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Thanks for contacting with your health concern, and if I was your treating physician following would have been my approach:
i. As you were under
blood pressure medication and supervision of physician thus first consult with him regarding further management and guidance.
ii. along with monitoring the blood pressure measurements, exclude risk factors for
high blood pressure like lipid-
thyroid and blood sugar profile for any cardiovascular risk factor of high blood pressure.
PS. family history [ for essential hypertension] is another for which kidney function tests are advisable along with chest X-ray, EKG, other contributing factors to look out for are being
overweight, leading a sedentary lifestyle, addiction to smoking/alcohol and taking too much salt in the diet.
iii. You may go for a
second opinion or
consult a Cardiologist who will instead put you on lowest possible dose and incorporate following dietary regime:
i. LOW SALT DIET
. Total salt intake should not exceed 2.5 gm per day
. No extra salt should be taken during meals.
. Use Losalt, where salt is essential
. Avoid salt-rich foods: pickles, papads, sauce, cheese, salted butter/ biscuits/ peanuts-cashews/buttermilk, popcorns, wafers, preserved/tinned food. [Make sure high protein diet is taken in moderation]
ii. LOW FAT DIET
. Avoid saturated oils [coconut oil, dalda, butter, ghee, cream] instead use monosaturated oils [olive oil] or polyunsaturated oils [sunflower, corn oil]
. Avoid all deep fried foods, unskimmed milk, and meat.
. Increase fiber intake i.e. leafy vegetables, salads, fruits, pulses, and legumes.
. Use skimmed milk or double toned low-fat milk.
PS. under no circumstances you should change/stop/taper the dose since it may cause
rebound hypertension [as has happened] thus consulting with a Cardiologist seems to be a better option.