Problems with a supplement

I started taking a supplement called "Blood pressure support" , the first dose was this past Thursday I was to take 2/day, I did feel a little funny Sat. night, but just thought i was tried, I did take the supplement Sun. Morning and I felt awful all day, my BP was very high (just the systolic), I felt like my blood sugar was very low. The only difference in my routine was taking this supplement. It is supposed to bring down BP but my spiked, i thought the ingredients seemed ok, Olive leaf extract, Grape seed extract, celery seed extract and Mag.. I have been reading that Grape seed extract could cause some problems, there is 300mg. in the supplement, I pulled the following from google.

Has anyone taken any of these ingredients in their supplements and if so did you have any problems?


How much grape seed extract should you take?

There is no firmly established dose of grape seed extract. Doses of between 100-300 milligrams/day have been used in studies and are prescribed in some European countries. No one knows what the highest safe dose is.
Can you get grape seed extract naturally from foods?

Grape seed extract comes from grapes. There are no other food sources.
What are the risks of taking grape seed extract?

Side effects. Grape seed extract is generally considered safe. Side effects may include headache, itchy scalp, dizziness, and nausea.
Risks. People allergic to grapes should not use grape seed extract. If you have a bleeding disorder or high blood pressure, talk to your doctor before you start using grape seed extract.
Interactions. If you take any medicines regularly, talk to your doctor before you start using grape seed extract. It could interact with drugs like blood thinners, NSAID painkillers (like aspirin, Advil, and Aleve), certain heart medicines, cancer treatments, and others.

I did feel some dizziness, and nausea.

Liz

Liz - sorry to read you are struggling with this. Grape seed extract has good credentials for helping with hypertension and more. Here's a study that says Grape Seed Extract was found to be safe and to improve blood pressure in people with pre-hypertension... which at least indicates it was not harmful. I'll check the other ingredients you list and see if I can find anything useful.

Have you had a kidney function evaluation recently... as in was the GFR (glomerular filtration rate) in the normal range?

Jackie

Abstract Title: Effects of grape seed extract beverage on blood pressure and metabolic indices in individuals with pre-hypertension: a randomised, double-blinded, two-arm, parallel, placebo-controlled trial.
Source: Br J Nutr. 2015 Nov 16:1-13. Epub 2015 Nov 16. PMID: 26568249
Abstract:
The aim of the present study was to test grape seed extract (GSE) as a functional ingredient to lower blood pressure (BP) in individuals with pre-hypertension. A single-centre, randomised, two-arm, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, 12-week, parallel study was conducted in middle-aged adults with pre-hypertension. A total of thirty-six subjects were randomised (1:1) to Placebo (n 18) or GSE (n 18) groups; twenty-nine of them completed all the protocol-specified procedures (Placebo, n 17; GSE, n 12). Subjects consumed a juice (167 kJ (40 kcal)) containing 0 mg (Placebo) or 300 mg/d GSE (150 mg) twice daily for 6 weeks preceded by a 2-week Placebo run-in and followed by 4-week no-beverage follow-up. Compliance was monitored. BP was measured at screening, 0, 6 and 10 weeks of intervention and blood samples were collected at 0, 3, 6 and 10 weeks of intervention. GSE significantly reduced systolic BP (SBP) by 5•6 % (P=0•012) and diastolic BP (DBP) by 4•7 % (P=0•049) after 6 weeks of intervention period, which was significantly different (SBP; P=0•03) or tended to be different (DBP; P=0•08) from Placebo. BP returned to baseline after the 4-week discontinuation period of GSE beverage. Subjects with higher initial BP experienced greater BP reduction; nearly double the effect size. Fasting insulin and insulin sensitivity tended to improve after 6 weeks of GSE beverage supplementation (P=0•09 and 0•07, respectively); no significant changes were observed with fasting plasma lipids, glucose, oxidised LDL, flow-mediated dilation or vascular adhesion molecules. Total plasma phenolic acid concentrations were 1•6 times higher after 6 weeks of GSE v. Placebo. GSE was found to be safe and to improve BP in people with pre-hypertension, supporting the use of GSE as a functional ingredient in a low-energy beverage for BP control.
Academic Cite:
Eunyoung Park, Indika Edirisinghe, Ying Yng Choy, Andrew Waterhouse, Britt Burton-Freeman. Effects of grape seed extract beverage on blood pressure and metabolic indices in individuals with pre-hypertension: a randomised, double-blinded, two-arm, parallel, placebo-controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2015 Nov 16:1-13. Epub 2015 Nov 16.

