My High Blood Pressure Story
I wrote this article about a year and a half ago. A lot has changed since this article first came out. For example with continued research, I am increasingly becoming more aware of diet and its effects on high blood pressure. If I maintain my healthy balance my blood pressure continues to go down.
My blood pressure averages somewhere between 115-120/60-70. I actually had a recorded blood pressure last week of 97/59. Currently, I am off all medication. I am re-releasing this article because this is what really helped me get the numbers down. Is it easy? Somedays yes it is and other days no. But it works.
Being healthy takes work, period. You have to be the gatekeeper of all that goes into your body and it isn’t easy. We live in a world where food is a very sociable event. No longer, hunter-gatherers, we do not have to go days without food. Truth be told some of us cannot go an hour without munching on something. I have been there.
Lowering My Blood Pressure
So here it is in the nut-shell, you are in control of your health. You are not a victim of genetics, you do not need to wade in the shallow end of the gene pool. You can swim in the deep waters of success and become a healthier you.
It all began with headaches and chest pain had been continuing for almost a week. Right after my 54th birthday, the problems began. My wife had purchased a home blood pressure monitor the week before. So like a good nurse I decided I should check my blood pressure. I was in shock. My blood pressure was 197/109 and my heart rate was 105. I was in a hypertensive crisis and had to lower my blood pressure fast
We ended up in my physician’s office who demanded I be sent by ambulance to the emergency room. Also like a nurse, I refused. We drove the 45 minutes to the ER, which of course was packed. From the time they saw me I was whisked from one test to another.
A nuclear study to ensure I did not have an aortic aneurysm, to a dissecting aorta. Fortunately for me, everything was negative. My cardiac enzymes were slightly elevated, but nothing to suggest a cardiac event. They had wanted to keep me over the weekend. But one doctor honestly told me I would just sit there all weekend. No one would run any tests until Monday.
So with a small dose of medication, a referral to a cardiologist, we went home. My family physician saw me the next morning surprised I did not remain in the hospital. To be honest I am stubborn as a mule when it comes to hospitals. I told my wife when we got married, “I will let you know right now you have a problem with me. I am a man, and an RN, I don’t like hospitals or doctors. So you won’t find me rushing off for every problem.
What I did not know was that large doses of Ibuprofen I had been taking, because of the pain I was experiencing from a total knee replacement, had been part of the problem. Anyway, my family doctor asked me what my goal was for my blood pressure? I told him 120/80. He chuckled and said, “No seriously”. Again I stated 120/80. He said I was being unrealistic and I disagreed.
How to lower blood pressure fast – the Natural Way
After 5 weeks of intense effort and when I mean intense this included: Becoming a vegan. I stopped smoking. I stopped drinking alcohol. Decreased coffee intake to 1 cup in the morning. Starting to get more exercise ( I still have to daily push myself to do it some days) and losing weight. I was also using RESPeRATE 2 times daily for 20 minutes as per Dr. Benjamin Gavish’s instruction. Dr. Gavish and his son Erez are the inventors of RESPeRATE. Once in the morning and once in the evening. Also, I was taking 10mg of Vasodip and 2mg of Cardioloc.
5 weeks later I walked into my doctor’s office and he had me take a seat. We talked for a few minutes before checking my blood pressure. Taking your blood pressure after activity will not give you a correct reading. So finally he hooked me up and the cuff began to tighten. The reading was 120/60 and a heart rate of 56. He tried again. 119/60 heart rate 55. He looked shocked! I just smiled. I suppose I get a sense of absolute satisfaction when someone tells me that what I want to do is impossible and it works. Do you know that feeling?
He asked me how in the world had I done this? And with a swaggering smile, I explained what I had done. You see my mom died of a massive stroke at the young age of 64 and I knew if I did not take control, well I might end up in the same place. I have too much to live for than to check out too early because I did not care enough to care for myself. I have a wife and family that love me dearly, and well, I think any sacrifice I make health wise is a win-win situation for us all.
My cardiologist was also impressed and cut my medication in half. I am still hoping to be off all my medication by the end of this year. The reason I am sharing this is that despite what you think, you are not a victim. Michael Greger M.D once stated, “So maybe you were handed a genetically weak deck. But you have the power to reshuffle the deck.” You have the power to do so. The question is do you have the will to do so?
The Hard Truth
I know what your thinking, “But Eli it is just too hard!” My reply to you is, “Yes, at the beginning it is hard. But it is much easier than being in a Cardiac ICU connected to monitors, and tubes, because you did not want to try.” The choice has been and always will be yours.
They estimate there are about 5.5 billion people living on this planet. About 1.5 billion suffer from chronic disease including high blood pressure. 4.5 billion do not. Those 1.5 billion people are comprised of those who live in “Western Society”. It would seem from research and just plain old common horse sense that it boils down to lifestyle and diet.
A few weeks back I wrote an article that had received the most comments in a 24 hour period than any other article I had written. People said I was too radical in the approach. That I was mistaken, that I had not researched enough. But by following this I lowered my systolic pressure 70 points and diastolic pressure about 60 points. Now mind you what happened to me, according to Dr. Gavish is not the norm.
I want to share with you a thought from Caldwell B. Esselstyn M.D from the “Cleveland Clinic” He stated and I quote, “Cardiologists who have seen my peer-review data often concede that coronary heart disease may be arrested and reversed through changes in diet and lifestyle, but then add that they don’t believe their patients would follow such radical nutritional changes.” He finished by saying, “The word radical better describes the typical American diet, which guarantees that millions will perish from a withering vascular system.”
The truth is you can shock your health care provider and those around you by grabbing the bull by the horns. I honestly believe that high blood pressure is a symptom of an unhealthy lifestyle. Medications may lower blood pressure but they do not cure the underlying cause. But you can. Have a happy healthy weekend.
Results will vary from person to person. The results I obtained are not the ordinary.
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