This wasn't a major crisis, (like the one in late January), but my BP was hovering near 150/83, on the average, on Sunday, and yesterday, just looking at the systolic pressure, it started at 139, went to 155 by mid-afternoon, then dropped to 147. I suspect foods that are high in tyramine, or other chemicals that adversely interact with MOA inhibitors, so just for a little test, I ate a handful of chocolate-coated cashew nuts, and in half an hour, my BP was up 20 points, to 167. It was still 162 at 9 pm.
This morning, it was 155 when I checked it, so I called my doc and he saw me at 11 am. By then, though, it had dropped to 142, when his nurse checked it. Four hours later, (at home), it was 132, so apparently the episode is just about over. Since this seems to be a recurring event, he gave me a script for an ACE inhibitor, with instructions to take them before bedtime. When I took it to the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me that he has the same problem - his BP is normally fine, but for no apparent reason, it will take off, and stay high for a day or two. He suggested taking it in the morning, since his pressure, (and mine), seems to peak during the afternoons, when one of these BP excursions occurs.
My doc had mentioned that the reason for taking it at night was to prevent the early-morning BP rise that many people in Western societies seem to experience, (most strokes and heart attacks occur when people get out of bed in the mornings, and start getting ready to face the day), but if that doesn't work well, we could split the dose, and take it twice a day. I'm debating which advice to follow, but since I woke up at 5:30 am with massive bleeding, about a week after my January hypertensive event, I'm inclined to follow my docs advice, since that scenario appears to be the greatest risk, especially since I never check my BP level early in the morning, so I have no idea what it might be, then. I checked it the morning that I was bleeding, of course, (about an hour and a half later - after I spent about 45 minutes changing my complete ostomy apliance, and then got dressed, and let it things settle down a little), and my BP was 164/108, but my pulse was up to 121, from all the excitement, and, of course, I was already somewhat low on blood, by them. The week before, when I got to the ER, it was 225/121.
The prescription is for 10 mg of Lisinopril. Anyone have any experience with this, or have any thoughts about it?
Tex

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