Yet another "simple" question - blood pressure
 

The books say we are prone to high BP. I, for one, have been on meds for it for 5 to 10 years and lately it has been creeping up anyway. Ron mentioned that some PWP get PD benefits from BP meds. I guess it is no wonder that wrestling with ourselves would drive it up, but mine started years before that stage. I wonder if it goes back to the emotional angle of PD. Suppressing anger, anxiety, etc all one's life could readily cause blood vessels to constrict and drive it up. And we know that stress makes the BBB leak - does extra pressure behind force toxins through even more?

So, high BP? Low? Don't know?

Myslf - high 160/115 under current meds.

My Blood pressure has always been low to normal. It is slightly higher now than it used to be, which means it is now normal without the low.

My cholesterol is over 200, with hdl swinging between 98 and 111.

My doctor asked me if I felt faint the last time I went, blood pressure so low. No problem so far.

paula

I[m with Paula
 

Although my cholesteral level is quite high, 253, my average blood pressure is quite low, average 90/60. My hdl is 65 so go figure.

Vicky

Blood Pressure
 

My blood pressure is about normal, 98 over 60. ALready we seem very scattered in our BP, not much evidence of high levels. Rick, I have not seen any mention of PWP having high BP, where did you see it?
The high BP drugs which have improved PWP are
1 , Hydralazine,
2 Captopril,
3 Tetrazosin
4 Ramipril
5 Burinex
The first 3 have been investigated by Purdue University, and have been shown to reverse cell death
See http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/259ED6.htm
Rick, You are right about high BP causng the BBB to leak, this has been reported by researchers.
Ron

echoing RH
 

My BP has always been low to normal; 100/70 to 95/65. At the blood bank, they sometimes ask me if I'm feeling well. They hate it when people faint :)

To echo what Ron said, I haven't read anywhere that Parkinson's patients tend towards high blood pressure. In fact, I've read that they sometimes have problems with orthostatic hypotension from the medications. Am I wrong?

Of course, as we all know, this disease does different things to different people, so who knows?

Marian

My BP has always been on the low side as well. Now with my PD meds, it's gotten even lower and the doctors made me buy a blood pressure monitor to keep track of it. (It was fun to play with for a day or so, but that novelty wore off pretty quickly!) The docs have said that if I start having trouble, they'll have to put me on something that raises my BP. More drugs? Ugh...

My blood pressure has ran on the high side for years. As luck would have it both high BP and high cholesteral are are family traits. Over the past year I have had problems with the BP wanting to go higher. Right now it's in check but a problem. 150/90 currently under medication.
Rick - do you have a source for BP being a PD problem?

mea culpa - I think...
 

That'll teach me to double check. There doesn't seem to be much to base my blatant and unequivocal statement on. :(

I did track down what had put the idea in my head though. And it seems to say what I repeated but there is not a lot prior. The question, however, is if we are going hypertensive at night would we know it if we were not checking it ourselves. My apologies.

1: Eur J Intern Med. 2006 Oct;17(6):417-20.

Characteristic findings on 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in a series
of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Ejaz AA, Sekhon IS, Munjal S.

Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida,
P. O. Box 100224, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.

BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson's disease frequently present with
orthostatic hypotension, prompting testing with 24-h ambulatory blood pressure
monitoring (ABPM). The aim of our study was to identify characteristic patterns
of blood pressure changes present on ABPM in a series of patients with
Parkinson's disease. METHOD: We retrospectively identified 13 patients with
Parkinson's disease who had undergone ABPM for evaluation of symptomatic
orthostatic hypotension. The ABPM tracings were analyzed for the presence or
absence of reversal of circadian pattern, postprandial hypotension,
noncompensatory heart rate variability, and average daytime and nocturnal blood
pressure values. RESULTS: Reversal of circadian rhythm was identified in 92.3%,
postprandial hypotension in 100% and nocturnal hypertension in 100% of the
cases. Some 61.5% of the patients exhibited daytime blood pressures in the
prehypertensive range, and 23% had blood pressures in the stage 1 hypertension
range per JNC 7 classification. CONCLUSION: The characteristic findings on 24-h
ABPM in this series of patients with Parkinson's disease were the presence of
reversal of circadian rhythm (93%), postprandial hypotension (100%) and
nocturnal hypertension (100%).

PMID: 16962949 [PubMed]

....which raises a couple of questions.
 

(Keeping in mind that this was a small study)

100% experienced postprandial (after eating isn't it?) drop in BP? Is this why I do best if I skip lunch? And is it tied to blood sugar response?

And if this circadian rhythm is "reversed", how are other such rhythms affected? Maybe it is just me, but it seemed that that finding was of greater importance than all the rest.

Dehydration, LBP & PD
 

Always had v low blood pressure till going on PD meds - now it fluctuates a bit, but has very slowly been creeping up, especially since an anticholinergic was added to my regime. After meals and when meds are wearing off it drops. For many years I felt light headed when I stood up suddenly, and the slight increase has benefitted me. I was under the impression that many people with PD had low blood pressure. I often wondered whether this could lead to inadequate brain 'nutrition'. Also whether this and a tendency to dehydration (I have for many years 'forgotten' to drink enough) exacerbated both PD and LBP. I have an impaired sense of thirst that has been an issue for about 15 years.

Interesting how many people have a history of LBP.

Lindy

I have also always had low blood pressure.

bp
 

My blood pressure has always been very low.

In fact, after a terrible car accident (in which I broke 2
ribs and the car was totaled) a few years ago, the paramedic
asked, after checking my bp, "Are you still with us?"

I'll check mine at in the morning and at night and see if there's a difference. I take atenolol in the morning for high BP. Maybe I need it at night instead. I'd taken then and the pharmacist told me to take it in the morning and I didn't bother to research it.

Last time I saw a doctor (Monday) it was low normal and I felt queezy (I was very nervous about some test results): 100 over 70.

My father had PD and his BP was too low. Had to add more salt to his diet. I don't recall if he needed any medication for it. His cholesterol was very low, too. Mine is high.

Oh dear...
 

...mine is surprisingly normal.Despite being a pain in the a**e child [ refused to go to school if my knicker elastic was a tad loose,or if my hair parting wasn`t sock down the middle of my head :eek: ] no..wasn`t spoilt...just a perfectionist...and yes I agree..my mum should have slapped me one and sent me off to school in the baggiest of underwear to teach me a lesson ...anyhow...told you this to illustrate how hyper I used to get...and still my blood pressure remains constant...throughout.

HOWEVER...Have you considered researching BLOOD TYPES?
Cos there is a book called Eat Right for your Blood type or something like that...and it makes interesting reading.
I am a rhesus negative and a rare group within the rhesus group.Had to have anti D injections after both babies were born.
But..back to the book...which tells you the history/origin of the blood types,what ailments you are likely to get...and which foods to avoid or consume.
Guess which illness I am prone to.....?!!!

I`m neither patient or clever enough to survey this so you might like a go instead :D

Ugh! All this talk about leucocytes/phagocytes/erythrocytes/corpuscles?

steffi

very interesting

Steffi, I've seen the book, I think it's the one you mean. It is fascinating to speculate about the origins of blood types, but I thought the blood type diets were rather humbuggy. For instance, most Scandinavians are blood type A, and one thing we A blood types should not eat, according to that book, is Herring. Herring has been on the daily menu in Scandinavia both for lunch and dinner since the ice drew back after the last ice age. We could not have survived for so long and been so generally healthy if we'd eaten the wrong thing every day for several thousand years. It is a neat idea, but I think the idea of special foods for different blood types is just that - a really neat idea, but not a good idea.

I hope you'll forgive me for stepping in with my big hobnailed shoes and calling the book silly. I think you're wise not to read it too closely. Maybe it isn't even the same book!!!
I'm A (negative) and I'm going to keep eating Herring.

birte

Thank goodness for this!! I'd not come across anyone else with this symptom until now I'm sure my husband thought I was mad when I said I felt faint, dizzy or tired after eating a meal. I knew about hypotension as a drug side-effect. As part of a PD drug entry trial I was initially prescribed Sinemet. In the 1 wk I took it I fell/fainted most times I stood from sitting, wobbled around & generally thought I was dying.