I have been on Lotrel 10/20 and Hydroclthiazid 25mg for about 9 months now. My BP was nice and low up until about 2 weeks ago (average around 110/75). Since then it has been steadly climbing. My bp now averages about 135/95 at this time.
I am 40 years of age, I don't smoke, I am very thin, and i'm a lite drinker. I'm single so my diet consist mostly of take out meals. My job is stressful but not excessively so. I live in a highly urbanized downtown area so most of my exercise consist of a fare amount of walking every day.
What could I do to get my numbers down to where they were 2 months ago? Should I up the dosage on the water pill or should I add a new med? Is it common for BP to increase even while on meds?

I have been on Lotrel 10/20 and Hydroclthiazid 25mg for about 9 months now. My BP was nice and low up until about 2 weeks ago (average around 110/75). Since then it has been steadly climbing. My bp now averages about 135/95 at this time.
I am 40 years of age, I don't smoke, I am very thin, and i'm a lite drinker. I'm single so my diet consist mostly of take out meals. My job is stressful but not excessively so. I live in a highly urbanized downtown area so most of my exercise consist of a fare amount of walking every day.
What could I do to get my numbers down to where they were 2 months ago? Should I up the dosage on the water pill or should I add a new med? Is it common for BP to increase even while on meds?

You should see your doctor before upping your meds. You stated you eat a lot of take out meals. Take outs are usually high in sodium content (chinese food, mexican, pizza,etc) which can be counterproductive to getting your BP down. Have you looked at cooking healthy meals for yourself? I know this easier said than done, but it's more healthier and cheaper in the long run.

Yeah, I know, my diet kind of sucks. But it's just so much easier to pick up some Chinese food on my way home from work and be done with it! I am looking into buying some frozen Buffalo patties (low fat alternative to beef) and eating that or chicken cutlets with baked potato and a veg. No salt of course.

What kind of effect do softdrinks like coke have on your BP? Also is beer (two bottles per night) too much for a Hypertensive?

Chinese food is loaded with monsodium glutomate ( SALT) and most frozen prepared foods are also high in sodium. The walking is great exercise and many softdrinks have caffeine in them. Do you drink coffee? That can also raise your blood pressure. My doctor told me to switch to decaffienated coffee and tea. I don't drink soda so that is not a problem. I am a moderate drinker ( red wine) no more than two glasses at night and I have not noticed any problems from that so I doubt that two beers a night would be a problem but you should probably ask your doctor. Try having the beer every other night instead of every night and see if that makes a difference.

It is possible that a couple of beers a night would raise your blood pressure, but probably only by a couple of points. The usual recommendation is that heavier men should drink no more than two beers (or glasses of wine or ounces of 100 proof spirits) a day and women and lighter weight men no more than one a day. And one cannot save up for a binge on weekends, either! Here is a link to one smaller study regarding that:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3030243

I am looking into buying some frozen Buffalo patties (low fat alternative to beef) and eating that or chicken cutlets with baked potato and a veg. No salt of course. This sounds better than most take-out food, but really isn't the best for blood pressure control, either. Add a large salad (not just iceberg lettuce, but mainly things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, lightly steamed asparagus, onions, garbanzo beans, green peppers, etc.) Also add a glass of skim milk or a cup of plain yogurt into which you have cut some fresh fruit. If you really feel you need the yogurt a bit sweeter, you can add just a little bit of sugar to it and still keep the sugar quantity far lower than you would if you buy the fruited yogurt.

The point is a good diet for blood pressure needs adequate potassium and calcium. About eight servings a day of vegetables and fruits and three servings a day of non-fat or low-fat dairy would provide that. If you choose not to have dairy, you need to deliberately choose vegetables which provide calcium but which don't have much oxalic acid (which blocks absorption of calcium). Broccoli is one good choice for this. Many leafy green vegetables, like spinach, have a lot of calcium, so it looks great when you look at a chart, but they have so much oxalic acid that you can't count on getting any good from that calcium.

Of course, if you prefer, you could get your calcium in the form of a supplement, but if you do so, make sure you also take magnesium and vitamin D at the same time or take it with a meal that has plenty of magnesium and D. These additional nutrients are required to properly absorb the calcium. My 73-year-old sister is a good example of the importance of that. She now has a very severe Dowager's hump and scoliosis and is in great pain as a result. Her comment to me recently was, "And to think I was taking a calcium supplement all those years! If I'd known I had to take magnesium with it, I probably wouldn't be in this shape." She had avoided dairy products because she is lactose intolerant. I, on the other hand, have no symptoms at all of osteoporosis at age 64. Though I, too, am lactose intolerant, I've continued to consume dairy products and just take a generic Lact-Aid with it.

Why is potassium and calcium so important for people with high BP?