The QueenResults from the March experiment were big. I hit a milestone in my blood pressure readings this month, which makes all of my efforts feel worthwhile. Just three months in.
First, let’s talk meditation.
The goal for March was to meditate three times per week. We added this on top of the January goal, which was to practice yoga three times per week, and the February goal, which was to eliminate added sugar from our diet. All with the goal of lowering my blood pressure.
My husband and I do yoga after work, typically Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And I usually yawn a bit at the beginning of each workout. At first I found this odd. But I’ve realized that maybe that happens because I haven’t really taken a deep breath all day. All of a sudden, I’m opening up my lungs, taking in oxygen. After sitting at my computer all day, holding my breath.
So it made sense to incorporate meditation into my lunch hour, to give me a break from work in the middle of the day and maybe give myself a second chance to breathe. Also, a nap taken once or twice a week in the daytime may lower the risk of heart attacks or strokes, according to a study published in BMJ (a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the British Medical Association).
Wait. Napping? Am I napping?
To answer that, let me tell you about the guided meditation app I’m using.
Tools We Used
(Not sponsored.) I started using The Harmony Hypnosis Meditation app years ago, for my son who has ADHD. There are several guided meditations for sleep and focus and anxiety, all of which he has found helpful. Then I started using the app for myself, on the occasion when I would lay in bed, unable to settle down and sleep, instead going over and over things in my head. You know what I mean, right? The anxiety spiral.
Am I feeding the kids the right foods? Do they need a tutor? Should I let them quit soccer and teach them to follow their instincts, or make them stick it out and teach them something about commitment? What decisions will screw them up the LEAST?
Don’t get me wrong, I have anxiety about other things too. But my kids are generally my #1 concern, so that’s the rabbit hole I usually go down.
In the past, I treated this app like reactionary medicine, using it on an as-needed basis. And it worked great for that. But. Now, I’m switching my life focus to work on preventative, actionable measures, instead of reactionary ones. And that’s where this app came into play this month.
Each meditation provides a “with wake up” or “without wakeup” option. So, you go under the hypnosis and they either bring you out of it at the end, or just let you fade into sleep.
On meditation days, I’d curl up onto the sofa in my office, cover myself with a blanket, and set the meditation to “without wakeup” and sometimes I would go to sleep, other times I would not. The first time I went to sleep, I woke up a few minutes after the meditation was over. And I felt SO refreshed. I’d never really understood what a “power nap” was until that moment.
The way I look at it is this: if my body needs to nap, I will nap. For a minute or two. Until my kids scream at each other or the dog barks at the Amazon delivery guy. If my body is good without it, I won’t nap. I give my body the grace to make that decision on its own during the meditation process.
FREE APP: While the above app does cost money (I bought a lifetime subscription for $150, I *think*), my husband downloaded the free Medito app to use for his meditation routine. He’s a veteran with a long history of PTSD and he really appreciates the guided meditations for stress and anxiety. He says it starts with a “how to” sort of meditation, for those who are new to it.
I also utilized the alarm function on my phone, the same way I did when setting an alarm for yoga. My mediation alarm goes off every day at noon. Even if I’m not meditating that day, I’m reminded to take a breath, or take a break, or get up and walk around. Or all of the above. As a work-from-home mom with two kids homeschooling, I have a ton of alarms. So I changed the tone on the meditation and yoga alarms to Elliott’s Smith’s Between the Bars, and now, relaxation is triggered before I even start those routines.
If you remember from The Plan, habit triggers are very important to forming sustainable patterns in your life.
Data Notes
The second week of February, our local officials announced we were one of the first counties in Texas to confirm an active case of the UK variant of COVID-19. A Zoom call was held, in which the chief of medicine at a local hospital and an epidemiologist recommended a regime of supplements to help boost the immune system, so that if we did get the strain, our bodies would be prepared to handle it.
The vitamin regime they recommended was this:
- 5000 IU of D3 per day
- 500 mg of NAC twice a day
- 1000 mg of Vitamin C twice a day
- 3 mg of Melatonin before bed (as a bonus)
We started taking these (all accept the Melatonin, which we took only sporadically) on March 1 (I ordered them that second week of February, but the Texas arctic blast delayed the shipping).
I’m telling you this because this changes our “independent variable” plan. Adding these vitamins might have skewed my blood pressure results for March, as they are not part of the controlled experiment. But I decided I would take that chance anyway. Because it was too important. I will be making a notation in my data, to indicate when this change started and when it ends.
We actually had been on a regime of vitamin C and D3 at the beginning of the pandemic, which was FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. But, as one does, we stopped somewhere along the way. Not intentionally. Just out of complacency. Now that we are so close to this being over (fingers crossed, knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder and rub allll the lucky charms), and the new strains are out there – and are more deadly and contagious – we decided to start taking the vitamins once again.
