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Has anyone been referred to a hypertension clinic for their BP?

Posted , 5 users are following.

derek76
derek76

I have had hypertension since 2000. Initially it was 210/110. Medication brought it down a degree but gave me terrible side effects. Since then I have been on every type of medication with more side effects and little overall reduction in the figures.

In 2001 after getting worrying (to them) results during a stress test I had an angiogram that showed my arteries to be clear. I asked the consultant when he came round to see me later "Why"

False positive he said. I said that after chest pains in 1993 I was monitored in hospital for five days before having a stress test where the diagnosed Angina and discharged me with medication and a spray. I did not have chest pain again and my GP said that obviously from my lifestyle that I did not have angina

Double false positive he said and that this time he would see me at his hypertension clinic and sort it out once and for all. His Romanian sidekick did not put that in the discharge letter to my GP. He said if he referred every one with high BP to a hypertension clinic the queue would stretch from his surgery to the hospital. The consultants secretary was no more helpful.

Over the years I have had many 24 hour monitors where the highs and lows are ignored and I am told that it is the average that counts. That is usually around 140/74

In 2011 I was found to have aortic stenosis and had my aortic valve replaced in May 2012. My BP still remained high and consultants and registrars kept on repeating dugs that had previously failed and given me side effects. An angiogram prior to surgery showed my arteries still clear after another false positive in a stress echo cardiogram.

NICE recommends that patients with BP over 168 should be referred to a hypertension clinic. Whether that is a high or an average I'm not clear on.

I live in East Sussex and Googled hypertension clinics. There seem not to be many of them and found one in Brighton that my GP has now referred me to.

I'm not sure what they actually do and fiddling with my meds has been tried a plenty.. I have always had a fairy healthy diet and stopped smoking in 1993. I always walked a lot and have been pretty active. I stopped using salt and sugar in 1983 and very seldom eat processed food.

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • alexays
    alexays

    Posted

    Derek,

    I think you have been unfortunate. Are you overweight? I would try taking CoQ10 and giving blood.

    Regards

    Alex

  • norman33
    norman33

    Posted

    Hello Derek. I seem to be in exactly the same position as you. I had been through the range of pills and all of these caused, amongst other things, aching of the joints and muscles. I only discovered just before last Christmas that the cause of this was the stuff that holds the other ingredients together, Magnesium Stearate.With me this stuff is progressive, the more I take the worse I get. The medical profession seem blissfully unaware of the reactions people get from Mag.Stearate, it also causes gout, I was also referred to a resistant hypertension clinic, Addenbrooke's at Cambridge, there I attended four times, saw three different doctors all of which prescribed a pill which I had taken before but of a different brand. There are hundreds of brands but only five basic types. My local chemist has managed to find a capsule that does not contain M/S called Coracten SR, with these I have not had any serious side effects but at the same time they have reduced my BP only marginally.

  • amsjo
    amsjo

    Posted

    Hi Derek,

    I was referred to a hypertension clinic, basically a cardiac specialist who dealt with hypertension. He did several tests - xray and CT scan and then referred me to an endocrinologist who with further tests (24 hr urine, further CT and blood tests, I was diagnosed with hyperaldosterism and put onto Spirolactone which helped me cut out 2 of the other tablets that I had been on.

    Good luck

    Amsjo

  • derek76
    derek76

    Posted

    I'll try and answer all three of your interesting replies in one post.

    I'm too old to be a blood door, the 76 is now 79:-) I believe also that they don't take it from people who have been to Africa... even on holiday. I'm not overweight.

    I don't know what my heart rate was prior to hypertension starting. The following year I bought a BP monitor and have since taken my BP morning, evening and late night. I was surprised to find that as well as wild fluctuations in BP my resting heart rate was usually in the 40's. Doctors said that was caused by verapamil (from August 2000) one of the two meds that did not give me side effects apart from constipation. The other that I tolerate is Losartan (since November 2001) At times doctors put me on alternatives to it with dire effects. I have also been on various diuretics. They always to doctors disbelief reduced my urine output and gave me pelvic area pain. I have twice had laser surgery for BPH (2006 and 2012) each time I tried diuretics again but with the same result. It was visibly noticeable when I had a catheter in after the procedure. The flow slowed right down on the day I started the diuretic again and went back to normal when I stopped it.

