Diet for people with high blood pressure

Melissa, since you were told after your echo to increase salt in your diet, it would be safe to say that that is still a good thing to do in view of your blood pressure. I also have a very low blood pressure and a prosthetic mitral valve. My blood pressure has been as low as 80/30. I have been told that if I can’t eat enough salt, I can be put on salt tablets. I think that your bradycardia (slow heart rate) could very well be due to your aerobic exercise.

As Harley said, it would be good if you could post the result of your echo. It has to say to what degree the valve is prolapsing, as well as the status of your left ventricle.

Wishing you well, Melissa,
Pam

Heartthrob; Do you feel an EPS eval would be indicated with a resting rate that low?. Could there be any concominant nodal defect?

Sorry so late in replying to this. I am trying to get ready to go to FL for a week. On a mission again. This time to bring back a cat that is causing my dd to pull her hair out. It may do the same to me.

Unfortunately Melissa has not returned with the result of her echo. I have reread her post and noted that her exercise seems moderate, and not the extreme aerobic type that you would think would result in slower resting heart rate. And yet her symptoms seem to occur with exercise:

When I exercise my heart rate will increase to around 86-90. BP increases to 121/95. The following symptoms arise: coughing, shortness of breath, dizzy, weak in the knees, clammy, tightness in chest,. After a rest my BP will then bottom out again – 88/53 and heart rate will bottom to 40. I have been tracking my activity levels and associated BP and heart rate for a week now and there is a definite link with exercise and extreme rise then bottoming out of BP and heart rate.

Although I do believe there is a place for Naturopaths, I was disheartened to read this:

I am seeing a naturopath doctor because the mainstream medical services don’t seem to think this prolapsed valve is of any concern.

I don’t think this is the sort of thing that a naturopath is going to do well with. In fact, I was surprised when I saw that she was being referred to an internal medicine doctor. As you suggested, I think the best place for Melissa is in the hands of an electrophysiologist.

Harley, you said “Could there be any concomitant nodal defect?” Did you mean like a transient SSS or transient heart block of some degree? If that is what you meant, I guess that might be the case, and if transient in nature, might not be picked up on EKG. Another possibility is an atrial arrhythmia which is very common with MVP, like PSVT or PAF, but she seemed to know what her heart rates were and didn’t report that.

If Melissa didn’t relate the entire echo result, just the conclusion would say whether the prolapse was slight or minimal, moderate, or severe. This statement would lead me to believe that it is slight ~ “mainstream medical services don’t seem to think this prolapsed valve is of any concern.” and therefore not likely related to her bradycardia and hypotension (JMHO)

In any event, I would think the symptoms would merit evaluation by an EP. Maybe she would benefit from a 30 day event monitor.