Re: Gotta Get Blood Pressure Down For DOT Physical.

 We don't know if my husband truly has water retention.  They found trace amounts of protein in his urine the day of his DOT physical so that along with the idea of just "trying something to get his blood pressure down" may be why the doctor prescribed the water pill.  The one he prescribed ishydrochlorothiazide.  

Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) can cause depletions of both potassium and magnesium along with elevated calcium.  Therefore it is a good idea to supplement with potassium and magnesium when on HCTZ.

However he did go for a 6 mile run that morning prior to the physical.  And he was under emotional stress.  I read that both of those things can cause protein in the urine, and also that prolonged high blood pressure can cause protein in the urine.

Running, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.  Too much pressure on the kidney nephrons can cause them to rupture leaking blood in to the urine.

I am hoping that he is just going to take the diuretic long enough to pass his physical.  I told him that I didn't think he should take any of these drugs long term, that I thought we should just stick with herbs for long term usage and he did agree with me.  With as often as we have been taking his BP now and trying various things he can also see that the herbs apparently have a more direct effect in getting it lowered.

He has had high blood pressure for a long time.  We thought we had it under control here at home, before the physical, but the motor in our blood pressure monitor was going out, so it's hard to say if the readings had been accurate. It seemed like it was under control with him taking L-Arginine and Schizandra, but then he got lax and hadn't been taking it on a regular basis.  Then things got stressful with us not having any work coming in and having to look for jobs.  So it doesn't surprise me that we are fighting to keep it down now.  Especially with this viscious cycle of getting stressed out because it's high and that just makes it harder to get it lowered.

I have been thinking that maybe he should try Ashwagandha with Schizandra for stress and then keep up with what we have been doing for his blood pressure with the Hawthorn and Coleus Forskohlii and taper off the lisinopril eventually stopping it and the hydrochlorothiazide.

I worry about how his body is responding to taking so much stuff.  I am quite sensitive to things and so I expect other people to react the same way that I do.  He also doesn't pay attention to how he feels when he is trying something so I have to ask him several times a day.  One thing I have noticed lately is he has been yawning a lot. Normally this wouldn't alarm a person, but I remember him doing that a lot when he had his heart attack.  Isn't this caused by a lack of oxygen? 

There is a debate over this.  It has been long held that yawning was to increase oxygen levels.  The latest theory though is that yawning cools the brain.

Could the lisinopril be causing him to yawn excessively?

That is not a listed side effect of Lisinopril, but I have seen a few reports of people claiming that it did cause increased yawning.