You have to be aware of the critical complications that you can encounter due to living with high blood pressure. Therefore, there are simple guidelines of things you should do and not do when living with hypertension. In this article I am going to cover a couple of things you should and should not do when living with HBP.

First and foremost, DO monitor your blood pressure (BP). You need to monitor your levels daily. These are several inexpensive monitors that you can buy and use anytime to check your pressure. When monitoring your levels, be sure to maintain a record of the readings to see if there any trends going on.

DO maintain enough medicine on hand that is used to control and lower the pressure in your blood. Be sure to take your medications as directed and be sure to fill your prescriptions on time. Do not wait till you have one pill left. Pharmacies can be notorious for taking more than a day to fill a simple prescription. Don't leave your life up to pharmacies.

DO have a doctor check up on a regular basis. Take the readings you have taken so he/she can have a look at them. Also, take your monitor so he can see that it is accurate at taking your blood pressure. By taking your readings to him, you wont fall prey to the white coat syndrome. This syndrome is when your BP rises above normal levels when the doctor is checking it. It happens because you are under pressure, duress of wanting to know if you have HBP or not.

DO Eat right. Eating right does not mean eating tasteless food. You can cook healthy, great tasting food at your house. You don't have to spend a fortune either. When I say to eat healthy, I specifically mean to eat less sodium (salt) and increase your potassium intake. You also reduce the amount of processed foods that you consume. These are known to have high amounts of salt. So if you can eat healthier, you can lower your hypertension naturally.

DO exercise regularly. It is recommended that you exercise 30 minutes a day. While exercise itself increases BP, in the long run, it will cause your BP to lower down to normal levels. This is directly related to the weight loss and fat loss that will occur. Your blood vessels will have more room to expand and wont have much pressure on them.

DON'T sleep less. Sleep the right amount of hours. The right amount of hours to sleep is 8 hours. Don't oversleep as well. Setup an alarm clock. Lack of sleep increases your stress levels which directly affects the pressure in your blood. Sleep deprivation also has other nasty side effects so make sure to get 8 hours of sleep, no less, no more.

DON'T drink and smoke. Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke cigarettes. These causes the pressure in your blood to go up. While it may be hard to give up either one, there are several cessation programs available that you can join to help yourself quit these addictions.