My father's side of the family mostly passed away from heart disease in their 50's and 60's. I was diagnosed with HBP in 1997 when I was 47 and it was well-controlled until I retired this year, then everything went south. I had been on Lisinopril forever, and it suddenly stopped working. Tried Lotril which made my feet and ankles swell up. Now I am on a combo of Verapamil 240 and Metoprolol 50 mg. I am 5'5", weight 124 lbs and have never been more than 15 pounds over that weight, walk 3 - 6 miles regularly, do weight training and cardio at the gym 3 - 4 days a week, ride my bike and my horse, having been following a vegan diet since last summer, but lately am including bird, fish and eggs back into my diet, take lots of Shaklee vitamins including calcium and magnesium and never add salt to anything and almost never have my whole life. I have been really closely watching my salt intake from purchased foods. But nothing seems to be working. My BP is still high and I'm scared. My doctor says nothing I'm doing other than drugs has any effect on my BP but I can't believe it. Can that be true? What else should we be looking at?:View Thread