Is it safe to take Coenzyme Q10 with blood pressure medication?
I received this message:
"I have used vitamins for years with no problems, and today I was in the chemist and went to buy some CoQ10. I have used it for years, and in this particular bottle, it was on special at a reasonable price reduction but also had Vit D3 in.
The lady asked me if I had my Drs approval to ensure it didn't conflict with the medication I take? I said I had taken it for years with no problems. The lady said she would check with the chemist against my medication which is for high blood pressure.
I have heard that they are discouraging people from using vitamins now, so I found it very interesting to have had this experience today for the first time."
This email is the second message of this kind to come my way this week. So, it would appear that something is up. There is a war on nutrition and health. This war includes a campaign to undermine any solution for improving and maintaining health other than a drug. This war has been going on for years, with perfectly safe nutritional supplements being progressively banned and removed from our shelves. However, the COVID Pandemic Response has taken this campaign to the Next Level:
They have silenced integrative and holistic doctors. The brave few who have spoken out have had their reputations publicly trashed, and some have lost their jobs.
There have been zero health messages.
Any remedies, for the virus, other than patented medicines that have proven effectiveness have been either banned or restricted.
They are taking the opportunity the Pandemic presents to come down hard on the natural health industry - full-stop!
They want us to be unhealthy. Being unhealthy is excellent for business. Healthy people are bad for business. Big Pharma wants you to be sick from the cradle to the grave. How long and how well you live is irrelevant to their business model. What matters to them is enslaving your body and emptying your pockets by the time you die. This pillaging includes emptying our Government's coffers.
Your best response to this sick and exploitive behaviour is not to play their game:
Invest in your health through moderate exercise.
Eat fresh whole foods.
Engage with your community.
Ignore their fear-mongering.
Only take medication when it is needed and only for the shortest time for it to do the job, and
Take supplementation where indicated.
On the question of the safety of taking Coenzyme Q10 with blood pressure medications
Q10 is a beautiful nutrient that becomes of increasing importance as we enter old age. I won't go into details about how it works here; you can look it up on the internet.
There is a slight possibility that Q10 may augment the actions of blood thinners, thus increasing the risk of an uncontrolled bleed, but I have never seen an actual case of anyone having complications with this and a thinner. If you are on blood thinners and your doctor has concerns about the supplements you are taking, you need to ask for a sensible and informed explanation of why? By the way, these supplements that may be of concern may include garlic, omega three and fish oil, Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin K, and even vitamin C.
Bear in mind that cutting these nutrients out of your diet is a most unhealthy thing to do! These are essential for every aspect of your health: you can't live without them!
So, if your doctors tell you not to take any one or more of these nutrients, first ask why then ask for scientific references. Exercise some logic with these steps of reasoning:
The nutrient(s) come with a long list of health benefits.
They have no downsides when taken correctly.
The drugs have nasty side effects, often a long list.
The drugs do not make you healthy, and they do not cure high blood pressure; at best, they buy you a little time.
Therefore, if the nutrient(s) augment the drug's action, would it not make sense to take the nutrients while reducing the drug proportionately?
In fact, would it not make sense to take more of the health-promoting nutrients and do away with the drugs altogether?
Exercise:
If you are taking drugs for high BP, the questions you must ask are these:
Do I have high blood pressure, was it a misdiagnosis, or have things changed?
If I do, does it fluctuate during the day and the week, depending on what I'm doing?
Is the blood pressure medication working, or has it become ineffective with time?
Finally, if I stop taking the drugs, what happens to my blood pressure?
Get yourself an Omron Wrist-Type Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Monitor. Get this brand, not anything else, because it is accurate within a few points of the machine your doctor has. Depending on what model you choose, you can find these online for between $130 and $150. If you are unsure which is best for you, drop me an email with the link to the machine you are considering and I'll give you my opinion about it.
Once you have your BP machine (wrist-type) take your blood pressure and pulse at the following times for ten days:
Before you get out of bed.
Once you are up and about and around the time you take the blood pressure medication.
A few hours after taking the drug, presumably having its most significant effect during the day.
Before dinner.
In the evening, just before bedtime, and, finally.
After exercise or any other time of interest, such as following anything stressful that you feel has affected your blood pressure.
Record these in a diary or on a spreadsheet and make notes of anything of interest.
After you have ten days of records, please see your doctor, discuss your results, and seek their advice and ask:
Is there a case for either reducing or stopping the medication completely?
Is the medication even working? Can you see patterns for ways other than drugs for keeping blood pressure healthy?
For example, what does a long walk or a hot bath or sauna do to your blood pressure?
By the way, perfect BP is around 120/80 with the upper limits being around a constant 145/95. At the same time, you do not want low BP. Anything less than around 100/70 is not healthy.
If you want to discuss cardiovascular issues with me, including helping to make sense of your BP readings, drop me an email, and we can take things from there.
I wish you all good health, including a strong but low pulse!
About Coenzyme Q10
CoQ10 is short for Coenzyme Q10, a naturally occurring molecule that’s found in virtually every cell of our bodies. CoQ10 is an energy transfer molecule – it plays a crucial part to help our cells convert the food we eat into energy.
This energy is used to power every function of our bodies. Considering as humans we consist of approximately 30 – 37 trillion cells – that is a lot of grunt work that CoQ10 does for us.
Levels of CoQ10 are highest in organs with high rates of metabolism, such as the heart, kidney, and liver. These are very busy organs, with a lot of metabolic responsibilities - so they need a lot of energy.
CoQ10 is a unique, versatile and multifunctional molecule. Our bodies use it in many biological processes. In addition to its role in cellular energy production, it also works as a potent antioxidant to protect mitochondria from free radical damage. Free radicals form as a waste by-product of our normal, daily metabolic function.