Did CPAP lower your Blood Pressure?

[Muse-Inc]

...systolic...by 3 points...diastolic is down by 5...

Mine can do this in minutes! It's variable, up and down and back again...over the course of a day BP can vary considerably & it's usually highest in the early morning.

[OCDP]

Yes I understand all of that. The reason I was pleasantly surprised is because over the last 5-6 months my diastolic remained at 90 has never once budged. I have my BP taken regularly. It is now down by 5.. so I think it's a good sign. I know anything and everything affects BP but I can look at this as a whole and see there is some sort of improvement. He also upped my BP meds over the last two months so perhaps this is another reason.

[kaki58]

Absolutely positively, yes. BP was hovering around 140/90 ...a few weeks on CPAP for apnea, and next dr. visit, my bp was back to 119/70. My cpap machine broke, and it took me a couple of months to arrange for a new one (needed another sleep study done and kept putting it off)...bp went back up to 140/90++...back on cpap again, and my bp is back down again.

[tabbitha1968]

It worked for me too.

I recently stopped takin my BP meds over a month ago because of the side effects and was waiting to see my cardiologist to get new meds, well when I went lat Friday my bp was normal at 117/80. I was amazed thinking it may have been a fluke, but the I remembered that just two weeks prior I had a visit with my primary care and my bp had been low also. My cardiologist said in almost all of his patient who he recommended sleep studies (if they actually had them performed and was put on CPAP) their bp was lowered considerably.
Needless to say im quite happy about that, another med bites the dust!! Now that I have my energy back im gonna lose some weight!!

[zoocrewphoto]

My blood pressure is down too. I am two months in. My sleep isn't consistent yet, though getting better, only 1-2 bad nights a week.

My blood pressure is down most days. I use a monitor at home, so I normally check 2-3 times during the day, and I enter the results into a database so that I can see how it is doing overall.

Before xpap, my readings were normally in the 160s over 100-106. My doctor prescribed 25mg of toprol, then upped it to 50mg. Then added lisinopril 10mg, then upped it to 20mg. Then added a water pill. Finally getting some occasional readings in the 130s and 140s, but most were still in the 160s. And most were still over 90s or higher.

When I first started xpap, I could see it going up and down, and pretty consistent with how my nights had been. I had great numbers after two good nights in a row, and terrible numbers after a terrible night. Now, my numbers are mostly down. Last night, I had 99 over 63. I was completely shocked. I have two readings with the second number in the 60s, and usually, I am happy to get it under 85.

My doctor wants me to consistently be at or below 135 over 80. I have had two readings above 137 in the last two weeks. I had some awful readings the first week of June, but I was home sick, had a bad cough, fever, ear each, headache, etc. And I missed a couple full nights and partial nights with xpap because I was coughing and sneezing so bad.

It has also been two weeks since I had the second number of 90 or higher (two 91s and a 100). Most are in the 80s. I have had one in the 70s and two in the 60s. My doctor will review my chart again at the end of July to see if we can reduce some of my medication and see how that goes.

I confess to my doctor that I had sleep apnea back in March because I learned that sleep apnea causes high blood pressure, and the medicine wasn't getting it down. So, I am thriled to see such a positive and obvious change so quickly. I wasn't expecting to feel better. I just wanted better numbers to reduce my risk of stroke since I knew I was higher risk. But I feel so much now too. This has been a huge improvement for me.

[Chikorita]

Great thread. One of the reasons I had the sleep study done (apart from extreme tiredness) was unresolved high bp even though on meds and lost weight. I'm really keen to start my treatment to see if BP and all the other things wrong with me will be fixed. Don't expect my hatred of housework to change in a hurry though.

[needingu]

Absolutely! My pressure ran 180 to 210 systolic before the CPAP..after 9 years it came down graadually ..its now 130/72
Takes time, patience and do start all the good things. Exercise, correct diet and you will get there. The best med I have tried is Norvasc . a side effect is ankles swelling but by taking it at night , I do not have a big problem. If I take it in the A.M fluid tends to pool in my ankles when on my feet a lot. You will find what works for you.

[-tim]

Mine was mostly down but not as much now.

CPAP will raise your BP while your using the device and as you see here, many people see a decrease. There seems to be some evidence that having APAP is better for blood pressure control than CPAP. One theory is that the artery elasticity is higher.

The CPAP pressure rise is small. A 10 setting in CPAP will increase your BP up to about x/7 While the highest most machines go at 24 will increase your bp by no more than x/17. Those aren't a problem if your BP drops in the day from being less stressed not to mention what happens at night now that your fight or flight responses isn't kicking in while you sleep.

Does anyone know of a way to get BP data without a cuff and without a needle? There have been some attempts using technology like oximeters but I'm not sure any of them are low cost.

[LSAT]

Absolutely! My pressure ran 180 to 210 systolic before the CPAP..after 9 years it came down graadually ..its now 130/72
Takes time, patience and do start all the good things. Exercise, correct diet and you will get there. The best med I have tried is Norvasc . a side effect is ankles swelling but by taking it at night , I do not have a big problem. If I take it in the A.M fluid tends to pool in my ankles when on my feet a lot. You will find what works for you.

Are you quite sure it wasn't the 9 years of..."Exercise, correct diet and medication" rather than the CPAP that got your BP to where it is today?

[andersgeorgsson]

I noticed that my numbers have been generally lower by 10/15 points on the high number,
5/10 on the low side (I can't ever remember which one is systolic/diastolic) after even the
first night of titration at the sleep lab!

It'd be great if it'd be a little more with continued usage.

Last night I couldn't sleep - so I laid in bed with the machine on,
just to make sure I will pass the compliance.

[GrantT]

I dropped from 140/90 to around 120/80 or less (often 115/75) in about 4 months. I also (through Paleo/low carb dieting) have also dropped around 30 pounds (and still losing) which has certainly dropped some BP points as well.

Grant

[MaxDarkside]

For me, clearly NO. Not one iota lower. It depends on the cause of the high blood pressure. Unfortunately, about 95% of high blood pressure has no known cause. I think mine was a bacterial episode (food poisoning) and associated toxins. The CDC was even involved in my case In fact, I've had to raise my BP meds since starting on APAP, but that is coincidental.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Nah, can't say it has. I do take several BP meds, therefore it's hard for me to definitively quantify the overall effects of XPAP on my blood pressure. I don't see XPAP as doing any harm, tho. Exercise is really a good way to get your BP down, and of course, eating right.

[johnmiller912]

Well its a good news for you because you don't need to buy expensive drugs to control your BP but you can control it by drinking water. Drinking a lot of water daily can help you control your blood pressure. you can get more information on http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithwater.com about how it works.

hope this information will help you..

[johnthomasmacdonald]

my bp is the same as when i started ( but then i don't really have the apnea well under control yet). It's always around 120/55 ( I have 2 in home blood pressure monitors that use arm cuffs) but i also find that in the doctor's office it is ALWAYS 140/60 and i don't seem at all nervous as far as i can tell

I bought the blood pressure machines for a lab course i taught - the project i gave the students was to try to confirm whether the consumption of dark chocolate decreases blood pressure ( i got Scharffenburger (sp?) chocolates in CA. to give me a discount on the chocolate ( their owner was an MD)

Try to significantly increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables - basically you can't eat too much of it