Just over a year ago, I was hospitalized with a Pulmonary Embolism, and its taken me such a long time to get back to anywhere near feeling normal. I've been very anxious about my health. Following the PE I started seeing elevated heart rates during exercise, so I stopped exercising(stupidly) because I was scared that I would have a heart attack. A year later I find myself in a situation where my weight has ballooned to (240lb) a gain of 50lbs in the past year...I was already overweight at 190lbs.

Needless to say I am now diagnosed with High blood pressure, (149 /96), the first medication a diuretic did nothing, and now I'm on a Calcuim Channel blocker, and will visit Dr next week.

My question is, should I see a quick improvement in the numbers with weightloss and exercise, or does this lowering of bp happen at slower pace?

I'm please with myself today, I walked to work (1hour 20 mins) with an average heartrate of 123bpm...its a start for me as I try to reclaim my health.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks

My weight had ballooned to about 274lbs, with 185-190 normal for me. Last October, I went to the Dr. and was diagnosed with HBP, quite a bit higher than yours (184/100). I was initially given Lotrel which is a combination CCB / ACE inhibitor in a dose of 5mg/20mg. One week later, that dose was upped to 10mg/40mg. With significant diet changes and exercise, my weight is presently at 230lbs and the med dose was just reduced back to 5 mg / 20mg. My BP was starting to get too low with the lower weight and original dose.

A lot of people here suggest that a diuretic is an excellent drug, usually in combination with an ACE inhibitor but could also be used with a CCB.

I have read that for 2 lbs of bodyweight lost, the Syst (upper) # drops 1 point. Do that math on your own weight calculations. CCB's are also quite effective in bringing the lower number down.

My hope, at a "normal" weight, would be to get off BP meds entirely, but just losing a lot off excess weight and increasing fitness is good. Your Dr. should evaluate your kidney function and test your blood for lipid and glucose levels .

It's a trick to get back into shape, especially when we get so far out of range but I can guarantee you this, finding out what you did is good and if it motivates you to restore your health, all the better.