Pubmed-Cite:
Eunyoung Park, Indika Edirisinghe, Ying Yng Choy, Andrew Waterhouse, Britt Burton-Freeman. Effects of grape seed extract beverage on blood pressure and metabolic indices in individuals with pre-hypertension: a randomised, double-blinded, two-arm, parallel, placebo-controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2015 Nov 16:1-13. Epub 2015 Nov 16. PMID: 26568249

Article Published Date : Nov 15, 2015
Study Type : Human Study

Substances : Grape Seed Extract : CK(171) : AC(58)
Diseases : Hypertension : CK(3593) : AC(285), Insulin Resistance : CK(1237) : AC(235)
Pharmacological Actions : Hypotensive : CK(415) : AC(57)

Jackie:

I did research Grape seed, Celery seed and Olive leaf extracts and they are mostly all favorable. They sound great for many things and I was hoping they would be helpful to me. I do have problems with herbs and some supplements, I don't know why, some will give me Oral Migraines, so I have to be careful and let my food be "my medicine' as dr. Colbert says in his book. My BP is better since stopping that supplement, yesterday it was 142/70, today 136/69, I am fine with those numbers, I know that as we get older our arteries get stiffer and therefore our BP will be a little higher. But I certainly don't want my pressure to be as high as it was a few days ago. I have read that those plant extracts can lower blood sugar, so I believe that is what happened to me as I do have problems with low blood sugar. I don't know if that would raise ones' BP. Dr. Brownstein always takes a lot of blood twice a year and I don't have kidney problems, although my bun is on the high side, I have had this for years, Dr. B. keeps telling me to drink more water, I know I don't drink enough, it is hard to do, especially in the winter.

Liz

Liz - You and I are about the same age and we are also similar in that we are sensitive certain substances. With me, it's more chemical/drug but there are also certain herbals to which I'm reactive. Some of the recent medical literature discussing 'seniors' and blood pressure, seems to allow that if you are around 140 systolic, that's fairly uncommon and not yet a huge concern so I'd think you'd be just fine if you continue on with your typical good diet and lifestyle with the Bp that you currently enjoy without taking herbals to try to get it lower. Obviously, if it elevates significantly, then that's another issue.

The older I become, and after all my other health ordeals besides AF, my personal conclusion is that I'd prefer to just maintain a decent level of health, without drugs or heroics because the reality of it all is, if we are fortunate enough to reach the 8th decade in relatively good health, we only have a finite number of years left anyway so we may as well try to keep them as trouble free and pleasant as possible. Your very upsetting and negative experience with the herbals just wouldn't be worth it (for me.) I'm done with trying to chase lab numbers unless there is something really sinister that crops up.

I certainly wish you continued success with your healthy regimen and with the good Dr. Brownstein looking after you, it would seem you are managing very well. Don't rock the boat, would be my thought.

Best to you in 2016!

Jackie

Jackie:

I agree with all that you have said, I think we lived in a better time, life was easier/safer than today. I still have a large garden and a large area to mow and have been able to take care of all of it by myself, so I have been very fortunate. Take care.

Liz

Excellent sleuthing Liz As someone said we are all experiments of one, And I've seen enough of your posts to know that you are not average. The beauty of it is you know it and proceed accordingly. I think Fran (remember her) couldn't have done it better research wise to uncover that low percentage shot of being sensitive to GSE. congratulations.

Blessings

Adrian