Being able to relax is certainly beneficial to controling blood pressure.

Depending on the reason for your blood pressure and the types of medications you are taking there could be many possibilities as to why the meds aren't working as well yet. A family history of hypertension (HTN), a family history of atherosclerotic disease, can all lead to HTN that is difficult to treat. Sometimes, depending on the meds, HTN can even be refractory to them (meaning that the meds actually can lead to spells of elevated BP).

While medicinal therapy is important, you just cannot underestimate the potent effects that healthy diet and regular exercise have on HTN. And folks need to understand that it isn't vigorous exercise we are talking about here. Even just walking at a brisk (for you) pace for a few minutes multiple times a day can have a huge effect, lowering BP 10-20% (in your case 16-32 points, which would put you at a nice level). Hope you can get some relief and find something that will benefit you.

Hey Marc, I don't want you to think i'm trying to act as a doctor here but:
Exercise - The greatest invention made by monkeys (probably another animal actually). After just 2 weeks of getting back into it, i'm feeling great
Sleep - For some reason, my body needs about 10 hours of sleep. I wake up easy every morning now

i wont get into the diet stuff with you, i'm sure your physician already has. I should also note that i do have high blood pressure but mostly from stress right now. And as i type this i'm pretty stressed out lol.

I know some people think its a religious thing but meditation is great. Just sit down, close ur eyes, and focus on a single sound and you'll eventually fall into very deep thought, kinda like sleep i guess.

About the no-insurance thing... I'm canadian so i have no tips for you there. I realize that there are those in your country that feel people should pay to live and to be free of suffering, but personally i feel its as basic as we make freedom out to be.

I wish you the best of luck for your health, take it very easy lol.

thank you again for your comment, i have totally changed my diet but it has helped my wife (lose weight)more then it has helped me thus far..........

My husband has high blood pressure as well....and he's young (32 this year). He's on meds for it, has been for ages.  He tried exercise, he tried modifying his diet (low fat, low sodium)...nothing worked.  He's currently taking hydrocholorthiazide and Atenenol, and those 2 seem to be the winning combination.  He has a 'normal' BP now.  It used to be 180/130ish.

I don't think that there is an underlying cause for hypertension, apart from genetics.  If you're looking for something that you can not do anymore in the hope that it help...well, you might be out of luck.  The obvious would be lose weight if you need to, exercise regularly, and cut down your sodium intake.  Having said that, because you have a history of TIA's I'd strongly recommend you seek professional medical advice before you start on any drastic lifestyle changes.

I know that having no insurance puts you in a bind, but dude, we're talking about your life here.  The fact that you've had 2 TIA's in the recent past and you have hypertension uncontrolled by meds worries me. 

I'll be sending some good thoughts your way.

thank you all for your heart felt comments and thoughts.
And dharmagrl it worries me too A LOT.......i too am young i am only 33 years old.

You've had 2 TIA's and you're only 33?  Holy shit! 

Are you claiming any kind of assistance?  I'm just thinking of ways to try and get you some medical care.  Gosh, I wish there was more I could do to help; this really bothers me.

claiming any kind of assistance?? not sure what you mean there but as far as medicaid they wont help, and i have applied to social security and that is just a waiting game.........thank you for your concern.........

You metioned that you don't have a job so I was wondering if you were on SSI or SSD, unemployment or something. That's all.  Sometimes you're eligible for low-cost or free medical care if you're getting assistance (where I live you are, anyway)

 I'll ask the universe to send some good things your way.

thank you very much.......i have been out of work since january of 2003 i was on workers comp until june and nothing since..........

Well, there can be a number of different underlying causes of hypertension, but most of them are just weird, sort of off the wall types of things. Most folks just have "essential hypertension". However, based on your young age it would certainly be worth looking at some of the possibilities. There could always be some sort of chemical reason, eg. high calcium, high corticosteroid production (either due to hyper secreting adrenal gland or to some sort of secreting tumor) or it could have to do with the kidneys, most likely renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the arteries to the kidneys). Because of the other potential effects of these it would be worth looking into. I understand the difficulty of the no insurance situation, but many physicians are willing to work with people without insurance.

Of course CT scans or MRI scans of the brain wouldn't come cheap, and there really isn't anything a neurologist could do for you without those. Carotid artery stenosis is always a posibility in a person with TIA's and could be considered an option. Anyway, sorry to "armchair doctor" here. Just tossing out some ideas. Hope you can find a solution.

no problem with the armchair doctoring......

thanks

you're just a junky

lol

i googled myself today and found you. actually i found i (we) was many different people. a tv anchor in atlanta, a magician in california, you, me.... i have found your posts very interesting. we all have our trials in life. i wish you well with your health and family. i have only read a few posts and replies, perhaps a couple of pages but i am going to keep reading, maybe i will find your email addr & can correspond directly. my email is marc5121@aol.com i manage a resort in n w alabama. good luck friend