Blood Pressure and Smoking

Very ture; my father died from emphysema. Imagine someone holding a pillow over your face and smothering you, but instead of taking a couple minutes for you to die, they drag it out for 10 years.

 

I fought blood pressure back then. I learned not to smoke prior to a DOT test. (I was up to 4 packs a day... never mind the money wasted...)

I am on blood pressure medication now. It brought my recent 198 over 115 down to 145 over 100 and then 135 over 60 finally stabilizing right around 120 over 80. I stopped the medicine not too long ago. The reason? Other medicines and associated withdrawl symptoms when running out early each month. Cannot win for losing.

This month I was issued special long acting medicine. Im running 90/55 as of this morning and looking for a pot of coffee. Sheesh. If it drops any lower Im fixing to get a pack of smokes haw.

 

great for you.>!!

also remember that lower caffeine intake and added salt, also help in some BP reduction..

Keep it up...you can do it!

 

Nothing beats a great smoke!!!

Elephant caught 'smoking' on camera leaves scientists baffled

 

Nicotine narrows the blood vessels causing a rise in blood pressure. One way to get a low blood pressure reading is to drink large amounts of water to be extra hydrated. This will help wide the vessels and lower blood pressure. It will also cause increased urination which will help flush excess salt out of the body. It has the same affect as a diuretic which is a type of blood pressure medication. It is only a temporary fix.

Caffeine only causes a temporary rise in blood pressure. Caffeine is also considered a diuretic.

 

yeah, my 2 doctors beech me out for not drinking enough water.

i should as i have kidney stones, (had 14 of them) and still have 2 very small ones in me.

the other doctor said the same thing about being hydrated. but as i am driving, i only sip fluids along my route. if i drink too much water, etc, then i'll need to pee more often, and along the highway at night, no highway lights and the boogie man, i really do not wish to pull over.....

 

Water is far more important than people think. Most of us are actually dehydrated.
Typical 200 pound man should be drinking 2 quarts of water a day.

I'd rather not get into details. I'm facing a few problems from goofing off my first four months of driving OTR. Instead of worrying about adapting. Also kinda rebellious to see if my diabetes could go high again. I have the knowledge. For years, exercise offset effects of smoking. I have only smoked cigars the last twenty years. I'm face to face with quitting smoking right now.
Yes I just get by on blood pressure. I know I can adapt to the OTR lifestyle successfully. But that is requiring quitting smoking.
I never did quit because I felt awful anyways. I've learned much lately on why I felt awful. There is great knowledge out there now. Good common horse sense in biology. One great example if anyone is interested is to watch Dr. John Bergman on youtube.
If anyone is interested. I do think that the one best, fastest, lowest time consuming exercise, is probably to do kettlebell swings. Get a ton out of every moment for overall health. Even just doing ten of them a day will bring definite change to a driver OTR. That includes definite change to blood pressure.
EDIT: Also wanted to add. Beware of any medications. Look at the side effects. Every single drug out there is a toxin to your body. Many times, BP medicine causes you having to take 2 or more other medications. It's caused by the BP medication. There are better ways. Look up Dr. Bergman.