Citruline has a very short half-life (1.5h) so it might explain the lack of long-term benefits (first article) despite the hypotensive risk (second article). It’s also interesting that the hypotensive risk is higher among hypertensive people (the body overshoots in reaction to citruline?) and after exercise.
The issue might be telmisartan + citrulline rather than telmisartan alone. What are the proven longevity benefits of citrulline? Or do you just take it because you like its taste without health considerations?
Telmisartan is a great drug, and it helped when my BP was too high. For some reason my BP is too low 105-95/65-55 and Telmisartan is making me dizzy so I am stopping it.
Citrulline supposedly increases arginine and Nitric Oxide. It doesn’t make me dizzy but it relaxes me and I enjoy the taste. So I still take it.
If your BP is too high, by all means you should take Telmisartan. It’s a great drug.
I also was labeled “non-compliant” with my nephrologist. They (nephrologists) seem to be hesitant to try new things or deviate even a bit from common protocols.
Liability is always a factor in medical decisions in the USA. If they do something that is outside the typical protocol they need to have good justifications or if something goes wrong they are liable. I can understand the hesitancy.
Depends on the doctor. Many are conservative by nature, but some are more laissez-faire. Some write prescriptions with a liberal hand, and some act like they pay for every pill. .
The citrulline I use is a powder that I mix into my tea. It ends up making the tea taste like lemonade when I add glycine. I use citrulline malate powder.
You must follow the renal diet, right? Do you ever deviate? What is your weakness?
A friend of mine once maintained a transplanted kidney for 30 years. When it failed they gave him another one, because he had taken such good care of the first.
The one regret I have about entering the health care system is the loss of privacy and independence. I’ve had doctors over the years who prescribed me almost anything. But then they retired and Medicare became a major player. I appreciate the doctors I have, but at the same time I’m straining at the leash.
Yes, I follow renal diet and do not deviate. I’ve been on plant based food for decades. I don’t think I have any weaknesses food wise - don’t drink alcohol (and don’t like it so it’s easy) and like what I cook and don’t want to eat anything else.
Researchers created a tool to estimate how much different drugs lower blood pressure. It may transform hypertension care by improving treatment selection and saving lives.
A newly developed Blood Pressure Treatment Efficacy Calculator, the first of its kind, was created using data from nearly 500 randomized clinical trials involving more than 100,000 participants. The tool enables physicians to estimate how much different medications are expected to reduce blood pressure.
This is great Thank you. Nicely illustrates the principle that combining antihypertensives has a greater effect than maxing out on sinlge agents. The popular combo on this site telmisartan 80 + amlodipine 5 yields nice BP lowering effects with this tool.
I’ve never had a kidney stone. Thank God. According to Quora responses to the question “How painful are kidney stones?” they are about as painful as it gets. They’re the most painful thing a person can experience naturally, leaving aside torture and violent body-dismembering events. Many say they often get to be “10/10 pain”. That’s clearly an ethical catastrophe given that 10% of people experience them at least once during their lifetime.
Someone described the experience of having a kidney stone as “indistinguishable from being stabbed with a white-hot-glowing knife that’s twisted into your insides non-stop for hours”.
I wonder whether from a compassionate (utilitarian/consequentialist) point of view, it would really pay off to have as a priority “adopt a life-style that minimizes the chances of kidney stones”.
It’s likely that the reason why we do not hear about this is because (1) trauma often leads to suppressed memories, (2) people don’t like sharing their most vulnerable moments, and (3) memory is state-dependent (you cannot easily recall the pain of kidney stones for the same reason you can’t recall the qualia of your LSD trip: you’ve lost a tether/handle/trigger for it, as it is an alien state-space on a wholly different scale of intensity than everyday life). If so, maybe that’s to our detriment. Perhaps it’s worth taking these reports very seriously, lest we become victims ourselves. On Kidney stones, by Andres Gomez Emilsson – Sentience Research
After stopping Telmisartan 20 mg daily for a while, my BP has been creeping back up to 120. So it looks like I still need Telmisartan. I may just use it EOD to see if I can stick the sweet spot.
It seems like it returns to 115-120 after stopping Telmisartan for 2 weeks. But it goes to high 90s if I use it daily. I need something in between.
