A wierd WOW Moment

I posted this on the Illinois  Board but wanted to share with my OFF Family here.

I have had High blood pressure since I was 20 years old (pregnancy, toxemia) and on HBP meds since I was @23 yrs old, I'm 52 now.   A few years ago my pcp added a second med since my readings were still around 140-90. Since then they have been 120/70 for the most part. Last month when I saw my pcp I told him my last few readings  had been 115-60 so he cut the 2nd med dose (diuretic) in half. He said since I was losing weight, when i see him in August he may need to make more another adjustment in the dose. The last couple days I have been very light headed ( no other symptoms) so today I took my  blood pressure and it was 89/50, every reading since has been in the same area !!  Like WT!!!!!!!!! I called my pcp  and he told me to stop the 2nd pill completely,drink some gatorade. He thinks since I've lost almost 40 pounds that my blood pressure has come down. If it remains low over the next couple days I am to call him again and he will cut back the doage on the main med!!!!!!! This is amazing if this is truly what has happened.  i thought I would be on bp med till the day I die,  Pauette

Ive had high BP for probably 20 yrs. In the last month I've gotten off both the beta blocker (atenelol) and the main blood pressure med (Avapro). Yeah!

Bet you'll soon be off yours completely too. Congrats!

Hi Pat, I'm on 240 mg of Verapamil and have been on 25 mg HCTZ, then cut to  12.5,now no more HCTZ!  Pcp said if bp is still low he'll cut verapamil to 180 mg. Haven't been on that dose in 7-8 years.  Hope the light headedness goes away soon.  Thanks Paulette

Congrats. I was cut off all BP meds about three weeks after surgery; then they had to put me back on one because my BP skyrocketed at a visit when I got ticked off at the office staff because they misbilled an office visit and were demanding payment even though I told them my insurance company already said they were going to pay it (now calm down, Eileen, this was four years ago!) I was on a half dose of that for about another two weeks until my BP was so low they had to cut that out completely too. Now, I'm on a diuretic only because for some reason my legs are swelling (no one knows why). Paulette, this is a life saver surgery. You will find so many changes. The only thing it doesn't stop is arthritis ... that, unfortunately, is nonreversible. But taking the weight off your joints will make things better in the long run.

Hi Eileen,  I jssut posted to Brenda that the wierd part is that I haven;t even had surgery yet, just following diet and guidelines from my OH friends, protein first, lots of water, eating good carbs.  Can't wait to see what happens when I finally have the surgery. Hugs, Paulette

That is such good news, no, make that great news, Paulette. Things are so amazing with this surgery. It is really and truly a life saving surgery. I am so glad that I had it and I know that you are too. Congratulations and hope you get off the other one soon too.

Hi Brenda, the wierd part is that I haven't even had surgery yet, just  following the diet recomendations from the nutr. and my OH friends....Protein first, lots of water.  Hugs, Paulette

Duh!!!! What is wrong with me? I knew that. It is just the eating normal and doing the things that we all failed to do when we were living in our "disease". PEW is the key: protein, exersize and water.

Paulette, I'm losing too and pre-op! Is this eating plan marketed anywhere under a certain name? I know it's not Atkins, cuz that is high fat, no carbs. Is this like South Beach? That's probably the only one I haven't done. It is soooo healthy! With all the vitamins, lean proteins, complex carbs, water and exersize it is the best. I think the surgeons should have each potential patient adapt this lifestyle before they do the surgery. It's helped me to adjust slowly to the lifestyle change. I would have had a very difficult time starting this post surgery. There is alot to learn. Congrats on your loss!!! Alice

Hi Alice, no special diet, just based on the nutritionists advice of minimum of 1000 calories a per day, no more than 1300 calories per day, minimum 100 good carbs no more than 130. Fat no more than 20-25% of total calories. Then I added protein at least 65grams per day and 64 oz water per day. I was having trouble reaching the minimums so was only losing 2 lbs per month but since 6/20 I've been making sure I get the minimums in and have lost 4 lbs. I also make sure breakfast is my biggest meal and dinner my smallest. I have 3 meals and 2 snacks (usually a serving of fruit ) each day. I am not able to exercise much as I have an unstable fracture in my back. I do some arm and leg things as tolerated and walk some short distances. I have learned so much from these boards about weight loss and nutrituion so pre-surgery I'm working on being healthy and to follow the guidelines for wls, I figure by the time I have the surgery the food plan should be second nature to me and much easier recovery and if I have lost weight before hand it'll make the recovery easier too.  Good luck on your journey, we'll support each other too.  Paulette