Quote Originally Posted by MinersLettuce View Post
My first post, and it has to be about this

I've just started taking a med (Losartan) for high blood pressure. I have not worked out the proper dose yet. My doctor prescribed 100mg per day, but I never trust meds or docs :-), so I cut the pills into quarters and found that one or two quarters in 24 - 30 hours is enough to keep my bp in the target zone. I spent a few days taking & recording hourly readings of my bp. (Once, it went very low on just 1/2 pill. I think I would have ended up in the ER if I had taken the 100mg at once that my dr. prescribed.) My flip-flop hike begins in mid-May, so maybe by then I will have this sorted, but here is my question:

Is there a way (an app, a small device) to check bp on the trail? I'm thinking that as I lose weight and get more fit, my bp may decrease on its own. This is my hope and my goal. But how will I know that I need to decrease or stop the meds, short of passing out from too low bp?

Has anyone else had to deal with this issue?
I've dealt with the issue before, you can purchase a BP testing kit that is battery operated, but the weight penalty is high. You can get the manual type MDs use, but those weigh nearly as much and you have to get good at figuring out how to use it. You likely won't need to check BP more than once a week if you are fairly stable before you start. I used to check it several times a day with a machine I have, but my MD said once every few weeks to keep an eye on it would be fine. A lot of drug stores have BP machines you can without cost, but I don't know if there will be any at your resupply points or not. Though they may be a little off calibration wise, they will tell you if you are high/low at levels that are a concern.