How One Woman Reversed Her Hypertension and Lost 60 Pounds at Age 51 With GLP-1 Support
Learn how the GLP-1 medication can support healthier blood pressure
After nearly 18 years on medication to manage her high blood pressure, Charity Wischmeyer, 51, is now discussing with her doctor about potentially coming off the medication. How did she reverse her hypertension? Read on to learn how Wischmeyer shed 60 pounds and dramatically lowered her blood pressure, transforming her health and ultimately changing her life.
Charity Wischmeyer’s high blood pressure was tied to her weight
Before adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle, Wischmeyer was overweight, her legs and ankles were swollen, she had severe eczema and elevated blood pressure.
Carrying around those extra pounds drained her energy and made basic tasks feel overwhelming, and she often struggled to catch her breath from simply walking up the stairs. Wischmeyer tried different diets, including cutting out carbs, but often felt defeated and lost motivation when she didn’t see immediate results.
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She battled severe hypertension
A year ago, Wischmeyer couldn’t keep her blood pressure under control unless she took her prescription lisinopril every day. On days when she forgot or lost track of time, her blood pressure readings would skyrocket to around 180/120-130 mmHg. (See normal blood pressure readings by age here.)
“I would go to a doctor’s office sometimes, and they would tell me that I would have to go to the hospital because I could stroke out at that moment because my numbers were so high,” she says. “And I wouldn’t feel it. I didn’t have dizziness, I didn’t have any symptoms.”
High blood pressure and heart problems run in Wischmeyer’s family, and in many cases, her relatives’ genetic predispositions were exacerbated by being overweight and smoking. She lost both her father and brother to heart disease.
Reaching her breaking point
“At that point, I knew I just needed to do something about my weight,” she shares. “I had to do everything I could in my power to give myself a better outcome than my family members had and to live longer than they did.”
Wischmeyer has never smoked, but additional lifestyle factors did contribute to her hypertension. She says she led a mostly sedentary lifestyle, working an office job where she sat at a desk all day, which made it harder to get regular physical activity. She often ate fast food for breakfast and lunch, and while she acknowledges that she could have made healthy choices even on the go, she didn’t pick the healthiest menu items.
At the time, she weighed around 200 pounds and couldn’t seem to make any lasting progress toward losing weight. And carrying excess weight is a leading cause of hypertension, accounting for 65 to 75 percent of the risk.
At the same time, her home life induced a great deal of stress and anxiety, as toxic relationships made her feel consistently ashamed, especially of her weight. “I always felt low in confidence around those individuals, which prevented me from seeking change,” she says.
How Wischmeyer reversed her hypertension
Desperate to make a change, she moved, got a new job and started the LifeMD Weight Management Program. Through the program, she was prescribed semaglutide, which she says significantly decreased her appetite and allowed her brain to recognize and understand when she felt full.
“If I went out to dinner somewhere, I would have four bites of something and I’d be full,” she says. “I would just tell the person I was having a meal with ‘Do you want to share a plate? Because I’m not going to eat much.’ I feel like it reset my stomach, because I used to just consume everything that was on the plate. It helped me realize you don’t need to eat that whole portion.”
How semaglutide aids weight loss and blood pressure
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, which can have a blood pressure-lowering effect, explains Anthony Puopolo, MD, Chief Medical Officer at LifeMD. While weight loss can certainly contribute to blood pressure reduction, he says, data suggests that the positive effects are likely due to a combination of factors, including:
- promoting the elimination of excess salt and water from the body, which helps lower blood volume and therefore blood pressure
- interfering with the RAAS, a system that regulates blood pressure, potentially reducing the production of hormones that constrict blood vessels and increase blood pressure
- relaxing the blood vessels in addition to improving the functioning and health of the blood vessel walls, which can contribute to a decrease in blood pressure
“While the effectiveness of these medications in lowering blood pressure can vary depending on individual factors, including weight, diabetes and other health conditions, we are finding that GLP-1RAs may be a valuable tool for managing blood pressure and improving overall cardiovascular health for patients like Charity,” says Dr. Puopolo.
Wischmeyer lost 60 pounds and reversed her hypertension
After getting a jump-start with semaglutide, Wischmeyer now has more energy for healthier habits. She plays pickleball four or five days a week for a few hours at a time and goes out running to both maintain a healthy weight and control her high blood pressure.
“I now have the energy to go out and do whatever I feel like doing,” she says. “And a lot of that is physical. I don’t get winded anymore. But it’s also that mentally, I now feel like I want to be active and just enjoying life. I’m not depressed anymore.”
Today, a bit more than a year since starting her weight-loss journey, her blood pressure is in a healthy range. And while her doctor wants to continue to monitor her readings before taking her off medication, she’s made remarkable strides toward a healthier life.
“I’m just happy to be having even that conversation with my doctor that I could be coming off of it,” says Wischmeyer.
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