.....Edit............

Lookin@U,

I found this article on Dr. Mercola's website. You might find it helpful:

https://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/23/v...deficiency.htm

Sally B.

Here is another link that lists many substances known to lower blood pressure:

https://tinyurl.com/pe579

The page is not suitable to copy here, so I'm only giving the link. One of the items mentioned there that has been known to help lower blood pressure, is the B vitamin Choline. This has been known for years, but I have not seen it mentioned hardly anywhere.

Try breathing exercises.

There's a machine being sold for some $300, Resp-e-rate, and all it's supposed to do is train us to breathe less than 10 breaths a minute with exhalations longer (even double) than inhalation, to be done 15 minutes a day until BP is regularly normal.

I don't think I need a machine for that. Or so I thought. It does take discipline to exercise regularly and this is a form of exercise.

I still haven't bought the machine, but I do practice the breathing exercise when I remember. And it does help to normalize BP almost immediately. The trick is to continue the "training" until BP remains normal.

But why do you even take medications? I'm turning 50 and my BP was 140/100 on the average for the last decade and a half. I never took in any medications and don't think I have to. I notice my BP goes down to "normal" if I lose a few pounds (I'm 210 lbs, 6 ft tall). It also goes to normal after barbell squats (that allows 20 reps), 6 bananas, and a bok choy meal. Garlic is inconsistent in its effects. Water also helps.

So apparently, anything that makes circulation more efficient will "normalize" BP -- oxygen supply, exercise, minerals, water, etc.

BP is a body's response to the need for circulation. Lowering it with drugs may only result in worse.

Gerry

Welcome aboard Gerry. Good to see you here :wink:

Hello Gerry! Great to hear everyone again.

Personally I think too many people medicate without trying alternatives. My BP was always low for most of my life until about 10 years ago when it started going up (I took a prescription drug that caused some adverse effects). About a year ago I started at 188/62 and had it down to under 140/62 until a few things happened. A vacation and then Mar 17th an auto accident.

My Dr first had me take a homeopathic supplement that had Bonito peptides in it and it did help a little bit (20 points). After a few months of that he then put me on an herbal and mineral capsule that has magnesium, potassium and various herbs such as hawthorne and Rauwolfia extract etc. It is called Cardio VH by Empiracal labs. That helped some more (another 20 points).

After the accident and serious chest bruising from the shoulder harness my BP went to 190/133 periodically during the week or so afterwards. It has been taking a lot of breathing exercises, Miracle II, the Cardio VH and then something from Life Zone called Kela Cell Lite to get it down. This latter supplement has specially chelated Albion labs minerals. It has also helped a bit and when I gave up my mugs of tea for several days my BP went down to 123/60. It seems to stay this last few days between 144/62 and 155/70.

Wednesday I'm going in to my Dr's office to see the Naturopath who works with him. She is going to try EFT with me. I'll let you all know how it does.

The breathing exercises I do are from the Oxycise! program. I do them while I am doing my PT.

Lookin@U,

I always thought that deep breathing was the way to go. This is definitely something new to me and others I'm sure. Have you done this yourself?

Sally B.

Here's some other breathing advice for y'all.
_____________________________________

Exhale to Compress the Organs

� Roger Jahnke O.M.D.
(Author of The Healer Within: The Four Essential Self-Care Methods for Creating Optimal Health, Harper-Collins)

Roger Jahnke has been in the health field since 1967 beginning with body therapies, herbal medicine, Tai Chi, Yoga and meditation. He turned his attention seriously to Oriental medicine in 1972 with study at the North American College of Acupuncture in Vancouver, B.C., under Dr. Kok Yeung Leung who now has his school in France. In 1975 Roger transferred to the Tai Hsuan School of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine in Honolulu, Hawaii under the directorship of Dr. L. Siou, where he completed his Master level of study and internship. In this period Qigong (Chi Kung) was particularly alluring.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This method takes the exhalation of the full chest and abdominal breath to a radical extreme that dramatically shifts the pressure in the pelvic, abdominal and chest cavities. The exhalation continues, until it feels as if the body and organs are compressing toward the center. Absolutely every bit of air is expelled, the abdomen presses inward and the anus is pulled upward. It should feel as if the whole body is purposefully collapsing or contracting around the organs and the central core of the body. Momentarily, a deep desire to inhale will be felt. In a relaxed manner allow the diaphragm to drop and the air to rush in to fill the lungs. allow the lungs to fill all the way.

This method can be practiced in a concentrated way for 6 to 20 breaths or it can be done throughout the day as in the previous technique. It unleashes a powerful healing potential that is always with you but rarely utilized.

Application Suggestions:

Health maintenance: 6 to 10 repetitions, 2 to 3 sessions per day.

Health enhancement: 6 to 10 repetitions, 4 to 6 sessions per day.

Disease intervention: Start slowly and build up to 15 to 20 repetitions, once or twice per day. Remember to build up slowly, more is not better.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other columns provide specific instructions for the following breathing practices:
Breathing Practices

Full Chest and Abdominal Breathing

Every Seventh Breath Full and Relaxed

Extending the Inhalation, Extending the Exhalation

Rapid Abdominal Breathing

Abdominal Lift

Alternate Nostril Breathing

Archived columns by Roger Jahnke O.M.D.

https://tinyurl.com/rztg2

Lookin@U,

Yes, almost all of our two acres of mostly pine and oak trees were damaged and we had some damage to our house, although no water got inside and the house was liveable. There is still alot of cleanup going on and many people living in or still waiting for a FEMA trailer. I guess I'm getting used to it although it is still depressing. Won't be long until hurricane season starts again. Makes me nervous thinking about it! I may go to Arizona to visit my mom this summer. No hurricanes there! Do you live where there are hurricanes? Do I know you from another forum?

Sally B.

Years ago a doctor told me I wasn�t breathing enough, and that was causing my insomnia. This was counter to something I read that suggested breathing shallow when trying to fall asleep to raise CO2 levels. I even wonder if CO2 tanks would help.

I found these on the web:

A breathing-retraining procedure in treatment of sleep-onset insomnia: theoretical basis and experimental findings.

Choliz M.

Department of Basic Psychology, University of Valencia, Spain.

Increase in CO2 has a sedative effect upon the central nervous system, and the beginning of sleep coincides with modifications in breathing, decrease in ventilation, and in pCO2 increase. In this paper is described a technique of breathing that is useful in producing drowsiness in a very short time. 46 insomniacs were randomly allocated to either a treatment or control condition. In the former, patients were trained in the breathing process. The control group was taught no breathing process. Latencies to sleep for the insomniacs confirmed that the breathing process was useful in producing drowsiness�


From betterhealth.vic.gov

This article advises to breathe with the diaphragm, not by raising the ribs.

Breathing and stress
The brain sets the breathing rate according to carbon dioxide levels, rather than oxygen levels. When a person is under stress, their breathing pattern changes. Typically, an anxious person takes small, shallow breaths, using their shoulders rather than their diaphragm to move air in and out of their lungs. This style of breathing empties too much carbon dioxide out of the blood and upsets the body's balance of gases. Shallow over-breathing - or hyperventilation - can prolong feelings of anxiety by exacerbating physical symptoms of stress�
� Shallow, upper chest breathing is part of the typical stress response.
� The stress response can be switched off by consciously breathing with the diaphragm.
� Abdominal breathing plugs into the autonomic nervous system and encourages it to relax, bringing about a range of health benefits.