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Hello, another question regarding high blood pressure

Posted , 12 users are following.

ida40908
ida40908

pmr from may 2017 have been on 7 mg for about 2 months now and mostly comfortable apart from little brain energy!!! Able to walk 40 min a day with ease. overall better than I was esp. managing better!! No high expectations, mainly. However blood pressure high up to 160/100 but less when day goes on. I feel BP is my main concern, people die from high BP, not from PMR and I started to bring down the dose in the way you suggested in the forum. However I have taken 6 mg prednisone the last two days and got away with that OK in an attempt to get BP down. Anybody got any thoughts about that or experiences/ advise. I am extremely reluctant to take meds for blood pressure, my poor old liver and kidneys have been exposed to so much prednisone for a year....

thanks for advise, sharing idea s.....Allida

 

0 likes, 34 replies

34 Replies

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  • mary19068
    mary19068 ida40908

    Posted

    Hi ida40908

    Prednisolne causes fluid retention and in turn causes high blood pressure...it is important to keep blood pressure down my doctor gave me 5mg of Ramipiril which did help to bring my blood pressure down...

    • ida40908
      ida40908 mary19068

      Posted

      thanks Mary, I will remember the meds you have been given!! Kind regards, Alida
  • karenjaninaz
    karenjaninaz ida40908

    Posted

    Ida, it strikes me funny when you describe your "poor liver and kidneys being exposed to prednisone." Prednisone does not damage those organs. There are many factors influencing high blood pressure: genetics, age, some nutritional supplements and other disease factors.  It looks like you are doing a great job with exercise and weight control. A very small dose of the right BP med might be all you need.

    Best wishes.

    • ida40908
      ida40908 karenjaninaz

      Posted

      Thanks so much for your reply, i take all your pearls of wisdom with me on my journey, remembering we all go through the same " stuff" and afterall, it could be a hole lot worse!!!! 😉??

  • 757gal
    757gal ida40908

    Posted

    I double my bp medicine when on the higher dies of pred for GCA and now at 5mg  pred I have been able to even reduce it not to my irigibal dosage but 25% less!
    • ida40908
      ida40908 757gal

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply, just what I needed/ wanted to hear......I felt like if I start blood pressure pills.... I never ever get rid of them..... good to hear you diminished them when the illness improved.....I got to the stage now that yes, I will ask for help with medication, ask for advise of the go as well.....

      all the best

    • EileenH
      EileenH ida40908

      Posted

      Does it MATTER if you need a BP pill to keep your cardiovascular system in trim? The PMR/GCA doesn't help either in that respect. 

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga EileenH

      Posted

      What is normal blood pressure supposed to be anyway?  I had mine taken at doctor's yesterday, and I think she said 130 over 70, which is higher than what it used to be - lower number was never higher than 60.  She didn't indicate this was a problem, but looking on line it seems like potentially it might be. question

    • EileenH
      EileenH Anhaga

      Posted

      I think that nowadays 130/80 is taken as the top of the desirable range even for elderly patients who tend to have raised levels for all sorts of normal physiological reasons - and then it depends a bit on the country where they draw the lower line. In the UK they don't care how LOW it goes, they tell you how wonderful it is to have such a low BP. Which is fine if you aren't flaking out all over the place and too low BP is felt to be a big criterion in falls in the elderly! Mainland Europe likes something a bit higher.

      For a reliable BP reading you should really have been resting quietly for at least 10 mins and preferably longer before it is taken. But one-off readings are notoriously meaningless - especially in the patient who suffers from white-coat-syndrome. BP varies continuously during the day so that also has a bearing. But 130/70 shouldn't be ringing any alarm bells.

    • 757gal
      757gal ida40908

      Posted

      Yes, I was hoping I could decrease the bp medicine. So when I was stable and felt good I just cut it in half.  I took my bp everyday at the sane time and it was actually low. So I decreased it again by 25% and it stayed low. Tried to decrease further and bp went up. So my plan is to try again when I have lost another 10 pounds.  I am following a very low sugar/no grain diet. I have been on bp meds for 10 years so I'm thrilled! I just surprised my doctors with the results-didn't ask first! 😊😊

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga EileenH

      Posted

      Well that's good.  Thanks.  However I think I'll point out at next appointment this was a high reading for me.  Could be because I've been taking in more salt on account of that skippy heart I had a couple of years ago?  I'd been sitting quietly in the waiting room for at least half an hour, and have no white coat syndrome.  I did grow up in a doctor's house after all!

      I asked her if there was anything we ought to check now that I've reached such a great age, and so I went off to the lab today fasting and several extra things to be checked.  Lab so full I left, went to the Saturday market, did my shopping, went home, and then back to the lab.  Waiting room nearly empty by comparison but still had to wait almost an hour.  By then I was so hungry, headachy and weak they gave me some orange juice after the blood was drawn.  Hope I don't have to do that again any time soon.  I am wiped out for the entire day!  Still walking to and from the hospital twice has given me nearly all my steps for the day. smile

    • EileenH
      EileenH Anhaga

      Posted

      "I did grow up in a doctor's house after all" - sometimes I think that may make things harder...

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga EileenH

      Posted

      Not in terms of white coat syndrome.  Maybe in terms of the fact that I expect my medical people to treat me as an equal and an intelligent person?  The useless interim GP between my old now retired doctor and the one I have now didn't give me any details about test results or x-rays because she thought I wouldn't understand them.  

    • EileenH
      EileenH Anhaga

      Posted

      Well - yes! I will not be talked down to - and when I am, my BP inevitably goes up...
  • Mrs.Mac-Canada
    Mrs.Mac-Canada ida40908

    Posted

    Hi Allida,  I understand your concern about your blood pressure. It is an unwelcome side effect of prednisone.  I have glaucoma but my pressures were stable until I started the prednisone so I had to begin drops. I also had to take statins for cholesterol which some people feel is unnecessary but I have a family history of heart disease so will take them for now (along with my CoQ10).

    If you have successfully reduced your dose to 7mg with no flares I would continue with the slow method you are using. 2 days at a lower dose my be OK for you. Some members of the forum can even miss a day here and there. Everyone is different but what is important to consider is that if you have a flare you may need to go to a much higher dose and for most of us it takes more prednisone and takes longer to reduce after each flare. 

    I have had PMR for 5+ years and after having 4 flares during that time I am working at getting down to 4mg (very slowly and 1/2mg at a time from 7mg). I have had flares trying to get to 3 1/2mg twice so will go even slower now.

    Blood pressure medication isn’t great but unchecked can do nasty things to your body. If you take a low dose now it’s possible that you can stop taking them as your prednisone dose decreases and the fact you are physically active will help you as well. You will have other suggestions from our wise members and can decide what will work best for you.

    I wish you success with whatever you decide.

    Diana🌸

    • EileenH
      EileenH Mrs.Mac-Canada

      Posted

      Just wanted to tell you there is a lady on the HU forum from Port Coquitlam...
    • Mrs.Mac-Canada
      Mrs.Mac-Canada EileenH

      Posted

      Thanks Eileen, will see if I can find her.  Can you PM me her name? Sorry to hear you had another flare!!  🌸

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