is "normalized", but my heart rate is so darn slow that it adds to the sluggishness that we get with being sick already.

I hope you can take something temporarily, but you may need something long term too. Good luck.

First of all 125/82 is not high at all. Second, your blood pressure changes throughout the day... this I learned from taking mine over and over at the peak of my health anxeity. I would not stress over that reading.. unlesss your having other syptoms And even then.. don't stress.. because that will make it go higher. If you think it's an issue see your doctor.

Bigouchie.. My Blood pressure wasn't 125/85 at the Clinic..it was 160/112

it wasn't that low til Later last night...when my daughter stopped over...and it was MUCH lower still this morning...113/65..my daughter told me Not to take the med til we had checked the BP...and I am Glad we did...cuz WHAT would have happened ??

I clearly miss read your post dakota.. I'm very sorry. Your BP at the clinic was very high and it's a good thing you went to urgent care and had it checked again. Sorry for not reading your post correctly. I'm in a peri-meno pause fog today. :( Hope your having a good day.

Hi Dakota,

I see no one has really answered your question about blood pressure, so I’ll take a stab at it.

Think of your cardiovascular system (heart & blood vessels) as a closed circuit. Unless you spring a leak from, say, being stabbed or having your leg cut off, your blood supply constantly circulates through this closed system of heart, arteries, and veins. The reason blood pressure is an important measurement is because it tells you if you are properly perfusing those all-important organs and tissues. But for this conversation, let’s just focus on the arterial system, the blood vessels which carry nutrient-rich oxygenated blood from your heart to your body. We can discuss the other blood circulation systems another time if you're so inclined.

Blood exits the heart through a large artery called the aorta. The diameter of your aorta is roughly the size of your index finger. Your finger, not mine. My aorta is roughly the size of my index finger. I know this because I have removed hundreds of them from human bodies after those folks were through using them, of course. Within an inch or so of exiting the heart, the aorta makes a U-turn and starts heading south. This is called the aortic arch. Three arteries branch off the aorta at this point, two of them supply the head with blood, and the other goes off to your left arm. These arteries continue to get smaller and smaller as they travel further away from the heart. They eventually get so small in the capillary beds that only a single red blood cell can pass through them. Once the blood passes through the capillary beds it enters the venous blood system to be returned to the heart and repeat the cycle. However, I said we wouldn’t talk about that right now.

Your heart is a very sophisticated muscle comprised of four chambers with its own built in electrical system. This electrical system sends out a spark to the heart muscle which causes it to contract. With each contraction, blood is pumped out to the body. As the heart relaxes between beats, blood returning from the body & lungs refills the chambers of the heart. And the cycle continues over and over again.

When measuring blood pressure, which, by the way, is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm/Hg), you are looking at two numbers. The upper number is called the “Systolic” and the lower number is called the “Diastolic.” That upper number is noted when the heart beats (contracts) and the pressure inside the arteries is at its highest point. The lower number is noted when the heart is at rest in between beats, and the pressure inside your arteries is at its lowest point. These numbers are expressed as 120 (systolic) over 80 (diastolic). There is one other number that you won’t hear discussed in a doctor’s office, and that is the “Mean Arterial Pressure.” This number is most commonly used in critical care settings, and is really more important over all than the other two numbers by themselves. The “mean” arterial pressure is roughly the average pressure inside the arterial blood system in between the systolic and the diastolic pressures. If you wish to calculate yours, take the systolic number, add it to the diastolic number times two, and then divide that result by three. A blood pressure of 120/80 would have a mean arterial pressure of 93 mm/Hg. By the way, when your mean arterial pressure is less than 60 mm/Hg, you are not properly perfusing the vital organs such as heart, kidneys, liver & brain and this will result in trouble for you.

Many things will cause your blood pressure to rise and fall throughout the day. It simply does not remain constant, just as your activities during the day do not remain constant. Sit down in a chair and your blood pressure will change. Stand up and it will drop for a moment until your body adjusts. Lay down and you will get another reading. Walk up a flight of stairs and you will see your BP go up. And, as you’ve observed for yourself, cold weather will cause changes in your blood pressure as well. By the same token, when you relax in a hot bath your pressure will drop. The point here is that your BP is changing all the time in order to meet the demands you are placing on your body. What’s important to remember is that everything your body does to adjust blood pressure, it does so that you will survive to live another day. And, there are several mechanisms at play when your BP is being adjusted. Your heart rate can go up. You arteries can constrict. Your kidneys will stop removing excess fluid from your blood and so on. All of these things can and will help keep your BP where it needs to be.

Here is an interesting little fact. Generally speaking, and provided that no hormonal changes are taking place, women are more sensitive to cold than are men. There is a reason for this. When a woman’s skin sense a change in the air temperature around her, and in your case a drop in temperature, a primal survival mechanism kicks in which constricts the peripheral blood vessels in her hands and feet, and later her arms and legs if the situation is more serious. When this happens, her blood pressure rises and a good portion of her blood supply is now shunted to the core (the trunk of her body) so that the fetus will be protected. She doesn’t even have to be pregnant for this to happen. Her body is designed to save the baby at all costs. Pretty amazing, eh? Fingers and toes are not nearly as important as kidneys and brain when it comes to survival of the species.

So, without knowing all the details of any medical conditions you might have, and/or any medications you are taking for those conditions, my educated guess would be that your blood pressure was high (for you) because of 1) the weather was cold, 2) the stress you were experiencing, and 3) the agitation mentioned in your post. These things caused a release of hormones and neurotransmitters in an effort to protect you and the non-existent fetus (unless you’re currently pregnant) from dying. In short, your body did its job!

Like you, my wife lives with a blood pressure which would be considered on the low side of normal. In my view, her blood pressure is perfectly fine as she has no problems with dizziness, blurred vision, making urine, thinking or breathing. Her skin has a pink hue which tells me that blood is reaching the periphery. In other words, she's fine with her blood pressure being on the low side of what is considered normal. Don’t let yourself worry over the minor changes that take place in your body every minute of the day. Look at the bigger picture. My wife’s BP is generally around 110/70. She is not particularly athletic, but she does walk on her lunch break and hikes for 2 to 3 hours on the weekend. And, she does this without any complications from her so-called “low” blood pressure.

I hope this has been of some use to you and has answered your initial question. Oh, and before I forget, this nonsense about limiting a person’s sodium intake only applies if your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. One of the many jobs the kidneys do is to regulate serum (blood plasma) sodium levels. If your kidneys are in good working condition, enjoy that ham & cheese sandwich with a heaping helping of some realy salty potato chips....:) Not all hypertension problems are sodium related.

Regards,

Anon1984