Blood Pressure Pills

Hello ladies,
I have a quick question for anyone on BP Pills. I was curious about what everyones "normal" BP is now that your on pills. I take two one is Coreg and the other is Lisinopril. I dont know what my normal was before my Heart Attack, but I know now its normally in the low 70's over the upper 40's to low 50's. Does anyone else have this low pressure? My doc says its where they want it, says its supposed to help my heart heal, but nothing has improved and its been a year, my EF is still about 25% or thats what it was back in Feb. I dont know if they will do another Echo or not. I had my mom shocked when I was with her last week and they took her BP at the dr, she said I have "LOW" BP always have, I laughed and said oh really mine is normally 70's over 40's. She said wow that is low, but she is not on BP pills lol. I feel fine most of the time, I'll get a little dizzy if I stand up too fast or if I've been playing on the floor with my daughter and stand up, but for the most part I dont notice the low points anymore. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond ladies.
Best wishes to all, Misty

By LadyLisa
Posted September 12, 2009 at 12:46 pm
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Wow, I thought mine was low because it's in the low 90's over 40's in the morning. I'm also on Coreg, Atacand, and a host of other meds. My problem wasn't ever the systolic, it was the bottom number. Different issues, similar drugs. But they also slowed mine as much as they could so that it wouldn't "stress" the hear. One of the biggest frustrations from my perspective in addition to the dissiness is weight gain. Oh the life of heart disease. At least we're still here!

By kardia
Posted September 13, 2009 at 12:43 pm
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Hi Misty,

Did I understand you now have 70 over 40 or 50s? What was your normal?

Jeez, it is all individual of course, just so you know Coreg is known for its abiity to lower the BP. I took it for about two months, and they took me off because mine was around 80 over 50, my normal was around 100 over 70s approx...but the reality was I could not stand up without wanting to faint. I was one of those fainting goats...fortunately, my condition is not so dependent on it, that they could take me off of it.

My experience from my cardiologists is that they want me to feel good and have a high quality of life, so they are always working with me to find a new way to treat my symptoms to provide for it. Again, I may not have the same conditions, though they are talking about the possibility of heart transplant if all their treatments to work. We are hoping that won't happen of course.

Hang in there...oh the echo, not sure why they are not doing one, I have cardio myopathy and get one every year at least laterly every six months. Is it an insurance issue. Sometimes, I ask for tests they want me to wait for, but because I am so convinced I need one, they reconsider. Your doctor may do the same if you are committed to what you think you need. I don't get everything, of course because I am not a doctor, but I try to keep up on reading and be pro active.

You are too by writing on this blog.

best....
kardia

By martzj
Posted September 13, 2009 at 10:22 pm
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Hey Misty,

The proverbial rock and the hard place kind of situation. Because you are still in the first year + of recovery, it is important to give the heart a chance to build up some steam again. Yours is being shoved pretty close that line for now. Mine was kept almost that low the first year and a half. After a few scary moments, I learned to always rise or change positions slowly if possible. It was hard to hang onto a small squiggly child, very hard to do that and not faint sometimes.....but we do get through it.

Like you, I never had high bp before or after heart attacks, so taking beta blockers continues to challenge my energy levels. I've been experimenting with not taking morning doses (12.5mg Coreg) except during ovulation and pms phases when things get extra wacky.

But I am 15 years out from the first heart attacks and know what my body can tolerate and how much I can push the heart at my current age, 54. Our hearts evolve and change along with us and hormonal phases are important to consider when figuring out how to work your heart medication - daily non-negotiable activity strategies. And it is a strategy....long term and short term.

The beta blockers may be one of the most non-intuitive medications for younger women ever. Just when you are on your knees praying for MORE energy to get through another long day of kid wrangling (smile), it's time to take another dose that adds an invisible 50 pound weight to your shoulders. sigh I learned to stay close to something I could grab onto for support at times the fainting thing kept coming and coming when I had a child on hip.

I've never quite adjusted to having to take beta blockers on the days when I was getting hammered the hardest by heavy periods......or extreme shortness of breath, chest squeezies during ovulation (time of month I had heart attack). Just want you to know all this junk is survivable if you do what you can to stay pretty even and calm, step back and watch what antics your body is up to each particular day.....and what you may need to do to adjust to help yourself hour to hour on the hardest days.

The one thing that is almost a certainty for you youngest women who come here is the fast approaching barrage of stem cell breakthroughs for cardiac patients. Everything from regrowing new cardiac muscle cells to entire arteries...all using the patient's own stem cells so there is no worry about rejection.

Have a lovely day tomorrow. Take it slow rising and turning, bending and lifting kids.

