April Blood Pressure Results: MORE EXCITING NEWS

The April results for my blood pressure readings were even more exciting than the milestone I hit in March. More on that in a moment.

For now, let’s talk about tea.

The goal for April was to drink tea three times per week. We added this on top of the January goal to practice yoga three times per week, the February goal to eliminate added sugar from our diet, and the March goal to meditate three times per week.

Drinking tea three times per week in April was not a problem. We are a household that likes tea, iced, hot, with or without milk, sweet or unsweet. 

So I have no tools to share with you this month, no methods.

I did, however, plan to have tea at 3 pm everyday, in general. If I didn’t have it for afternoon tea time, I would then have it after dinner, instead of my usual cup of decaf. We probably did this more than the three times we planned for each week. Just because we just like it.

If you think this sounds too easy, you’re right. That was purposeful this month because we needed a little break. And it was a good breather. And a good reminder that small changes, even ones that feel effortless, can add up to lower blood pressure over time.

The Results

My average blood pressure for April was 130/89 with a resting heart rate of 69.

To give some perspective, let me share with you where I started and what my goals are. I started by taking a baseline in December. I take my blood pressure every Monday morning. I take an average of three readings in one sitting. If one reading looks much lower or much higher than the others, I adjust the blood pressure cuff and take it again, throwing out the abnormal reading. Here are the averages of those readings for each month:

When I started this year’s experiment, my goals were to:

1. Lower blood pressure to the same levels as what my body was producing on 20 mg of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ). Without any use of pharmaceuticals. This would still be Stage 2 Hypertension.
2. Lower blood pressure to the same levels as what my body was producing on 50 mg of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ). Without any use of pharmaceuticals. This would still be Stage 2 Hypertension.
3. Fall out of Stage 2 Hypertension, into Stage 1 Hypertension.
4. Fall out of Stage 1 Hypertension, into Elevated status.
5. Fall out of Elevated status, into Normal status.
6. Maintain for life.

The status levels I’m talking about are from the American Heart Association. I’ve provided their chart below for reference:

As of April, just four months into the experiment, I have achieved three of those goals:

In March, I achieved  my first small goal, which was to naturally lower my blood pressure to the same levels as what my body was seeing when I was taking 20 mg of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) without any use of pharmaceuticals.

As of April, my blood pressure is now at the same levels as what it was seeing when I was taking 50 mg of HCTZ. Without any kind of pharmaceuticals!!

AND, as of April, I’m no longer in Stage 2 Hypertension!!

In the above table, the first two readings are those I recorded myself, back when I was tracking my progress on the pharmaceuticals I was taking in 2019 and in the early months of 2020. You can read about why I decided to go off of those medications in my post about my medical history.

The other readings are from the American Heart Association.

While I am not out of danger yet, I have made progress, and that is so fulfilling after all this work.

Here’s a chart, for you visual learners out there.

I never went higher than 50 mg on the HCTZ. By that time, I was reacting negatively to the medication and knew I needed to find another path. And here I am, firmly on the other path, and not even halfway done.

My Systolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries during the contraction of your heart muscle) came down by 4 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) during the month of April, and has come down a whopping 24 mm Hg since December 2020.

My Diastolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats) came down by 2 mm Hg in April and by 16 mm Hg since the start of the experiment. 

And my heart rate (the number of times the heart beats per minute while at rest) came down by 2 beats per minute (bpm) in April and by a cumulative total of 10 bpm in all of 2021.

My next goal is to fall into the Elevated Blood Pressure category from the AHA table above. My last reading for April was already below that line for the Systolic pressure reading, but not the Diastolic. In fact, in my last reading from April, the Systolic pressure fell below 130 mm Hg for the first time since February of 2020, when I was on 50 mg of HCTZ.

I should mention, however, that I had a chiropractic adjustment for a tweak in my neck on the Thursday before I took that last blood pressure reading on Monday. Some studies have linked neck adjustments to lowered blood pressure. So this might have something to do with it. Also – this obviously impacts the independent variable in the experiment. But trust me when I say I NEEDED it. Chiropractic care is not a one-and-done situation, either, so I’m sure I’ll have several more appointments in the months ahead. This could also impact my readings. But I’ll make sure I keep a note about that in my data.

Perhaps we should schedule a month of regular chiropractic care as an experiment in the future? Something to think about.

I should also note that I’m still taking 120 mg of CoQ10 and a multivitamin every day. And also a modified version of the COVID-19 vitamin regimen recommended by my local health officials:

• 5000 IU of D3 per day
• 600 mg of NAC per day (health officials recommended twice a day, but I take it once)
• 1000 mg of Vitamin C per day (health officials recommended twice a day, but I take it once)
• 3 mg of Melatonin before bed (bonus) (for me, this one is rare – maybe once a week or so, if that)

We started taking these on March 1 (I ordered them that second week of February, but the Texas arctic blast delayed the shipping). So for the past two months, this regimen has likely contributed to my results as well. Again, necessary enough to break with the independent variable. And I’ve recorded in my data notes.

The Habits

While the monthly habits are meant to build upon each other over time, and not individually stand on their own, I have created a chart to show how each habit, incorporated each month, has affected my blood pressure results.

As you can see, I saw the biggest impact in January, when we started incorporating yoga three times per week. Cutting out sugar inspired another deep decline in my numbers in February, but keep in mind I was also continuing my yoga habit, so that return is compounded. Also interesting to point out, my Heart Rate came down the MOST in the Cutting out Sugar phase in February.

Meditation March didn’t have the same intense results, but I do have to say my commitment waned a bit that month, and we had more setbacks than usual.

And, as I said, adding tea to our diet in April was so simple, it feels like those results were effortless. But even though it felt that way, we still achieved results. Which is gratifying. And proof that small things matter. OR small habits built over TIME matter. Either way, it’s a win.

My Period

My cycle is back to normal, after the setback I saw in February. However. I had BIG ISSUES with pain on Day 1 of my last period, which started on April 10th. This was the week after Easter, when I lapsed on sugar consumption. Because Cadbury Mini Eggs are the best candy ever made in the history of the planet. And I ate a BIG bag of them over the course of that week.

I thought of this as an indulgence. As you know, we’re allowing for mistakes during this experiment, because we want this to be our LIFE from now on. And life allows for mistakes. As long as we get back on track after, I surmised, these little setbacks would be fine.

Then, Day 1 arrived. And IT WAS NOT FINE.

NOT. FINE.

The pain was SO BAD. I took ibuprofen AND Aleve, meds I try to avoid if I can, and I used a heating pad and still the pain persisted. The only thing I can think that would cause this would be the candy. It was the only thing I changed.

After that little relapse, I’ve successfully stayed away from the DEVIL that is sugar. And every time I feel tempted to eat something with sugar, I remember what that pain felt like. NOT TODAY SATAN.

I’m hoping my next Day 1 will be easier. Stay tuned for that.

Now, on to experiment #5.