Uff-Da!

For every 20 points your systolic is over 115, your risk of heart attack doubles. At your age, the initial risk is small, so even doubling that is still small. But if you keep that pressure up over a period of years, by the time you are 40 or 50 or 60, it will have taken a toll on your arteries and you won't be able to correct the damage done. So while it may be worthwhile to take a year or so now to try to get it down without medication, if you aren't successful, I'd urge you to go back on medication.

B complex vitamins are safe long term, the body just excretes any extra you don't need. A person with kidney problems wouldn't want to put a heavier load on the kidneys than necessary, but for most people it is safe. The tolerable upper limit of magnesium supplement is set at 350 mg daily in the US, plus whatever is in the diet. You might check the web to see if other countries set a different tolerable upper limit to get a different opinion on the matter. A person usually starts getting diarrhea if they are taking too much magnesium, so that's a pretty good clue if you are getting too much. I'm not sure what the tolerable upper limit of zinc is; you might want to do a web search for that.

I was on blood pressure medication for five years and was able to get off the meds this past January. The primary reason for my HBP was stress and accompanying chronic sleep deprivation. Once I no longer had to deal with the stress, I was able to reduce my meds from 30 mg Lisinopril daily to 10 mg. It was likely changes in eating habits that allowed me to drop the meds altogether. My primary changes: less meat, pasta, potatoes, breads and full-fat cheese and more fruits, vegetables and non-fat or low-fat dairy. I'm now what you might call a semi-vegetarian. I do eat a little tuna and a little chicken, but I can make one can of tuna last three days! I'll often use a little bit of roasted chicken on a mixed vegetable salad or in a casserole, but don't eat it just as a separate dish very often. I eat a lot of legumes: bean or pea or lentil soup, bean salads, etc. I often top my salads with garbanzo beans. Because I have a cholesterol problem, I avoid most prepared foods. I practically live on soups and salads plus skim milk and plain yogurt. Potassium and calcium are two nutrients important for keeping BP down, and my diet includes plenty of them.

Did you read this other thread on the same topic? There are some good ideas there. http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=204515