Losartan

[MashedTaters]

In consultation with my doc, I've finally decided to begin taking blood pressure (BP) meds; this was not a snap decision based on one reading. We've been mulling this over for a couple years.

The main side effects that concern me are dizziness and interaction with alcohol that may amplify dizziness and low BP. Therefore, it seems to me that taking it at bedtime would somewhat mitigate these concerns. But what do I know?

Any other geezers out there use this? Care to share your experience?

Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Have you tried upping your potassium intake?

[MashedTaters]

Thanks for responding.

Potassium, yes. Per The Clot Thickens, Kendrick recommends 4g/day. Accordingly, I increased my K intake by using K salt on my eggs and eating a banana almost daily. Given that, I estimate...roughly...that I get about 3g/day.

However, when I look for K supplements, I find almost all 99mg per "serving", meaning I would have to take 10 pills/day to get to 4g. That just doesn't feel right.

[Mark Rippetoe]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[dalan]

Have you tried upping your potassium intake?

Is the potassium for the high BP or to counter the sides of the BP meds?

[Fred Turner]

I've been taking Losartan 50mg daily for 9 months now. I take it at bedtime. No side effects that I can tell and my BP is improved. No effects on my training. I'm 80 and my strength training profile is in my forum profile I believe.

[Leo M]

Salt substitute you buy at the grocery store is potassium chloride. It's probably cheaper than any other form of potassium you can put into your mouth. The pills, and packets you're supposed to mix into water and drink at $4 per dose, came on the market just before I started medical school. One of my professors told us to prescribe salt substitute rather than that pharmaceutical crap because patients couldn't afford the drug company crap and wouldn't take it. One good shake from the salt substitute shaker is about 10 milliequivalents of potassium. One of your packets or giant tablets has probably 20 or perhaps 40 mEq of potassium. Potassium is bitter but most people don't notice it in protein shakes or juice.

We probably evolved in the savannahs of Africa, far from oceans, with diets very high potassium (from plants) and low in sodium. Our kidneys expect this. Our modern diet is the reverse. Supplementing with potassium would probably benefit most people and lower blood pressure.

Your doctor who doesn't remember anything he was taught in medical school will tell you using salt substitute is dangerous because you can't measure the dose accurately. This is incorrect. He will also tell you potassium is very dangerous. That may be true when it's given IV by somebody who doesn't know what they're doing. Unless you have severe kidney failure it would be hard to eat enough potassium to cause any harm whatsoever.

I disagree with people who say not to watch your salt intake. It does have an effect on blood pressure. It's almost impossible in the US to eat a truly low sodium diet. Dropping from all McDonald's all day to home cooking will reduce a lot of sodium intake, but probably not enough to have a huge impact on blood pressure.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Leo, dammit: Amazon.com

Eat 4 grams of K/day and it won't matter how much NaCl you eat -- your blood pressure will be just fine.

[asm44]

We probably evolved in the savannahs of Africa, far from oceans, with diets very high potassium (from plants) and low in sodium.

You're not helping the general consensus this board has about doctors by writing this kind of bullshit. We have genes from many species of humans that evolved in various environments.

[Richard Durbin]

I’ve been on BP med for 20 years now. I don’t recall any dizziness with losartin, for my dad and I it was a tickly throat. He was ok, but it drove me crazy. So I switched to benicar which has a dizzyness. It only bothered me getting up from crouching down, like tying shoes or lighting the fireplace. And it passes in a moment, so I just stood still for a moment.
Fast forward to starting strength. At first I was a tad dizzy at the top of my squats, then as I got stronger, only the heavy ones, and now only sometimes on the end of my volume set. Again I just pause an take an extra breath or two, then hit the last rep.
Now here is the cool part, I never get any dizzyness in my daily life now. I have adapted.

And also, I’d say there are quite a few BP meds, if you don’t like what you’re on, your doc can have you try a different one.