Hypertension, A fib - DIY treatment?

Rhansen

Jedi Council Member
FOTCM Member
First some background in rough chronological order:

In February 2018 I was having what felt like persistent heartburn (that I couldn't shake) and then the pain moved into my right arm. Visit the emergency room; BP was high, ekg normal, troponin high. I end up with 1 stent placed (via angioplasty). IIRC I had a 100% blockage in a non-critical place.

Cardiologist prescribes a slew of drugs, then we proceed to 'haggle' over affordability of prescriptions and side effects. Meanwhile, I have a stress test (imaging/ekg/treadmill) and am told it looks good.
I stop taking my meds for 4-5 months (side effects) and have an episode of atrial fibrillation (pounding heart, shortness of breath) that gets captured on the ekg (I went back to the ER – Jan. 2019).
ER referred me to another specialist who prescribed me metoprolol tartrate 50mg 2x/day and said I didn't need to take any of the other prescriptions (lol). Also recommended I purchase a bluetooth ekg device and record with it periodically (which I hadn't done until very recently when I was gifted such a device).

I am - 50 yo male, 6'1”, ~230#, smoker
During this period my typical (resting) blood pressure was 120/80 and pulse of 60.
I have had a few, milder episodes of A fib before Jan. 2019 but did not know what they were.
I was only insured in 2019.

Roughly 10 days ago I start feeling a bit 'off' for lack of a better description, and noticing an increase (number & severity) in chest pains. ** There were always 'twinges' after the stent was placed, almost as if I could feel it.** I borrowed my mother-in-law's blood pressure cuff and at one point saw my blood pressure rise to 190/105. Back to the ER. EKG/troponin levels ok, my BP was 167/100 on arrival and dropped back to 135/95 on it's own in 2 hrs time. I wonder if I didn't worry myself into the extreme (for me) high blood pressure...
May 26, have a follow up visit with the cardiologist. Am told I need to lower my cholesterol (no numbers handy) and blood pressure via two new prescriptions. I don't know what they are (yet) other than the cholesterol drug is not a statin and the BP drug has “dry cough” as a potential side effect (lol). I told the doctor to write the prescriptions and I would decide whether or not I will take them.

I would like to not rely on any prescription meds and have begun to research options. First thing I did was try some montmorency cherry since I remembered seeing this article: Skip the meds: Montmorency cherry juice as effective at reducing high blood pressure as medication -- Sott.net
which seems to work for me (plus it's tasty lol). Typical resting BP now is 125/85.
While reading here I saw some interesting info on pycnogenol and it looks like I should have been taking it all along...
 
You can stabilize further with complementary therapies: grounding, supplements (magnesium, etc), cleaning up your diet from inflammatory foods (biggest culprits - too many refined/processed carbs, dairy). You can lower your blood pressure and keep your stent clean with pomegranate juice and/or supplements. Pycnogenol should keep your blood thin enough as well. Check out these threads for more info:



 
Also if you want to reduce stress levels I would advise to start some form of meditation regularly. Especially Eiriu Eolas (we call it EE) is very good at reducing stress levels by increasing your parasympathetic (vagal) tone.

You can find more information here: Eiriu Eolas - if you haven’t come across it already!
 
thanks again for all the info.
Looking forward to reading Human Heart, Cosmic Heart.
It might also take me a minute to read through the EE thread ;)
Beginning to develop supplementation a protocol, pic of work in progress.
WiP.jpg

I think the sucralose from the tart cherry supplement is giving me gas. I read that some people don't digest it so well.
This morning I halved the amount I am taking and took it with food and extra water to perhaps buffer the effect. So far so good...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lys
So I had a second heart attack on the 27th. Started having mild pain in my right arm the night before and then chest pains starting around 11:30 on the 27th. Made a trip to the ER and was told they could find nothing wrong and that I should schedule a stress test for later in the week. After a few hours at home and still in pain I decided to go back to the ER (different hospital this time - on my daughter's advice) and ended up with another stent placed (I had a partial blockage). When I asked about the apparent discrepancy in course of action I was told by the second ER doc that it can take several hours for troponin levels to rise and show up on a blood test.

It would seem that my protocols aren't enough and based on previous experience I need to really restrict the carbs more than I have been. I have never done Keto but had excellent results in the past when restricting myself to no more than 60g of carbohydrate daily (most days I was closer to 30g total). This will mean little to no juice - so I guess I will need to rely on capsules...

Current prescriptions are: :-/
clopidogrel 75mg - 1x/day
metoprolol succinate er 25mg - 1x/day
ezetimibe 10mg - 1x/day
aspirin 81mg - 1x/day

Supplements are more or less as above with the addition of iodine (lugol's) which I've gradually ramped up to 40mg daily (8 drops of 2%, 2x/day) and intermittent use of melatonin.
Still procrastinating on the EE (occasional pipe breathing is all).
 
I see you are already taking a lot of supplements. For blood pressure and blood vessel health, you might also look at olive leaf extract, rutin, and mukta vati. Also high doses of Vitamin C helped my pressure.

