How do you RAISE blood pressure?

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We have a elderly man that lives with us that had his 6 mos check up last week and the Dr. took him off of his blood pressure medicine but is having me monitor it every day just to be careful. I purchased a blood pressure monitor and as a fluke tired it on myself. Well, Friday my blood pressure was 84/54, Sat. it was 88/48 and today it was just 115/66, however, I had just eaten and you are not supposed to take it until 30 min. after a meal. Now, this seems really low, and every time I have ever gone to my midwife or a DR. (very rare) they always comment on how I have nice low blood pressure, but this seems really low. You hear all the time about people with high blood pressure so how do you raise it naturally? I am 5'4 and weigh 115lbs. P.S. the old fella is doing just fine! Thank you!

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), April 07, 2002

Answers

Hello Marie, Are you having any symptoms such as light-headedness, fainting, fatique, vision or ciculation problems? If not, pretend you never tried that machine on yourself and quit worrying. : ) My blood pressure is normally in the high 90's (or maybe low 100's on a stressful day) over high 60's. For some people like us, that's just normal -- and aren't we lucky!? When I was in X-ray school and we were covering vital signs, I became the class guniea pig for blood pressures. Once our clinician realized how long mine was, she figured if the rest of the class could get my blood pressure, they'd be able to get just about anyones!

-- Cheers, Renee M. (Michigan)

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), April 07, 2002.


oops -- meant to type "low", not "long" up there! I hate it when the keys on the keyboard move around. . . -- Cheers, Renee M.

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), April 07, 2002.

I found teenagers to be an excellent source of increased blood pressure. ;o) Seriously, do you run or exercise a lot? That could be a reason for yours being low.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), April 07, 2002.

Don't eat anything with magnesium in it.

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), April 07, 2002.

Hi Marie..my has always been low too. I sometimes got light headed and went to a doctor. He grinned .. laughed and said..I never get to tell people this..but go home and eat salt! I eat sea salt. And if you are feeling good..I am with the person that told you to forget you ever used that machine!! Have a great night..

-- Sher (riverdobbers@webtv.net), April 07, 2002.


you guys are lucky mine runs 175/95 and i take 4 pills a day for it.

-- Dale (dgarr@fidnet.com), April 08, 2002.

Stress!

-- Cowvet (cowvet_nz@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

I was prescribed an epidrine inhaler to raise my BP.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

I have this problem too and was on a medicine called Florinef that helped, but after about 2 years I got off it and found I could do just fine by managing myself a bit. Heat makes it much much worse. During the summer doing heavy work is not an option and often getting out of the shower I'll get a head rush. Eat lots of salt ( I find that I crave it anyways, probably from this condition).

-- Elizabeth (lividia66@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

I am a Geriatric MD and would add a couple of thoughts. Make sure the reading is real. People often get wrong reading of home machines. You should see your doctor. If it is low BP and not symptomatic, you dont have to do anything. If it is , a high salt diet and possibly Florinef( which makes your body retain salt) may help. The main reason I answered this is that low blood pressure also can be a sign of heart disease and if that is the cause ephedrine, high salt intake, or florinef could be lethal. I would see my doc first.

-- john (Fake@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.


Part of a cause could be defective thyroid , as well. If you have symptoms (e.g. fainting or dizzy spells when you stand up, or anything else), talk it over with a doctor. If not, tuck it in the back of your mind until you do see a doctor, and don't stress - may just mean you're running on a slower clock than the rest of us, and will live longer. If it doesn't worry you, don't worry about it.

My brother got discharged from hospital last week because his blood- pressure was so low, after overnight observation - he'd run into a leaking can of poison (probably chloropicrin) which was over 55 years old while cleaning out a shed. Came up the next morning after a really good night's sleep with a pulse rate in the high 50's, and a BP which ran ran about ten points lower than your 115 top, and about ten points higher than your your matching 66 low. They told him "OK, we've been observing you, we're sick of the sight of you, get out of here". Probably influenced by the fact that he went to school with most of them, or their husbands, and one of them (the one who insisted he stay in overnight) is a neighbour - schoolmate and wife of a schoolmate both.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 08, 2002.


