I was really sick a few days ago and I was trying to avoid going to the doctors as much as possible and finally ended up at the doctor's office. When the assistant took my blood pressure he mumbled one number of 140 and told me I was border line high blood pressure. The doctor saw me and never mentioned anything about my blood pressure. This isn't the first time I've been told I have border line high blood pressure from assistants/nurses taking my readings.
I asked one doctor about it and he said I just need to watch it because I'm border line and sometimes it's low when I come in.

I'm really not sure what to do as I've been looking around on ways to lower my blood pressure naturally. I already exercise 5-6 days a week. I don't drink coffee only hot tea and I feel my diet is probably better than most people even though I'm sure there's room for improvements. I do eat lunch out often, so it's hard to determine the sodium I'm getting during lunch. I did read that foods high in potassium counter sodium. I eat half a banana every morning with my protein shake, which has 60mg of sodium.

The one issue I've always had is with stress and anxiety. I can stress and lose sleep over things that most people would just fall asleep without a second thought, but my mind tosses and turns at night and I've improved my sleep but not my stress and anxiety levels. The only thing I take for that is St. John's wart, which I do feel it helps put me in a better mood and I sleep a lot of times better. I'm far from having depression, but not sure what else I can do or take for stress?

The only supplement I'm seeing some studies on is coenzyme Q10. Not sure if I should start taking this daily?

I'm in my mid 30's s well

CoQ is a good one, so is drinking hibiscus tea. Magnesium and potassium help also.

I use capsules of skullcap herb to deal with my high blood pressure. I take a capsule before bed, which works well for me. It is a medical myth that we cannot tell if our blood pressure is elevated. I am well aware of when my pressure spikes.

Thanks for the recommendations
I'm actually reading more and more about hibiscus tea, which I might start trying it soon. I've read you should avoid caffeine, which I do drink green tea every morning and I took my readings before green tea and after the few cups I drink and noticed it does get worse.

I'm thinking about trying to drink hibiscus tea after lunch at my office as I would have time to brew it then.

I had a similar blood pressure or prehypertension. My doctor told me to exercise more and eat healthy and also check the blood pressure on a weekly basis. I would go to the local drug store to use one of the blood pressure machines. I was already eating pretty good but I wasn't exercising. I started walking and biking more and was able to drop my blood pressure down. If you're already eating and exercising, then I don't know what to tell you. Is there a lot of sodium in your diet or is the exercise you are doing more strength and not as much cardio?

I lift weights 3 days a week and do cardio 2 days a week. I was going through some stress at the time. I am taking cq10 twice a day and now my blood pressure is about

110/70 , which it was 140/95 I don't know if it's the CQ10 that changed, less stress or what caused the drop. I drink hibisicous tea, but not often. Strange how I went from years of hearing it was borderline to now lower than average.

I was monitoring it every day, but now it's probably 2 times a week.

I'm wondering if there are any long term effects from taking CQ10 though

High dosages of CoQ10, such as more than 100 or 200 mg, can induce restlessness, insomnia and fatigue. Long term side effects of high dose intake are not clear at this time. In mice, prolonged use shows impaired cognitive function. We are not mice.

Remember that your body produces CoQ10 already. No more than 50 mg should even be necessary on a daily basis. In some supplements, more is not necessarily better. The best food sources are meat, fish, nuts, and some oils. Much lower amounts come from dairy, fruits, vegetables, and cereals. That depends upon geographical origin.

Many scientists believe it is actually the oxidation of LDL that causes atherosclerosis and not the mere presence of LDL. CoQ10 has been demonstrated to be a very powerful antioxidant for the prevention of LDL oxidation... many times more powerful than vitamins E or C. By preventing LDL oxidation, CoQ10 reduces the likelihood of developing coronary heart disease.

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- Jim

�Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.� Sir Winston Churchill

Thanks jfh
I'm taking 200mgs a day and I've been taking it for awhile. I was taking it not just for my blood pressure, but after reading that there were study it increased sperm mobility and count and we were trying to have a baby, so I figured taking it might help two things. I think I've been on it for a month maybe going on two months and wasn't going to get more when I ran out.

I don't think it's done much to me as far as sleep/energy, but I guess I'll see when I get off of it.

It would be good to cut back to 30 or 50 mgs, when you run out. It is beneficial for very many things.

High blood pressure can have numerous causes. That's why it is difficult to find something that will cure it for each individuals. Even beet powder is good, since it promotes nitric oxide, so does exercise. Hawthorn berry is good. So is hibiscus tea. So many things. Serrapeptase and nattokinase are enzymes that help to clean out the arteries. I'm sure I've left out several other things. Metal chelation can help as well.

Too bad, because most things don't work overnight. They normally only take down the pressure in small increments too.

Believe me. I've tried several and still am. Current BP averages 158/85. I am not seeing a dr.

CoQ10 at 200mg per day is not a high dose. In fact, I personally take 400mg per day and have been doing so for years.

Keep in mind its not what you take, its what you absorb, and the older you get the less you absorb.

Another important point is that there are two forms of CoQ10, one is oxidized and the other is not. The non-oxidized form is considered to be body ready since the body does not have to first convert it.

CoQ10 generally comes in gel caps, since an oil is included as a carrier. To determine which form you have, poke the gel cap with a pin and a small amount of fluid will come out. If this fluid is orange, this is the oxidized form, and if the fluid is white, this is the non-oxidized "body ready" form.

You can also tell by the price, since the non-oxidized CoQ10 is much more expensive..

I'm getting off Cq10 for a little while, especially since I've struggled with sleep most of my life. If anything can even remotely effect my sleep I'd rather not take it. Right now it seems that my blood pressure is below what is normal, so I'll see what happens when I get off of it. I've tried to include things in my diet that are known for lowering blood pressure as well.

It's been on the news that people who drink black tea have lower blood pressure, it was 10% lower. My father has high blood pressure and got off of coffee and drinks green tea and his blood pressure has dropped a lot and he's off meds.

Hubby takes Blackmores executive B for stress, and olive leaf extract for blood pressure.
Beetroot juice is good also for lowering BP.

I've been tracking my blood pressure for awhile. It started up at about 140 over 85 give or take. Now I'm at about 115 over 70, which I'm actually pretty shocked how low it's gone. I've mostly changed what I consume daily and if there's any added benefit for blood pressure I try to take it. I haven't taken CQ10 in about a month though, but my father takes CQ10 daily and he thinks it's helping his blood pressure.

I make a shake every morning and I now add greek yogurt as well as grounded flax seeds. I think the grounded flax seeds might have helped a little bit.

At night I drink a mix of Rooibos tea with hibiscus tea every single night. I orginally got hibiscus tea because I kept reading how good it's for blood pressure, but stopped taking it because of the possiblity that it would interfer with fertility as we were trying to have a child. No issue having a baby, so now I'm making a mix of rooibos and hibiscus tea every night and it's lowered my blood pressure.

Before drinking the tea my blood pressure was about 125 over 80 give or take and now drinking the tea every night it's lowered a lot more to about 113 over 70 on most days.

I've always exercised 4-5 days a week, but really impressed how much my blood pressure has changed from food/drinking changes