Did your blood pressure go down after retiring?

[swampwiz]

I've recently had to start taking Lisinopril, and this got me thinking.  I was past even my semi-retirement by the time my BP just shot up for no discernible reason, so it wasn't factor for me, but I can only imagine that it would be huge for folks that still in the working grind.

[Mtngrl]

Yes! My husband ran his own business and about six months before he retired, his blood pressure was running high (they were in the middle of a major project). His doctor wanted to put him on medication, but my husband explained he was retiring soon and wanted to hold off. Sure enough, once he handed over the business and retired, BP went right down. (I think it also helped that after retirement, he was able to up his exercise and sleep better as well.)

[BlueHouse]

My blood pressure had been tracking on the high end while I was with Kaiser Permanente.  They use the machines to pump the pressure cuff and always seem to walk away.  They seem to be more painful than other cuffs and I always was afraid that SkyNet would take over and amputate my arm with a blood pressure cuff.  (I did actually have one malfunction and since then demanded that the nurse stay in the room while the machine was on me).

Now that I left Kaiser, I went to a new doctor with both humans and machines taking readings.  My blood pressure is lower just from having people and not robots or robotic-people taking it. 

[Joeko]

In the middle of a 6 month sabbatical and my blood pressure is now in the “safe” range.  Prior to taking a sabbatical I was working 60-70 hours / week and my sleep and blood pressure suffered. 

It amazes me that doctors are so quick to offer meds and not ask about a patients lifestyle.  Best medicine is food, sleep and mindfulness....and limit stress.

[MustachianKentuckian]

How's your diet?  Do you exercise?  I agree with Joeko's post.

[dcheesi]

In the middle of a 6 month sabbatical and my blood pressure is now in the “safe” range.  Prior to taking a sabbatical I was working 60-70 hours / week and my sleep and blood pressure suffered. 

It amazes me that doctors are so quick to offer meds and not ask about a patients lifestyle.  Best medicine is food, sleep and mindfulness....and limit stress.

I wonder if some of that is a sense of futility, since so many folks resist lifestyle changes or don't stick with them long term?

[swampwiz]

How's your diet?  Do you exercise?  I agree with Joeko's post.

I exercise a fairly good amount (i.e., walk a half hour a day. if not more, e.g., when I go alpine skiing).  I have a red-meat-centered diet.

[cerat0n1a]

The link between long-term (as opposed to acute) high BP and stress is surprisingly weak/non-existent. Anxiety, loneliness etc. can obviously have some knock-on effects in terms of diet, drinking, poor sleep etc. but plenty of studies have failed to find a direct link with actual stress.

[Morning Glory]

My blood pressure had been tracking on the high end while I was with Kaiser Permanente.  They use the machines to pump the pressure cuff and always seem to walk away.  They seem to be more painful than other cuffs and I always was afraid that SkyNet would take over and amputate my arm with a blood pressure cuff.  (I did actually have one malfunction and since then demanded that the nurse stay in the room while the machine was on me).

Now that I left Kaiser, I went to a new doctor with both humans and machines taking readings.  My blood pressure is lower just from having people and not robots or robotic-people taking it.

My work has these too. The machine takes the average of three readings. The person is supposed to walk away, the idea being to rule out white-coat hypertension.

The DASH diet actually has some evidence behind it. Mediterranean is not bad either.

[rantk81]

It's different for everyone. For me, it is genetic. No amount of diet or exercise would bring me down to the normal range until I started taking a pill for it.

For a period I was doing 30 mins of jogging, 5 days per week on an ultra low sodium diet for several months.... And jt did absolutely nothing for my blood pressure readings. 

I have my own pressure cuff, and I take and log my BP daily. I wish I had been put on the lills earlier in life.