Take a long look at how your tax money is being spent. If that don't raise your BP call the undertaker.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), April 08, 2002.

I used to have blood pressure that low when I was younger. When I went back to college and started sitting for long hours it went up. It turns out that people who are athletic have low B/P and a slower pulse than sedentary people. If you are not having symptoms, I wouldn't worry about it as your doctor has already seen you at least once or twice, and he would have checked your blood pressure then. You mentioned that you rarely visit your doctor, if you are concerned you can call the last doctor who saw you and ask what your B/P was then. If it was low then, and he cleared you, good. If you are not having symptoms, good. You probably just get more exercize than most.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 08, 2002.

Thank you all for your help. I really do not do a lot of exercising unless you can count running around after 4 children. LOL! Also, teenagers are so far not helping raise the BP as I have 3 of those also! I will be seeing my midwife in June for a yearly check up and will mention it to her as I can monitor it myself now and give her my numbers to compare with hers. I will increase the salt which is what I have been somewhat conservative with because of all the warnings you hear to cut back. It's nice to know that I am not the only one that has it. Elizabeth, I have gotten light headed after a hot shower and heat does wear me out sooner, but never made the connection. Thanks for the tip.

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

Marie - if increasing the salt does not work for you I would be delighted to lend you my 2 teenagers for a while. I guarantee they will be able to raise your BP.

-- Debbie in IL (debbie@fli-soft.com), April 08, 2002.


Marie,

Try babysitting a house full of two and three year olds for awhile. That is a sure guarantee to raise anyone's blood pressure.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.


You might try eating licorice, it is reported to raise blood pressure.Exercise or fitness level doesn't seem to have anything to do with , I know.

-- Herb lover (nobody@notarealplace.com), April 08, 2002.

I've had low blood pressure all my life. I used to pass out at the drop of a hat. I would get dizzy if squatting down and getting up to fast. I went to the Dr. as a teen and he said I was lucky to have low blood pressure. If you are using one of those battery powered monitors, they aren't very reliable. The best thing to use is the cuff and stethoscope. I'm in my 50's now and my BP is getting higher, in fact too high. My thyroid is shot so must take synthroid the rest of my life. My B12 is in the twilight zone so I must take B12 the rest of my life.

The point is you must have a competent Dr. and get a yearly physical. A good Dr. will find out if your low BP is due to any other problems and treat them before they get too serious.

-- Sick and tired (me@anywhere.net), April 08, 2002.


Years ago I asked my doctor what to do about low BP & he said exercise. That seems to be the answer to just about everything! I also crave salt but never thought it might be connected to my low BP.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), April 08, 2002.

hawthorn berries (powdered and encapsulated, tincture or as a tea) NORMALIZE blood pressure, therefore hawthorn may be safely used for treating either low OR high BP, without side effects. hawthorn tea has a very pleasant taste. however,if you're not showing actual symptoms of low BP, it may be false readings on the monitor. home machines seem to be somewhat known for inconsistant readings, so the accuracy might be a question.

-- teddy in NE (millerfam@panhandle.net), April 12, 2002.

First thing to do is see if you can get your money back on the electronic blood pressure thingy. I have never seen one that is accurate(lots are anything but). Get an old fashioned blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope. Have your blood pressure taken at your doctors office. You can just stop by and they will take it for you without charge(at least I can at my doctors). Do this a couple of times and see what the readings are. As Granny used to say....no need in borrowin trouble. If you still need to raise your blood pressure.....I'll send you hubby and 13 yr old son. Just put the two together, stir well and you have an instant recipe for raising blood pressure!!!

-- Amanda (mrsgunsmyth@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.

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