I have been on blood pressure medication for a couple of years, but would like to get off. My only side effect is it causes me to cough at times. Is it best to wean oneself off the meds gradually?
Blood pressure medicines need to be weaned gradually, because the body gets used to their effects and stops doing what it should do. Stopping cold turkey could be a strain on your body.
There are some supplements that increase the likelihood that you can successfully wean off the medicine. These are CoQ10 200 to 400 mg per day, high doses of magnesium 800 to 1000 mg per day, and hawthorn berry, an herb that acts as a vasodilator. I would start these for a month, then take ½ dose of your blood pressure medicine (which I assume is an ACE inhibitor, as this category has the best chance of causing a cough as a side effect) for 3 weeks, then ½ it again for 3 more weeks if on a fairly high dose, or just stop it all together if on a lower dose. Take your blood pressure every few days to see if it goes up, or if it causes high blood pressure symptoms. If not, you have removed a toxin from your body.
In Joel Kauffman’s book Malignant Medical Myths, Kauffman makes a strong point about the fact that blood pressures below 160 to 180 systolic over 95 to 100 diastolic carry no increased risk of heart disease or any cardiac event. Since the reason blood pressures are lowered is because of the ‘silent killer’ hypertension, and there is no ‘silent killer’ below the above mentioned levels, why be on any blood pressure medicine unless there is truly a medical risk at levels greater than 180 / 100, unless there are negative symptoms felt at lower levels? I recognize that some may consider this crazy (because it doesn’t jive with party line medicine, but read the chapter in Dr. Kauffman’s book and decide for yourself. The science is all there.
The next packet to be placed on the supplement site is a combination of those 3 above-mentioned products, which are designed for heart failure and hypertension. If you want them up sooner rather than later, let me know. If you’d like to get some marvelous supplements, click on the navigation bar on my website, and read about their contents. You have some excellent, top quality options.
My doctor says I can get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food. What is your opinion on this?
I used to say the same thing to my patients, back in the days before I studied healthy alternatives. It is the party line of allopathic medicine, although that is starting to change. Here's the bottom line, and I'll follow up with some info on what allopaths are now doing:
2 responses so far ↓
1 Leigh Ann Smith // Nov 13, 2009 at 10:24 am
I have insomnia. I exercise, eat right, take supplements. I have tried all the natural things and sleeping pills and still have problems sleeping. I have had some problems all my life (adhd) but it has worsened in mid-life and especially with menopause. (I am presently 54 and had a complete hyst at 50 and am on compounded hormones for the past few years now.
2 Dave, RN // Nov 13, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Leigh Ann, I too have trouble sleeping, for years. At least I had trouble sleeping. I started useing Valarian and melatonin. Most melatonin comes in 3mg sizes, which in my opinion is too much. Get the 300 mcg size.
What I do is take a 525mg Valarian 1 hour or so before bed. Then about 30 before bed I dissolve a melatonin under my tounge. I’ve been doing this for about three weeks and the results are outstanding. What’s even better is that the Valarian has been shown to work better if you use it regularly. And what’s best is that I wake up refreshed and not groggy.
I got my valarian at my local Krogers, but you might have to go to a health food store. Make sure it is the extract standardized to at least .8% Valerenic acid.
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