Caution taking high blood pressure pills

[cdavis]

I recently started taking lisenopril, an ACEI drug that dilates arteries, for high blood pressure. Immediately noticed a decline in blood shift during dry full exhale statics. Almost certainly this carries over into real diving. Seems likely to either 1. result in shorter less comfortable dives or 2. increase the divers BO risk, or both. Experimenting, I stopped the drug and it took about 4 days for my blood shift to return to normal. Fair warning.

Anybody else have any information on this?

 

[7BDiver]

Did you ever have any luck with Kyolic aged garlic extract which normalises blood pressure, in contrast to standard blood pressure medications, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)? The ACEIs will reduce vasoconstriction and also reduce the water in your blood. The reduced vasoconstriction might be more of a concern than anything. Lowering your blood pressure will decrease the oxygen demand from your heart though.

 

[cdavis]

Did you ever have any luck with Kyolic aged garlic extract which normalises blood pressure, in contrast to standard blood pressure medications, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)? The ACEIs will reduce vasoconstriction and also reduce the water in your blood. The reduced vasoconstriction might be more of a concern than anything. Lowering your blood pressure will decrease the oxygen demand from your heart though.

Have not heard of that one. I'll do some research. I considered changing drugs to a diuretic, but its tricky to find the right dose and can have some pretty negative side effects. Since I don't get to go diving very often, simply stoping the drug before diving seems like the best choice.

 

[7BDiver]

It's worth a shot, some people with just eat straight garlic, but who wants to eat five cloves every day, the garlic extract sounds easier. For the majority of people garlic performs just as well as any prescription. Here is a link to a study if you care to get into the weeds at all, will at lease give you a better idea what the risks, benefits and effects are. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6966103/

 

[J Campbell]

I recently started taking lisenopril, an ACEI drug that dilates arteries, for high blood pressure. Immediately noticed a decline in blood shift during dry full exhale statics. Almost certainly this carries over into real diving. Seems likely to either 1. result in shorter less comfortable dives or 2. increase the divers BO risk, or both. Experimenting, I stopped the drug and it took about 4 days for my blood shift to return to normal. Fair warning.

Anybody else have any information on this?

hmmmm, very interesting. I have taken lisinopril for decades. I have not really thought about the effects on breath hold. But when I was younger, my breath holds felt easier, even pleasant, during the first half of the hold. Now, although there is no immediate struggle, on my breath holds are slightly less comfortable than when I was younger. I'm going to experiment with the lisinopril doses.

 

[gerry66]

Sorry for reviving this thread. Has anyone heard about the lawsuits against Valsartan? I'm on them, and now I'm a bit scared.

 

[chrissf123]

Read here that Valsartan contains NDMA and NDEA, both classified as probable human carcinogens.
And many patients have filed Valsartan cancer lawsuits. Yikes.