Jaynie

By nanamo
Posted September 14, 2009 at 6:57 am
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i take both meds too and my bp has stayed low since my icd implanted in 08 they have cut back my lasix and my coreg to try and help with the low bp i was having bad headaches and all and it has helped i think its just something we have to live with like my cardio said your body starts to get immuned to the meds so they change alot which i get upset about becasue you ahve to adjust once again but aslong as they keep me ticking i am ok
mine stays low

god bless
surviving heart disease one day at a time
with trigger 04/08
for 10 years
nanamo

By Misty1482
Posted September 14, 2009 at 12:08 pm
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LadyLisa-
thank you for responding. Its nice to know other women have low bp too. LOL. I dont think I ever had any problems with bp up until my heart attack and they put me on pills to lower it so my heart could heal. Its been over a year and i dont think anything has gotten worse, but nothing has gotten better either. But I'm alive to see my kids do all these wonderful things.

By Misty1482
Posted September 14, 2009 at 12:16 pm
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Kardia-
I dont know when they will do another test. I'm kinda scared to have another echo done, because I dont want to be told nothing has improved. I go again to my cardio next month. This disease scares me so much. I dont want or need more bad news...then again who does..lol. I dont know what my normal was pre HA so I cant answer that one..lol. I was pregnant and they say its normally a little higher when your pregnant. I never paid attention when they told me what the numbers were because I dont understand what they mean. I guess I should have asked questions. I would love to know what the numbers mean (upper and lower). I'm just one of those people that like to get in and get out...lol.

By Misty1482
Posted September 14, 2009 at 12:25 pm
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Jaynie,
I really hope they can get the stem cell studies to work. They have my babys cord. Said it was a perfect match and that it had lots of cells they can use. We didnt have the money to put it in storage, so the doctors got together and raised the money for us. Ch 12 just did a story on me and my baby along with the Dr here who has done similar studies. They did an awesome job on it. I know that Haley can use them too, if something would ever come up, but hopefully she wont have to need them. I just wish one day if not within the next few years, that at least maybe by the time my kids are old enough, they will be able to use them for the heart. Technology is amazing anymore. The things they come up with and can use.

I have definitely learned to stand up slow except when my 'human vaccum' puts something in her mouth. I can vaccum until I'm blue but she will find something the vaccum missed...lol. Little crapper. I have had felt the fainting part at first when I would hold her. And I would hand her to my husband and take some deep breathes. Or I will put her down on the floor cuz I'm not sure if it would go away or get worse. Luckily they go away.

By Misty1482
Posted September 14, 2009 at 12:30 pm
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Nanamo-
I have gotten "used" to the pills, even though I still feel the dizziness sometimes, I just hope they dont lower my bp anymore. I dont know if my body will handle that..lol. My main dr told me they were finally at my goal, but then her nurse tried to lower it more, I said I thought they were happy with my meds now. she said oh ok, then we will leave them alone. I just sat there and thought what just happened, does she not know what she is doing??? I'm always happy when I dont have to deal with her nurse. She just seems a little out there at times, nice lady, just out there. lol.

Thank you all for responding to my post. It means a lot to me.
Misty

By AZMommy
Posted September 15, 2009 at 1:56 pm
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Hey Misty,
Before I found out about my heart my BP was on avg 80/55. I am on the same meds as you are and am now holding steady at 95/69 first thing in the am. The docs sd this is where they want me at. I'm on 25mg of coreg (2x per day) and 2.5 lisinipril. I'm still adjusting to the meds. I don't have the human vacuums anymore-now I have the little 'sneaky snoops'. It's true when it's too quiet they are up to something they should be doing! I forget and jump up and usually end up having to crawl back to the couch. If I remember to get up slow it's ok. When they first up the dose of coreg I thought I was going to pass out all the time! I was terrified to be alone with my kids in case I fainted. It's all getting better though.
That sounds pretty amazing what your docs did to keep your stem cells! Seems like you have a really great support team with your doctors aboard.
Take it easy-and remember, kids think it's cool if you're crawling around on the ground with them. You just gotta put on the mama smile and breathe through it. I like to think of Finding Nemo when I'm trying to avoid passing out-instead of just keep swimming, swimming swimming like Dori says...I like to tell myself breathing, breathing, breathing (if it gets stuck in your head for the next day don't hate me, ok?) The kids find it funny that I'm messing it up.

Just Keep Swimming - Finding Nemo

By Misty1482
Posted September 15, 2009 at 4:52 pm
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Girl you are crazy. I laughed my butt off when I heard that song and imagined myself crawling on the floor saying just keep breathing just keep breathing and my daughter laughing because at 13 months everything is funny. Thank you for your support. I love the song and I wont get upset if it stays in my head. I'll just start singing out loud and let my husband look at me like I'm nuts..LOL.

But seriously I take 12.5 mg of coreg twice a day and 10 mg of lisinopril twice a day. My 8 year old is my sneaky one. He has ADHD so if you dont hear him, I know he is into something. Normally its just flat out doing something he knows he is not supposed to. I wanna get a tape recorder that says are you done with your homework yet, cuz I'm so tired of repeating myself. LOL.
Thank you for the laugh and support.

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