I am 73 years old. Some 30 years ago, my BP started going up, and I was advised to reduce salt. I did it and monitored my BP every day, and watched it go down gradually but steadily. and it stayed down for a few years. Then it started climbing again, and I started taking anti-hypertensive medications. I now take two different such medications to keep my BP within normal range, and I watch my diet. Eliminating salt from your diet is very difficult because so many things contain salt. It's not just avoiding the salt shaker and avoiding salt in the food you cook. Most people do not know it, but milk, bread and most cold cuts and cheeses contain salt. Meats and fishes also contain some salt. The only things that contain no salt are potatoes, fruit and veggies, rice, grains, beans and unsalted nuts. You can accustom your taste buds to "like" unsalted food and, after a few weeks, you will find even lightly salted things too salty and wonder how you ever ate them. Depending on your personal situation, you might make life very complicated for the people you live with. If you decide to embark on this low sodium effort, make sure your BP elevation is not so high as to pose a serious risk, because you could do yourself harm if you do not get your BP under control promptly. Another thing to consider is that some people with high BP have a form of the disease that is particularly salt-sensitive. They respond especially well to reduced sodium intake. If your illness is not of that type, then you will probably eventually find that sodium restriction does not afford you the degree of BP control that you need, and you will have to start taking medication. Of you can try calcium supplements, but they can be constipating. The cheapest and for most people safest starting antihypertensive medication is hydochlorthiazide (HCZT), which is available as a generic and costs less than $20 per month. It's a very safe drug, and you will probably not experience any unpleasant side effects. Blood pressure control is one of the few areas where the drug industry has succeeded very well. The available treatments are highly effective and extremely safe. You will hardly know you are taking any medication, and the "silent killer" can be kept safely at bay.

I know what you mean about the blood pressure medicine. I don't have high blood pressure, but was on a blood pressure medicine for an arrhythmia, and I was exhausted and fuzzy. Can you take a smaller dose than you've been on? As for your diet and exercise, it sounds like you know what you're doing. Lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains. Lean meats. Non-fat or low-fat dairy. Good fats like olive oil. A handful of nuts each day. Exercise as close to every day as you can. I like to cook double or triple recipes so I always have something healthy in the fridge or freezer. I also buy prewashed baby spinach, which is the quickest salad on the planet, I think. Good luck. By the way, I'm just a learner, too.:)

First of all, are you talking about a hematocrit, hemoglobin count, or total red blood cell count? Those numbers could be either very scarry or almost normal, depending upon what you are talking about. What are the units? Depending upon the cause of the anemia, changing your diet may or may not have any effect. There are 3 general categories for causes of low RBC counts: destruction (usually an autoimmune, infectious, or cancer cause), blood loss (GI bleeding is the most common source), or reduced production, which can have many causes (cancer, kidney failure, or any missing "ingredient" in the RBC-producing pathway could all be causes). If your anemia is caused by an iron or vitamin B deficiency, then increasing your intake of those will help. But for most causes of anemia, changing your diet isn't going to help. You really need to see a doctor. Symptoms of anemia are related to lack of oxygen- dizziness, lack of stanima, weakness, inability to catch breath, etc. Please give us more information about what measurement you are using for your RBC count and any relavent health information (do you have kidney problems or cancer), etc.

My 6 yr old dachshund began bleeding from her mouth so we took her to the vet who initially diagnosed her as gums bleeding as her teeth were due for cleaning along with an abscess. She continued to bleed some from her mouth thru the night and on the following day she was brought in for teeth cleaning. On the day following her teeth cleaning, we again noticed blood at her mouth and now in her urine. She was drinking some water and she ate a little but then vomited some blood so once again we brought her in to the Vet and was advised that she likely had been poisoned or had an autoimmune disease and that we ahould bring her immediately to LSU Veterinary Hospital. Got there, stabilized her and diagnosed her with ITP and kept her in ICU overnight. Less than 12 hrs later, received a call that she died as her bleeding could not be controlled. This occurred over a 4 day period.