Hi I am normally a very healthy 70yo only med is for thyroid. Have had a prob with white coat hypertension in the past but overcame it and my bp averaged around 130/70 at home. I walk 2miles daily, vegetarian, ideal weight, low cholesterol etc etc. I have some herbal learning and make my own hawthorne/yarrow/linden tincture and was taking it once daily, also tsp kylolic liquid garlic/C.B.E.CoQ10/fish oil. Well thanks to an ignorant MD who prescribed a compound for my thyroid when Armour became unavailable and didn't check my blood work I went hyper and ended up in ER with A-Fib Thank God I made it and was sent home on beta blocker. Of course my bp was sky high too (only good thing was I lost 7lbs which put me in my teenage weight) LOL. Have switched docs and they are starting me back carefully on thyroid meds. Anyway, now I am back to being scared when I take bp at home and trying to deal with that by trying to relax while taking it etc etc but am getting high systolic to begin with (150) diastolic good. I just read Dr Sinatra's new book re heart and started on L-Carnitine/magnesium(Jarrow magnesium optimizer that also has a little potassium)/higher CoQ10 (200mg a day) have ordered Jarrow's Pressure Optimzer plus upped my tincture to 3 xday today. The cardio at ER recommended daily baby aspirin which I am against but did take during the first week but today bought some natto capsules and wondering if anyone has used it in lieu of aspirin (just while my bp is tending to be high). Have cut the beta blocker dose in half and then next week in half again etc until I am off it as it makes it impossible for me to really have a good walk which must be counterproductive to my health. Any recommendations welcomed, particularly others who have worked on getting their bp down. anneh

Sounds like you are on the right track. the things I would add would be to strengthen your cardiovascular system in general and that would be vitamin c 2,000 mg per day, 4,000 if you smoke, silica in the form of vegital silica, which will increase the strength of the vascular walls, and a reversotrol product for more general antioxidant protection.

At the age of 70 a leading cause of problems is blood clots leading to stroke so you want your blood a little thin which the natto will help with but a good vitamin K2, will help too, as well as the C, look at vitamin K2 from Jarrow. Cayenne pepper can be kept at close access for cardiac or BP crisis. The vasio dialation it can provide almost instantly can be a life saver.,

For your thyroid look into iodine supplementation. search iodine on this site and many articles will come up.

What is the deal with armour? I heard that there was a shortage of thyroid medication going on. Anyone know anything about that?

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Seems the main supplier decided to reformulate the product and it didnt work as good. I think they are returning to the old formulation but it will take time. The old formulation of Armour had worked well for over 80 years. A clear case of "If it ain't broke dont try and fix it"

https://www.rcfhl.com/healthy-living-...-shortage.html

Don't forget about vitamin D3 and blood pressure, heart health etc etc. If you're not taking 5000 units daily, then you can start taking 10000 units or more for awhile, month or two, and get your levels checked using ZRT labs (via vitamindcouncil.com) $70. ZRT is a good lab. Some others vary quite a bit.

And I would avoid aspirin, using ginger instead. Same effect but with no negative side effects. About 1/2 teaspoon daily. And watch out if you already take Vit E, and/or Ginko. These also reduce platelet stickiness. So does olive oil. If your ears start ringing you may be taking too much of something.

Try to reduce fructose and increase veggies, organic preferably. Fructose is not so good for heart health I've read, whereas veggies are very good with all the minerals. Nuts are good too with the iodine, magnesium, natural Vit E etc. Brazil nuts are high in iodine. An iodine supplement is good too, like Iodoril.

Some blurbs I've noted on aspirin- (a bit old).

Lancet Journal (England) says if you take Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) while on aspirin therapy, your risk of heart attack INCREASES by a factor of 2! These drugs interact negatively.

Amer. Heart Journal- If you've had a heart attack, you are usually told to take aspirin or warfarin, a blood thinner. They studied 279 patients and found that after 2 years, neither had any benefit compared to a placebo. AND, the aspirin folks had TWICE the risk of another heart attack or stroke!

Women who take aspirin have increased risk of pancreatic cancer, even with just a couple per week, if done regularly. The risk can be upwards of 86% higher for 14 or more tablets/week.
"These findings, if confirmed, add another variable to the complex risk-benefit profile of aspirin," said Eva Schernhammer, M.D., of Harvard University Medical School, and lead investigator of the study.
(What an understatement).

I tried aspirin for awhile and it just gave me a headache which I never get, and another guy has been on aspirin and has an unexplained headache and ringing ears. He's going to stop the aspirin. BP was also 130+ but this really is not bad for older people. And there was another study showing that bring bp down to 120 actually was worse (reported at spacedoc.net- the statin info site).

Anneh, It sounds like you've got plenty of good information. I will only add that I read that though potassium is helpful for reducing blood pressure it has to be balanced with sodium. BUT according to "Prescription for Drug Alternatives" by James F. Balch M.D.; Mark Stengler, N.D. and Robin Young Balch, N.D. "Because some beta-blockers decrease the uptake of potassium from the blood, avoid high-potassium foods, salt substitutes, and potassium supplements".
That's it from me, good luck!