    I did years ago think about CoQ10. At present being on Warfarin things like that are best avoided.

    I should have said that the valve replacement left me with AF. Because of that I was put on beta, blocker, amiodarone and warfarin until I had a successful cardioversion four months later. Different advice from Brighton surgeon and Eastbourne cardiologists. Surgeon said to stop amiodarone and warfarin after being back in sinus rhythm for six months. Cardiologist reluctantly agreed to me stopping amiodarone but not warfarin. I did stop warfarin last august and went back on aspirin and the pains I had developed in weight bearing joints soon stopped. I had also stop/started on statins because of muscle pains over two years.

    AF started again in December after having a colonoscopy. Possibly due to dehydration, the sedative or more likely the probe stimulating my vagus nerve as during the procedure my BP dropped to 40/27 and my heart rate to 30bpm.

    That put me back on to beta blocker That I reduced when my heart rate went down into the mid 30's. I was then put back onto warfarin and amiodarone. The joint pains returned and my toes have stiffened up.

    After cardioversion in March I went back to sinus bradycardia with premature ectopic beats. I told the matron who had done the procedure that beta blockers and amiodarone bring my heart rate down. She spoke to the cardiologist who said to stop the beta blocker.

    Research shows me that amiodarone should only be used in cases of life threatening AF and that it is contra indicated for patients with sinus bradycardia. My heart rate after cardioversion was varying between 36 and 46 bpm. I stopped amiodarone last Monday to see what that may do before going to see my GP again.

    My INR readings vary wildly with Warfarin to the nurses consternation It has been anything from 1.7 to 3.9 as she tinkers weekly with the dosage.

    The Magnesium Stearate reaction is interesting and I will check how many of my meds it is in and amaze my doctors with your discovery. Seems that MS is as bad as MSG. A lot of Chinese food makes me flush and sneeze. I had kidney scan, X-Ray and 24 hour urine samples checked when I was trying to get on the renal denervation programme (now suspended)

    My blood tests showed borderline hypothyroidism and Spirolactone had the same effect as other diuretics.

    My wife recently showed as having borderline hypothyroidism and started Thyroxine in a minimum dosage.

    From what you say I should not expect much from the hypertension clinic apart from a day at Brighton

  • derek76
    derek76

    Posted

    Norman33:

    I just looked up Magnesium Stearate. It is in Losartan, Warfarin, Amiodarone, Nexium and nearly every other drug including Cialis and Viagra:-)

    It is evidently a binding agent to prevent ingredients sicking together during manufacture in most products even sweets and baby products.

    It is as difficult to avoid as formaldehyde that I am allergic to.

  • norman33
    norman33

    Posted

    If you are on warfarin you should enquire from your doctor about Clopidogrel, that's a blood thinning capsule that doesn;t contain MS,
  • derek76
    derek76

    Posted

    Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet drug not an anticoagulant. I believe that use of it in conjunction with aspirin should not be used long term.
  • angela68374
    angela68374

    Posted

    Hello. Having been told my blood pressure is moderate to high hypertension, I decided I would not take any medication simply because of the side effects. So I did a search and it seems that Beetroot juice is the answer. I am taking a glassful every day and so far my blood pressure has lowered. There are many other people who have noticed that beetroot juice can help The best one to get is James White - Organic (not from

    concentrate) called "Beet It".

  • derek76
    derek76

    Posted

    I tried it last year. I can't remember which make but it was the most expensive one in Waitrose.Really disgusting stuff:-) I had asked a lady who was buying if she took it as a medication. She said that she did and it had helped slightly.

    I don't normally like beetroot but this had a really earthy smell and taste as well as the beet taste that lingered all day. After a couple of day my wee and poo had a red tinge.

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