Living With High Blood Pressure: a Guide

High blood pressure affects many people worldwide, and it can be an enormously serious and worrying condition to live with. The good news is that you have the power and ability to change this by starting on medication, adopting a more healthy lifestyle, cutting out salt, losing weight if you’re carrying excess weight, and cutting back on caffeine, for example. 

High blood pressure can lead to more serious complications such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease, so it’s in your best interests to focus on changing how you live your life and adapting to a future of living with high blood pressure. 

Be Prepared to Take Medication 

You may not always need to, but if your blood pressure is exceptionally high, you will be prescribed medication to help bring your levels down. Some people with hypertension can find that they take meds as part of a healthy lifestyle and that, eventually, they can come off them altogether when their blood pressure reaches within a healthy level. So, don’t be alarmed and disheartened thinking that you’re going to have to rely on taking pills every day for the rest of your life. 

Also be aware that you might want to take supplements alongside medication to ease symptoms of pain, inflammation, depression, and deficiencies. For more ideas of what might benefit you, visit Health Monthly, and always check with a medical doctor before starting to take supplements if you’re also on medication too. 

Ditch The Salt 

You need to be prepared to make a huge cutback on the amount of salt you put into your body. Unfortunately, many ready prepared food and snacks are already saturated in high levels of sodium, and so when you go to add extra salt on your meals, you’re only making matters a lot worse. Adding salt to food can be a habit, so you must try your very best to unlearn it. Try adding just pepper, and negating the need for salt altogether. Don’t have salt in your house – stop buying it altogether. Try to avoid ready meals, and cook from scratch so that you can monitor what you’re cooking with.

Reduce Stress 

Stress levels can send your blood pressure sky high, so wherever you can, avoid stress like the plague. Do this by getting to bed earlier and winding down effectively in the evening by enjoying a bath, listening to relaxing music, and avoiding stimulants like caffeine and technology. Don’t be afraid to say no to people if you feel as though you’ve already got enough on your plate. 

Stress hormones affect everyone in different ways, but since you’re living with high blood pressure, the most simple of tasks can be ever-the-more challenging and straining. So, you need to look after yourself by taking time to exercise, preparing your own meals, working up a healthy sweat for at least thirty minutes in each day, and keeping track of your own blood pressure with the help of a monitor at home. Do this to keep on eye on your health, and to be able to start getting some idea of when it’s highest and lowest. From here, you might be able to figure out contributing factors and then learn to stop or reduce them.