If you are interested in the emotional side of things, there's a good book called "Healing Hypertension" with a thread here Healing Hypertension: A Revolutionary New Approach

Are you doing any exercise at all, such as walking?
 
Hello Rhansen, I see you are having a tough time of it lately. I just wanted to add that I also have suffered from Atrial Fibrillation, I am a few years older than you. It was a result of my heart running out of electrolytes, after a 'forced' period of starvation following an operation. I was prescribed Sotalol which is a kind of salt, and that fixed the problem. My cardiologist also prescribed daily low dose Aspirin, which I took for a week.. a friend of mine was on it it and he started to bleed at the slightest cut and so he stopped taking it as well.
Best Wishes.
 
After a few hours at home and still in pain I decided to go back to the ER (different hospital this time - on my daughter's advice) and ended up with another stent placed (I had a partial blockage). When I asked about the apparent discrepancy in course of action I was told by the second ER doc that it can take several hours for troponin levels to rise and show up on a blood test.
Sorry to hear about that.

Taking all the prescribed medications will be important while your body creates a biological lining for the new stent.

Speedy recovery!
 
I see you are already taking a lot of supplements. For blood pressure and blood vessel health, you might also look at olive leaf extract, rutin, and mukta vati. Also high doses of Vitamin C helped my pressure.

If you are interested in the emotional side of things, there's a good book called "Healing Hypertension" with a thread here Healing Hypertension: A Revolutionary New Approach

Are you doing any exercise at all, such as walking?
Thank you and I will look into those.
My BP has typically been 135/90 in the evenings and 125/85 in the mornings. Not horrible accd. to some but not ideal either. How much Vit. C are we talking? I take 3g/day at a minumum and rarely exceed 6g/day.
As far as excercise, my job is relatively physical (even demanding - at times) but I think I should add in some additional activity. I used to be a bit of a fitness enthusiast but not so much lately...

@MusicMan - FWIW I have not had a confirmed episode of Afib since 2019. I have however had some indeterminite results with the Cardia device (pocket ekg if you're not familiar) but no events like the one that caused me to go to the ER.
I get cuts at work all the time, so it won't be long before I know how much of a bleeder I will be.;-)

@Gaby - understood and here's hoping for no side effects :-)
 
My BP has typically been 135/90 in the evenings and 125/85 in the mornings. Not horrible accd. to some but not ideal either. How much Vit. C are we talking? I take 3g/day at a minumum and rarely exceed 6g/day.
As far as excercise, my job is relatively physical (even demanding - at times) but I think I should add in some additional activity. I used to be a bit of a fitness enthusiast but not so much lately...
Those B/P readings are with the drug you are taking? Not bad if you can stand the side effects which you mentioned. I was taking 5000-10,000 mg of C per day, but each person is different. Andrew Saul's website has much information on using C and other supplements. Here's an article talking about heart disease: Heart Disease and Vitamin E.

Each person is different, but I do believe our bodies can be self healing if we give them the right treatment. And I don't believe our bodies are calling out for drugs! The symptoms we get are telling us to correct something in our way of eating, thinking, or doing (or not doing).

Best wishes to you on your road to recovery.
 
Those B/P readings are with the drug you are taking?
That was while taking 25mg metoprolol tartrate 1/day (1/4 of the prescribed dose before this new drug regimen).
B/P right this minute is 125/81 and I just walked by a television interview of Dr Fauci lol :nuts:
Vit E intake had been 200 iu daily, recently upped it to 400... this product

Haven't noticed any side effects from the new prescriptions yet. Will see how I do after a week or more back at work.
 
Found out the hard way that taking ezetimibe together with my other prescriptions makes me sick to my stomach and fatigued.
I have incorporated olive leaf extract and rutin (via dietary sources) into my protocol, can't say I noticed any difference.
Managed to get an iron panel and lipids tested recently, my GP had zero interest in helping me get this done. I found an independent lab to do the work instead.
Still need to get copies of my medical records, some folks repeatedly dropping the ball so I will have take a more direct approach moving forward...

results.jpg

If I understand these results correctly, my iron load is not terrible but it wouldn't be a bad idea to donate some blood.
Also IIRC it appears my lipid profile is beginning to improve, sure would be nice to have those medical records on hand :rolleyes:
 
I have incorporated olive leaf extract and rutin (via dietary sources) into my protocol, can't say I noticed any difference.
Herbs and food sources work slowly, helping to build your systems. So not noticing any difference does not mean they are not helping.
 
More blood work done:


8.18.2021.a.jpg
8.18.2021.b.jpg


Seems the IP-6 helped lower ferritin a bit - am unable to donate blood due to recent surgeries plus I stopped taking it while recovering from an appendectomy.
Not sure at all what is going on with the lipids, time to dig I guess.
I did drop ~25 pounds (holding around 200 pounds now) and have been following a low carb regimen - not that it shows on my blood work. :umm:
Still getting stonewalled by the doctors office on my medical records as well.
 
Back
Top Bottom