kleinebre

There is a theory that diuretics decrease blood volume and thereby reduce blood pressure.

However, by the resources I can find the general consensus seems to be that if the body gets dehydrated, blood gets thicker, which will actually increase blood pressure, rather than reducing it?

I checked my pressure before and after a nice big glass of water, and it definitely was better after.

So, does it make sense to take diuretics when apparently I'm underhydrated?

Re-asking my previous question, this time backed up by facts and graphs.

http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/exercise.png (before meds)

http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/amlodipin.pn... (3 weeks of 10mg amlodipin, daily)

These are actual blood pressure graphs. The first graph shows my blood pressure on a regime of diet and exercise (approx 2 miles walking daily). Within a month, there's a very clear improvement in my blood pressure: At that point has essentially normalized.

The second graph shows my blood pressure whilst on amlodipin, which I've been taking daily to control my BP. Despite also being (a bit) more active and watching my sodium intake, I'm not actually seeing a significant improvement. In fact, my systolic pressure and heart rate actually seem to have gotten a bit worse. Side effects: Headaches.

I've been diligently taking my meds as adviced by my GP, but diet-and-exercise not only appears to be far more effective than meds, it's also free of side-effects (that is, all effects are desired).

Please explain to me like I'm a six-year old... Why shouldn't I drop the meds and swap to diet-and-exercise instead?

I've been on calcium channel blockers for over a month. Although there was an initial dip in BP, I'm currently at my typical BP values. I've had the same experience with ACE inhibitors.

In the past I've also tried diet and exercise (without meds), and this visibly improved my readings.

Reading some answers here, I've seen some medics state that their patients "refused to diet/exercise and therefore their BP meds didn't work". That sounds to me as though those meds are hardly more effective than a placebo.

I understand how diuretics work in the short term (urinate, get rid of fluids, pressure goes down) but don't see how they would be effective in the long term (drink water, replenish fluids, pressure goes back up).

Likewise, I can't see how calcium channel blockers work (vessels dilate, pressure drops; drink water, extra "space" in vessels gets filled up with more blood plasma, pressure goes back up).

This seems to match with what I've observed in my own BP logs when taking the meds.

I can see beta blockers could work in the long term, but as of yet I'm not willing to deal with the side effects described. In fact, as things are right now, I've got a few symptoms which are known side effect of the meds I'm currently taking, and it's interfering with my job.

My questions are:

1. Although it's great that BP meds can temporarily dip my BP to a lower point, which is great for emergencies, do meds which dilate the vessels and/or diuretics *actually* work in the LONG term? Explain how? Insights are appreciated.

2. I'd like to use my BP logs for some halfway solid science. How can I prove to a degree of certainty whether the meds I'm currently taking work significantly better or worse than diet and exercise? (My statistics skills are very, very rusty)

3. Despite their best intentions to serve my well-being, the pharmaceutical industry has a financial motive as well. I don't mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but how can I be sure that my well-being and quality-of-life are put BEFORE their financial interests? Apart from muscle aches, the "side effects" of exercise would be mostly positive (better looks, more energy... I can live with that!) contrary to the side effects of meds.

(4. Mr. "It's common sense", don't bother answering with your spam. I drink enough water as is.)

Write an essay in 500 words on the effect of asking Yahoo Answers to do your homework. Assume a generation to be defined as 30 years and the life expectancy of the average person to be 80 years. If I ask the world to do my homework on Yahoo Answers, how many generations will it take before nobody is able to answer any questions anymore? Discuss!

Seriously, can't anybody at least TRY do their own homework anymore?