I have always taken a daily multivitamin, which already has vitamins C and D3 in it, but at a much lower strength.
Results – the BIG News
After three months of focusing on small goals (yoga, cutting out sugar, meditation), I’ve lowered my blood pressure to the same levels as what my body was seeing when I was taking 20 mg of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ)!
Here are my averages from 2020:
As you can see, when I was taking NOTHING, my blood pressure was crazy high. Hence the blog.
The CoQ10 (250 mg) helped a bit, bringing my readings down below the year’s average. Taking 20 mg of HCTZ helped bring the Systolic pressure down a tad from the CoQ10 number, but the Diastolic and heart rate figures went up a bit. Taking 50 mg of HCTZ brought the systolic down a bit more, and the diastolic came down from the 20 mg reading, but it matched the CoQ10 reading. Curiously, my resting heart rate on 50 mg of HCTZ was the highest out of all the readings.
Here are my 2021 results:
My average for March was 134/91. My Systolic pressure came down by 5 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) this month, and is down 20 mm Hg since we started this journey three months ago. 20 mm Hg!!
My Diastolic pressure declined by 2 mm Hg for the month and 14 mm Hg since December 2020. My heart rate did go up a bit this month, by 3 beats per minute (bpm), but is down 8 bpm for the whole of the experiment.
This is a big milestone for me!
The entire goal of this experiment was to see if I could lower my blood pressure on my own without pharmaceuticals. As of the end of March, just three months in, I’ve successfully done that.
My next goal is to beat my systolic pressure from 2020 when I was taking 50 mg of HCTZ. That shouldn’t be too hard, as I’m only a few points away from that now. And also, I want to get out of Stage 2 Hypertension.
I’m SO CLOSE to Getting Out of Stage 2
While I’m still in the Stage 2 Hypertension phase, according to the below chart from the American Heart Association, I’m SOOOO close to dropping into Stage 1. In fact, my Systolic pressure is already there. I just need to lower my Diastolic by 2 more mm Hg.
The Habits
While the habits are meant to build upon each other over time, and not individually stand on their own, I thought it would be fun to see the monthly changes, so I’ve created a chart to show how each habit, incorporated each month, has influenced my blood pressure results.
According to this chart, I saw the biggest impact in January, when we started incorporating yoga three times per week. Cutting out sugar inspired another big decline in my numbers, but keep in mind I was also continuing my yoga habit, so that return is compounded. Also interesting to point out, my resting heart rate reading came down the MOST in the Cutting out Sugar phase in February. Also, my heart rate went UP in March, when I had some stumbles and ate some sugar.
Meditation March didn’t have the same intense results as the former two months, but I do have to say my commitment waned a bit this month, and we had more setbacks than usual.
Challenges
My birthday was this month, and my office sent me a box of Mrs. Fields Cookies. Wanna know the sugar content on one packet of three tiny cookies? For the chocolate chip, it was 14 grams of sugar. I ate one packet of those the moment I got them. Then I put the two packets of double chocolate chip cookies (16 grams of sugar) and the two brownies (19 grams of sugar) in the freezer., to save for other special occasions. I ate the other pack of cookies a week or so later when I started my period. My husband and the kids ate the rest of the gift.
We also had our first REAL LIFE habit stumble this month. Perhaps the sugar intake led to other poor decisions? The week after my birthday was Spring Break. I took a few days off so I could feel like it was a break for me too. And to hang out with the kids. We ate takeout twice. We skipped yoga once or twice. We skipped mediation once or twice. And OH MAN did that SHOW UP in my numbers!
I am also feeling some very real pandemic fatigue this month. Some of our friends are pulling out of quarantine and having birthday parties and going on vacations. And we are not. Which is really straining my resolve. So, I’ve had some emotional roadbumps this month, which – for me – tend to lead to unhealthy eating and thought spiraling and anxiety. I’ve tried to channel my energies into creative projects. Like this blog. And I’ve reached out to understanding friends in the similar situations. But the weight was sitting heavily on me for a few days.
My Period
My cycle went back to normal this month, in fact stretching to 27 days (my usual is 26). So the blip I had in my cycle last month has *maybe* fixed itself. I hesitate to say that, though, until we see see long term results.
I did notice this month that every time I had a setback and ate sugar, it seemed to trigger something in my hormones. I got spotting on days I don’t normally spot. Like on day 13. One day this month, after eating a TINY amount of sugar two days in a row, I had what felt like menstrual cramps. I’m going to continue to monitor this and see if I can nail down a definite pattern. Stay tuned.
Now, on to experiment #4.
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