Question:

I have had hypertension for over 10 years and it has been controlled with drugs. I take cozaar 50mg twice daily. Recently it was determined my trigilicerides were high and cholesterol was borderline high. I made life style changes to try and correct this problem. Lost 40lbs,cut out all carbonated sugar soda, exercise 1 hr daily and increase fruit an vegetable consumption. My trigilicerides and cholesterol were radically reduced triglicerides from 233 down to 107. Well I noticed I got dizzy at times so I checked my BP. It was low 99/60 and averaging less than 100/70. I decreased the cozaar to 50mg daily. BP stayed at an average of 103/60 taking cozarr at 7pm daily. Question is can the life style changes have a great effect on the BP? Can the hypertension go away? I think I probably do not need the 50mg dose and may need no medication at all. Is this possible?

Answer:

Congratulations on your weight loss!  You can expect a drop of about 1.6 mmHg in systolic blood pressure (the upper number) for every kg of weight loss.  If you lost 40 lbs (18 kg), your blood pressure could be reduced by about 30 mmHg systolic, which is more than you can achieve with any single medication.

Your blood pressure is now around 100 mmHg systolic, and you have occasional episodes of dizziness.  You may want to discuss with your physician about stopping the Cozaar.  You probably don’t need it any more.

For more information:

Go to the High Blood Pressure health topic.