High blood pressure and OSA

[GreenIce]

I find out I have high blood pressure last week (190/120!!!). Doctor suspect it was due to OSA. I have read some posts that blood pressure can be lower by using xPAP. I wonder how many OSA sufferers are having high blood pressure and successfully recovered from it.

Some Questions,

Does using xPAP lower blood pressure ?

Is there any medication involve or just using xPAP alone ?

How long does it take to get to normal blood pressure ?

I am worry about my condition and hope to find a solution/cure very soon.

[LavenderMist]

I have hypertension and and was on blood pressure mediciation prior to CPAP therapy for sleep apnea. In my case, there was no reduction in blood pressure after therapy and I am still on medication for hypertension. I also have not gotten the other stated benefits of therapy, i.e. weight loss, renewed energy, etc. Others may have had a different result.

[GreenIce]

That's a quick reply. In my case, APAP therapy really helps, I have a lot of energy, more alert and no longer sleepy during the day. I not sure about high pressure though.

[Guest]

I went from borderline hypertension to 110/65 in a couple of months after starting CPAP. Resting pulse is lower, so is cholesterol.
Shari

[Nodzy]

Hypertension is a real and potentially deadly ailment. YES, it can surely result from OSA, or another, or a combination of the numerous other sleep disorders. It could be from other causes and be greatly exacerbated by OSA.

Even marginally successful XPAP sleep therapy can begin to get your body back into better working order. That can result in the necessity to lower your dosages of medications for many kinds of ailments.

Your results of XPAP therapy may differ greatly from the results of others. We are all different in so many ways -- physically, and in our lives and lifestyles. Don't expect miracles from the therapy, but do expect to notice some major improvements if you stick with the therapy and are achieving true therapy nights of compliance.

Your current weight, types and amounts of foods and beverages, amounts of alcohol beverages you ingest, whether you smoke or not, exposures to chemicals, stresses, work hours and many other factors could have substantial part in your hypertension.

As for me: Between some slight diet changes and, thus far, marginally successful XPAP therapy I have had my Type-2 Diabetes under control by food only for about a year. My hypertension is also far better controlled, by less than half the medication dosages I previously had to take. And I have not even begun a specifically targeted exercise regimen to assist. My edema is less than 15% of what I used to experience. And I have trimmed down to almost being my lifelong weight, excellent for my build, of 200 to 215-lbs. On XPAP therapy my carb cravings greatly diminished. I no longer have the persistent snack attacks.

Run a search on my name and you'll also find that I take AVC, apple cider vinegar, two times daily, along with other OTC supplements. Those help also.

But, your XPAP therapy is the most important thing to maintain religiously. It is your foundation upon which to begin some healing. Whether you are barely successful or more successful in XPAP therapy, do not fail to take the therapy seriously. No one can predict the amount of healing you will experience, or the length of time it could take to achieve any healing. But, XPAP therapy should provide you some noticeable benefits if you are even marginally successful.

It's simple: Foods, liquids and medications can not be very effective if we do not breathe well and remain properly oxygen saturated during sleep. Sleep is our heal time, regenerative time, repair time. It's the time during which we recharge. If sleep is poor, barely there, or is oxygen starved then we can not be at our best. In fact, we will deteriorate.

[techno-snoreus]

I used to take medication for hypertension but after two years on CPAP and some modifications to my diet and excercise routine, I no longer need my blood pressure medication.

[Gerald]

Greenice....

What pushed me toward CPAP was systolic pressure going over 200 in the middle of the night. YIKES!

Go to your local drug store and purchase a battery powered blood pressure testing machine.

Check your BP at various times during the day.....and in the middle of the night if you wake up. Also, if you have to get up to pee in the middle of the night, check the BP then. You'll probably find what I did.

CPAP solved my problem......and will probably solve yours too. I don't have to pee in the middle of the night anymore either.

Do the BP testing.....decide that you're going to die......or become a stroke damaged vegetable....and you'll do what it takes to make CPAP therapy successful. Your sub-conscious has to be convinced.....or it'll give you 16,497 reasons why you don't want to put up with the mask.

