Hypertension?

I know this thread is relatively old, but I had the rude awakening today that I have stage 1 hypertension. I appreciate being able to read about your experiences, it helps to know I am not the only one swimming with this. I can completely relate with how you feel. I'm still taking medicine for my hypertension and it really hasn't been that big of a deal. For a while I was worried that I would have to ease up a bit. And it seemed to always be in the back of my head during hard swims in work outs. But really the key is to keep swimming, eat better, watch the weight and relax.

I know this thread is relatively old, but I had the rude awakening today that I have stage 1 hypertension. I appreciate being able to read about your experiences, it helps to know I am not the only one swimming with this. For years, I have been around 130/80, and everytime I get measured for BP, the nurse would always say, "you should have this checked out." Recently, I had to get measured for an insurance exam, and my BP was averaging 144/80. I then decided to buy a device to help me track it at home, where it varies from 130-148/76-81. I am 6'6" tall and 230-235 lbs. All I do is swim, 3-5 times a week for 60-90 minutes. I run once a week. I don't lift weights. I played college football, so the only weights I know how to lift are for building muscle, and everytime I get into the gym to start lifting, I put on weight in the form of bigger shoulders, chest, arms, ect. So I figure I would just swim and run, with the emphasis on swimming because I loathe running (unless it is an absolutely gorgeous day out). Today, the doctor said he'd have a nutritionist contact me. I don't want to go on drugs, but with a family history of hypertension, the outlook is grim. I am afraid to cut out salt because my body needs it to retain fluids from sweating. I am afraid if I lose fluid from sweating during workouts, that I will cramp or worse, have an exertional migraine (which has happened twice from dieting and overexertion). I am going to give this diet a fair try. It is hard though. EVERYTHING has salt in it. Unless I eat potatoes and bananas all day, I am not sure what to do. I don't feel like my diet is that bad as it is today. Tell me about lifting though. Some of you mentioned how lifting helped reduce BP. What kinds of workouts should I be doing in the weight room to help me? Thanks for the help!

I know this thread is relatively old, but I had the rude awakening today that I have stage 1 hypertension. I appreciate being able to read about your experiences, it helps to know I am not the only one swimming with this. For years, I have been around 130/80, and everytime I get measured for BP, the nurse would always say, "you should have this checked out." Recently, I had to get measured for an insurance exam, and my BP was averaging 144/80. I then decided to buy a device to help me track it at home, where it varies from 130-148/76-81. I am 6'6" tall and 230-235 lbs. All I do is swim, 3-5 times a week for 60-90 minutes. I run once a week. I don't lift weights. I played college football, so the only weights I know how to lift are for building muscle, and everytime I get into the gym to start lifting, I put on weight in the form of bigger shoulders, chest, arms, ect. So I figure I would just swim and run, with the emphasis on swimming because I loathe running (unless it is an absolutely gorgeous day out). Today, the doctor said he'd have a nutritionist contact me. I don't want to go on drugs, but with a family history of hypertension, the outlook is grim. I am afraid to cut out salt because my body needs it to retain fluids from sweating. I am afraid if I lose fluid from sweating during workouts, that I will cramp or worse, have an exertional migraine (which has happened twice from dieting and overexertion). I am going to give this diet a fair try. It is hard though. EVERYTHING has salt in it. Unless I eat potatoes and bananas all day, I am not sure what to do. I don't feel like my diet is that bad as it is today. Tell me about lifting though. Some of you mentioned how lifting helped reduce BP. What kinds of workouts should I be doing in the weight room to help me? Thanks for the help! Disclaimer - I am not a doctor, nutritionist, etc. I believe you overstate the role of salt/sodium. I don't think you WANT salt to cause retention of fluids. Instead if you are sweating and losing fluids you should simply replace the sodium lost during exercise. The goal should be to maintain the same chemical balance. Sweating and loss of fluid is a natural activity and is one way your body regulates its temperature. If you are maintaining a high salt intake normally you are contributing to hypertension of course and interfering with your body's normal processing of fluids.

I appreciate the responses. I am going to try the low sodium approach first, which is difficult. It seems like everything has salt in it. Once I get my cupboards and fridge stocked with low sodium options, we'll see how it goes. My doctor recommended a nutritionist, so I am anxious to begin working on that as well. I drink a ton of water because I was always under the impression that if your urine isn't clear, then you are dehydrated. If I have a sensitivity to salt, or if I am consuming too much, then I guess all that extra water can add up if the salt is helping retain it. I'll start with the salt and diet first. Thanks.

