Tuesday, April 12, 2011
It is normal for blood pressure to fluctuate throughout the day depending on your level of activity, stress, excitement, fear, etcetera.
If your blood pressure stays consistently elevated you may be diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure). High blood pressure is known as the ‘silent ...
What I don't understand is why the medications always make you feel so tired. When I was diagnosed with Hypertention, I felt fine as far as I knew, I was then put on Benicar HCT, because I am African-American and my doctor said that we have a tendency to be salt sensitive. Now I feel tired all the time, how am I supposed to function like this on a daily basis? I am 32 yrs old and I have a husband and four kids, I am also overweight but everyday I have to push so hard to get that thirty minutes of cardio in that it is ridiculous, I just don't know what to do! I was told to stop smoking, stop eating salt, start exercising, portion control and this had to be done in a three month period, that seems like a lot stress to put on someone with high blood pressure. What do you think?
Hi Dawn,
With any medication there is always potential for negative side effects, such as the fatigue you are experiencing. I recommend discussing with your medication to see if you can adjust the medication or dosage to decrease the side effect. However, you'll be most successfully making the diet/lifestyle changes to lower levels naturally and eliminate the need for medication. I know the instructions you were given are overwhelming to try and tackle all at once. Pick a couple changes to implement now and when you have those mastered add in a couple more changes until you have your dietary habits on track to promote a lower blood pressure. Also, you may want to look into the DASH Diet.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure