Do hypertensive medications seem to help your symptoms?

[meirish]

Don't get discouraged as there are so many blood pressure medications that can be used these days. I was taken off of the beta blocker many years ago and put on another medication that did not work as well to bring my pressure down. So I am back on the beta blocker. I am on 2 medications for my blood pressure for several years. The one is in the ARB family and is used to diabetics usually as it helps save the kidneys of diabetics. I have stage 3B kidney disease so my kidneys are not doing as well as they should.

When I feel half way decent I don't feel 80 years old but when I feel lousy, which seems to be more often this past year I am well aware of the fact that my kidneys are getting old also.

Just remember when you are waiting for a new script for you blood pressure to cut down on the salt. That is one of the best things one can do. I am avoiding all the salty cheesy dishes that are out there but I fall off the wagon at times. I really miss a good pizza that is for sure. Take care now. meirish

[araminta]

I'm now going to be starting on a beta blocker myself, meirish.   I talked to the GP and she said I was right to stop the Amlodipine.   I have to take BP readings twice a day for a week and then report back to her.   I hope this will be OK.

Salt is a tricky topic, as I was very reccently told I had low sodium!   Unusual I know with high BP.

I'm very sorry to hear about your kidney disease.   We do seem to accumulate problems as we get older.   I think morale is super-important.   It's always good to have a few things that we can turn to to calm us down, or cheer us up.   Even very simple things like reading a good book, going for a walk.   I'm reading a lot of Dickens novels at the moment, I think they have their faults, but for me they are very escapist literature!

[twiggy]

araminta, hypertension vs low sodium... seems like we sometimes get stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Salt tends to make my IBS flare up, but even I'm having a tad these days due to drinking so much water and all this heat in the valley here.
Hopefully the beta blockers are working out better for you.