Wouldn't hurt to check up and see if you got a lot of sludge built up in your aging arteries. So get on those scanning type treadmill tests where they inject radioactive material and scan you before and after the treadmill run. If you got blushes, then an agiogram will see if any blockages exist and stents may be installed. Then things should start flowing freely again and pressure may be reduced? You'll be amazed too, that just by fussying around with blood pressure devices 3x a day or more will reduce your blood pressure some how? I guess because it increases awarenes and helps you learn how to control your blood pressure mentally.

I am 56,6"2/205lbs. and about 5 years ago I was diagnosed with level 1 hypertension. I was always a fit person and not overweight (at the time I weighed about 195lbs.). However, I was the only person in my nuclear family who did not have high blood pressure. My doc said that after 50 alot of things change in one's body and the genetic factor had kicked in to a higher degree. He guessed that my physical activity over the years may have prevented hypertension from developing earlier. My blood pressure was around 160/100 and I was given medication. There was a period of experimentation and I now take atenolol 25mg. twice a day and my bp is fine (120-130/80-85). In many cases, hypertension goes hand in hand with bad cholesterol readings. In my case, I had high triglycerides. Also, I had high bad cholesterol. On the other hand, due to my physical activity, I had high good cholesterol. My doc said that this is rare. So I also take two different pills to lower my tri levels (bezafibrate 400mg. in the morning and simvastatin 40mg. in the evening). From everything I have read, the genetic factor is very crucial. Therefore the chances are that once prescribed, the meds will become part of your life. At first this bothered me because I was always healthy and had never taken meds. Over time I got used to it and began thinking of it in another way: not too long ago high bp was a life threatening situation but with medication we can all continue living. BTW, I feel no side effects from my meds. I recently asked my doc what would happen if I dropped 15lbs. He said that I would probably be 190lbs. with hypertension. As to physical activity: after swimming, bp drops but after a few hours goes back up. As to weight lifting - everything I have read indicates that heavy lifting is counter indicated for trainees with hypertension (there are many powerlifters with high bp). I strength train with more of a strength - endurance emphasis (circuit training). Finally, I would like to state that I suggest that one be very careful with stopping conventional medical treatment in favor of all kinds "natural" treatments. High bp can be fatal.

I still take the bp medicine, it's been what 6 or 7 years now? Still just 12.5 mg a day. Most of my weight lifting is in the 8-12 rep range. For something I'm stressing that day (like a bench press), I'll start with 15 at a very light weight, and build to maybe 5 or 6 heavy. But the majority is in that 8-12 range. I've also completed one marathon, and continue to train for others. Was going to do one this fall, but due to an injury I deferred to next year. But I really think this helps more than anything. It takes off tons of weight, body fat, and my blood pressure at my lightest was around 110/70. At my last routine doctor visit last month my blood pressure was about 118/72. I throw little bits about this over in my blog here, when you have some time take a look.

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor, nutritionist, etc. I believe you overstate the role of salt/sodium. I don't think you WANT salt to cause retention of fluids. Instead if you are sweating and losing fluids you should simply replace the sodium lost during exercise. The goal should be to maintain the same chemical balance. Sweating and loss of fluid is a natural activity and is one way your body regulates its temperature. If you are maintaining a high salt intake normally you are contributing to hypertension of course and interfering with your body's normal processing of fluids. I agree with hofffam. You need a water bottle. I am a nurse and work on neuro ICU. I deal with hemorrhagic stroke patients all the time. One of the causes of this type of stroke is HTN. It is interesting to see how you guys have been dealing with and thinking about HTN. For diet, it's a good idea to keep tracking what you eat for about 1-2 wks before you meet with RD. Make sure you write down everything you eat and drink including amount if possible. I am not sure about taking supplement. Maybe because I would like to see people do better job on life style modification? Can you work on your diet for a while to see if you can get what you need from food???? There is a great web site by American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org

A lot of sodium is "hidden", especially in restaurant meals and pre-packaged food. The amount you add from the salt shaker is small by comparison. For example, a popular vegetable cocktail contains about 33% of the r.d.a. for sodium. This cocktail is widely advertised as a "healthy" choice. A surprising number of "healthy" choices - such as cottage cheese - are chock full of sodium. You have to really read labels carefully to find it sometimes. The more you can cook your own meals from scratch, the closer you'll get to the recommended sodium levels.

Many of us swimmers are not sodium sensitive, and listen to all the expert advice about eliminating salt from our diets. As a result, we miss out on a lot of wonderful food. Somehow, our body tends to shed sodium as fast as we consume it, and hoard it while we try to reduce or eliminate it. The same goes for potassium too. As an ocean swimmer, I must gulp down tons of the stuff? There was a medical tv special, a long time ago, that showed how our kidneys might affect our blood pressure, but somehow, the topic was never expanded or discussed. I wonder why?