I've been 100% compliant for almost a year......I know I'll crash and burn if I don't do it.

[Gerald]

Nodzy.....

My compliments on your very nicely written post.

Gerald

[TIGMONSTER68]

GreenIce,

I have only been on xPAP for 4 weeks, in that short amount of time I have been able to come OFF my BP meds. Granted I did not have extremely high blood pressure, it was about 156/94 but in the past 2 weeks it was dropping very low so they took me OFF my BP meds and it is staying at about 114/74 which is fine!! So YES just xPAP alone will lower your BP, which is a wonderful thing! I feel 80% better than I did a month ago, and I now have to start exercising and losing this weight that I gained from quitting smoking 8 months ago. That will not be easy. Wearing my mask every night, now that's easy!!! Keep with it and you might just see YOUR BP drop!
Jodie

[GreenIce]

Thanks for all the advice and sharing the experience.

I have no problem of wearing mask and using APAP. I am 100% compilant from the day I received my APAP. The only problem was finding the right mask and I think I have found the right one for me, Resmed Activa. For the past week, no more large leaks and steady AHI around 3.9 to 4.5. I am not an active person and do not like to exercise . Looks like I have to exercise more often and also maybe change the way I eat.

I guess I have to hang on there and keep my fingers cross.

[Nodzy]

Greenice,
Congratulations. Your successes with xPAP therapy, though not 100% effective in remedying your ills, will certainly give you many better days days to come. More success in good health may be yours in months to come. It is absolutely certain that if you have OSA, your hypertension is most likely a result of, or greatly excaerbated by it.

Your being 100% compliant from day one is an unusual feat. Most people don't have such an immediate repore with an xPAP machine and mask.

I have been on xPAP for over 5-years and am just recently gaining steady compliance nights. Of course, my health and injury history is not run-of-the-mill -- multiple gremlins stand in my path.

You are right. Exercise is extremely important. Distasteful maybe, but devoting the time and energy to it may give you a better life beyond your dreams. Good luck.

[Guest]

Hypertension is one of many nasty mecial issues brought on or contributed to by sleep apnea. My peak BP was 198/106 but blood pressure medication brought it down. After starting XPAP several years ago I was gradually weaned from the BP meds. - It has been a while but I believe it took took to three months to be off the meds. entirely. I doubt that there is any real rule of thumb about how long it should take to see improvement, but my Dr. indicated I should watch my bp when I started CPAP, and get with him when I started to see changes and to watch to symptoms of potential symptoms of hypotension.
My bp consistently runs at roughly 115/65 now with no bp meds., which is quite good for a 53 year old. As others have already noted take it at various times of the day. I take my bp monitor with me occasionally when I go to see my dr. to compare it with their measurement so I know if there is a big difference between the two - I have the good fotrune of having a Dr. that does not have a problem with me doing that, as it was him that suggested that I bring it in peridicolly.

[geoDoug]

I have HBP also. I take it every morning and have a "trend graph" that gives me a seven day average. It's very consistently high 130s/90s. I haven't seen a decrease since starting the cpap, but I'm not worried about it. I'm not 100% compliant yet, and changes in bp are slow to come.

To answer your question, though, yes, xpap can reduce blood pressure. In fact, it was my cardiologist who referred me to the sleep clinic.

Doug.

[Snoredog]

Hypertension caused by OSA is referred to as essential hypertension until the link is made to OSA.

Yes your hypertension can be stabilized with CPAP here is one well respected journal article which discusses it:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020115/229.html

Be sure to go over the Clinical Findings in Table 2, you may find the cause to may other demonstrated symptoms.

[GreenIce]

I read about HBP medication such as diuretics and beta blockers, some have side effect . It seems once taken this HBP medication, it will almost be forever. Also it is not a cure but a control, keeping the blood pressure down. Is it true, HBP medication need to be taken every day ?

Also, what are the common medication (drugs) for HBP ? What about the side effects ?

I am not trying to self medication, but to further understand what I am about to face.