Blood pressure help please?

Joe Stephens said:

I have borderline high blood pressure. If I test high I
will lose my job. I have to take a physical in three
months. At the physical they also do a drug test, so I can
not have any blood pressure medicine in my body.

Taking a diuretic on the day of the test may lower your
blood pressure enough to pass the test. Diuretics which are
likely to be acceptable on your drug test include coffee
(caffeine) and sodium-free salt substitute (potassium
chloride). Note that pure salt substitute will have a
warning on the label that it should only be used under the
advice of a physician. This is not an idle warning. Although
the risk is low, it certainly can cause heartbeat
irregularities and other problems for some people. So-called
"lite" salt products (50/50 mixture of sodium and potassium
salts) do not carry this warning, although in my experience
they too can cause heartbeat irregularities. Certain foods
(such as noni juice) are very rich in potassium, but it
makes no difference whether you get potassium from a salt
substitute or a food, so there's no safety advantage to
getting potassium from food. If anything, the salt
substitute is safer because you can more accurately judge
what dose you're getting.

If you decide to pursue either of these strategies, it would
be a good idea to get a blood pressure monitor for home use,
so you can do a few experiments and judge whether they will
be effective and what dose to use.

"Joe Stephens" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I have borderline high blood pressure. If I test high I
will lose my job. I have to take a physical in three
months. At the physical they also do a drug test, so I
can not have any blood pressure medicine in my body. It's
a regular DOT drug test and I think any BP drugs would
show up.

Blood pressure meds will not show up in a drug screening.
See a doctor and get the meds you need.

r

--
Nothing beats the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with
DLT tapes.

I lowered mine from borderline (in 1 month) by doing a
combination of this Eating lot's of fresh fruit and veggie
juice and/or taking 1-6g of vitamin c daily. Anth

"Joe Stephens" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have borderline high blood pressure. If I test high I
will lose my job. I have to take a physical in three
months. At the physical they also do a drug test, so I can
not have any blood pressure medicine in my body. It's a
regular DOT drug test and I think any BP drugs would show
up. I am 5'11'', 161 lbs and 44 years old. Both my parents
are on high blood pressure. I check my BP a couple of times
a day and it is sometimes high. I work out twice a week and
ride my bike five times a week. I am taking 400mg of garlic
a day and am just now starting to check the sodium content
in the food I consume to lower my intake of sodium. Also I
eat several EAS Advantage bars with water during the day
whenever I'm hungry, and drink a total of one gallon of
water a day. Also after my anarobic workouts I take some
protien powder mixed with fat free milk and non-fat yogurt.

Any suggestions on any changes or additions I can make to
ensure I lower my BP?

Thanks

You can e-mail me at sjh7210ATaol.com (replace AT with @
to send me an e-mail. thanks.)

Joe Stephens said:

I have borderline high blood pressure. If I test high I
will lose my job. I have to take a physical in three
months. At the physical they also do a drug test, so I
can not have any blood pressure medicine in my body.
It's a regular DOT drug test and I think any BP drugs
would show up.

Go see a doctor, and READ the DOT regulations. CONTROLLED
with BP meds is probably OK. The drug tests are checking for
the usual abuse driugs: opiates, speed, barbiturates,
marijuana.

Regular exercise (a brick one hour walk, or 2 half-hour
walks EVERY DAY), an improved diet (you know what it takes:
less junk food and salty [censored], more fresh fruits and veggies
- the energy bars and protein powder counts as JUNK food),
and wean yourself of sodas and caffeinated drings in favor
of PLAIN water.

In 3 months that regime can do a lot.

Tsu Dho Nimh

--
When businesses invoke the "protection of consumers," it's a
lot like politicians invoking morality and children - grab
your wallet and/or your kid and run for your life.

On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 00:56:22 GMT, Mark Thorson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Joe Stephens said:

I have borderline high blood pressure. If I test high I
will lose my job. I have to take a physical in three
months. At the physical they also do a drug test, so I
can not have any blood pressure medicine in my body.

Taking a diuretic on the day of the test may lower your
blood pressure enough to pass the test. Diuretics which are
likely to be acceptable on your drug test include coffee
(caffeine) and sodium-free salt substitute (potassium
chloride).

I would avoid caffeine if he has high blood pressure.
Caffeine is a stimulant and may increase blood pressure
especially if one is not used to consuming caffeine.

Aloha,

Rich

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The best defense to logic is ignorance

Rich.@. said:

I would avoid caffeine if he has high blood pressure.
Caffeine is a stimulant and may increase blood pressure
especially if one is not used to consuming caffeine.

I assumed coffee would lower it because it is a powerful
diuretic in many people, however checking a few sources
indicates that coffee may raise blood pressure (especially
in non-coffee drinkers) but the effect is very small,
compared to sodium salt. Oddly, the effect is unrelated to
whether to coffee is decaffeinated or not, which suggests it
has nothing to do with the stimulant drug effect.

A few studies don't find a significant effect of potassium
salt on blood pressure, but those studies are in the
minority. Most studies find a significant blood-pressure-
lowering effect from potassium.

Studies in spontaneously hypertensive rats have found the
herb ginkgo biloba to be effective in lowering blood
pressure. It is generally well tolerated in people, but it
has an anticoagulant effect which could be a problem for
some people.