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Posted by Dave Allen (Member # 3102) on March 22, 2015, 11:45 AM:
Anybody here on blood pressure medicine ?
I went to the doc, for a checkup on the 10th, hadn't been in years.
Turns out I have high blood pressure, who would have guessed.. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
He said give it two weeks for the med's to balance stuff out, and I'd feel weird. I'm on my 12th day and it is getting better. Wow what a trip !! lately almost feel buzzed @ times, then exhausted !!
I need a nap.. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 22, 2015, 01:36 PM:
Been on B/P meds for years. Runs in my family.
Biggest problem that I had was finding something that didn't cause a bad cough. A hair hanging down the throat, gagging kind of cough.
So I would quit taking the med until I went back to the Dr. for something else and he would prescribe something different for the B/P.
This went on for quite a while. Take meds, cough a lot, quit taking meds.
High blood pressure's pretty easy to ignore.
The heart attack that followed........not so much.
Find something that you can take & stick with it. When your B/P goes back to normal, that doesn't mean that you're cured......only that the meds are working. Don't want to rain on your parade but you'll likely be on B/P meds the rest of your life.
Posted by Dave Allen (Member # 3102) on March 22, 2015, 03:41 PM:
Thanks Koko.
Sorry to hear about the heart attack. Hopefully things are good now ?
Yeah, I'm probably stuck with 'em from here on out. Oh' well, if that's the way it is, then so be it.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 22, 2015, 04:01 PM:
I went through a phase, of sorts. After a few visits and the numbers were around 135, more or less, Doctor announces that I am pre-hypertention, or something like that?
So, I was taking 10mg Lisinopril for at least a year and a half. Bought a machine, too. So my BP started acting under control 105, or so and after a while, it was usually closer to 95-90 so they took me off of it and my blood pressure has been in a decent range like 105-110 for the last six months.
What does that mean? I'm not a doctor. However, I have something else going on and have dropped 20-25 pounds and maybe that accounts for it?
So, I think there are things you can do for yourself; and by the way, a heart attack may be one thing to consider but so is stroke.
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 22, 2015, 04:45 PM:
Things are good now.
I quit smoking, improved my diet (some), keep up with the exercise, watch the B/P, retired from a stressful job, and moved to Az.
If life were any better, o bama would try to tax me on it.
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on March 22, 2015, 04:49 PM:
Had doc put me on B/P meds about ten years ago after proactively addressing the matter that all the men in my family have had hypertension for as long as I can remember and I didn't see the need to wait. My B/P stays at about 130-ish/ 80, which is considered pre-hypertension.
About the numbers, the top number is the measure of the maximum pressure inside your arteries at the deepest part of the contraction of your heart.
The bottom number is the resting pressure, or the amount of pressure your arteries are under when the heart is exerting the least amount of pressure
For many years, 120/60 was stated to be an optimal blood pressure. Then, they said that anything under 100+your age/ 90 maximum was okay.
Nowadays, 140/90 is the cutoff between hyoertension (above) and pre-hypertension (below) which pretty much means that you are not exactly in the high blood pressure category, but you will be in time. HTN, the abbreviation for hypertension, which means high blood pressure, affects so much. When it's high, it makes your heart work harder pushing blood against a pressure head in front of it. Too low and you're not getting oxygenated blood to the vital organs like you need to be.
Lot of things are controlled and affected by HTN meds, because there are LOTS of different kinds. When your doc looks at how your heart is beating, he looks at three different parameters: The force with which each beats pumps, the depth of the contraction in the heart muscle itself, and the amount of time it takes for each contraction of the lower chambers of the heart, all of which can be impacted by HTN meds. Also, they look at the rhythm of both the upper and lower chambers, and making sure that those beats are coordinated properly with one another, as is told by an EKG, a heart tracing.
I tried a bunch of them before settling into the regimen I'm on now. Side effects have included those plegmy "hair in the throat" coughs cited previously, amazingly vivid all-night dreams and sleep disturbances, peeing constantly and even bowel problems and constant gas. I've gotten to the pint that I can almost ID who is on different meds just by being around them for a while. LOL
Nowadays, I take Toprol in the morning and at night, and a half dose of an anxiety med that allows me to relax and stop feeding the stress I feel. Between the two, I do okay. Could do better, but when they tried to just up my dose, I was so tired I literally fell asleep walking my route on day and barely caught myself before face planting. Losing weight helps a lot, and so does staying away from caffeine in coffee, pop, and chocolate, as well as limiting sugar intake. Staying well hydrated helps me a lot, too.
Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on March 23, 2015, 03:31 AM:
Feeling very fortunate Every time have my bp checked they look at me and say something to the effect that I have the heart of a twelve year old.
I hate taking drugs and as soon as I can get away from the ones I'm taking now watch me run. normally I won't even take an asprin or such.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2015, 06:55 AM:
For me, I never had a habit of taking pills, didn't occur to me to take aspirin even after becoming aware of a headache.
That was then. Now, I take pills every day, some prescription and some supplements. It's drudgery, but I manage. Usually.
I have fucked up. It's easy to do when you take a dozen in the morning and a half a dozen at bedtime. If I take eleven pills instead, such as a hand full, and the missing medication is the one that is habit forming, even the "withdrawal" symptoms fail to register, for a day or so. I can't even describe it, but "discomfort" might be accurate and, at the same time, totally inadequate, as far as descriptions go.
This has happened a couple times. All I can tell you is that morphine is a great drug and it allows me to function without pain, for the most part. But, I respect it. For instance, one beer or one glass of wine, with dinner. My consumption might be described as once or twice a month, hardly worth mentioning.
But still, pills are difficult for me, I just don't like it. I think my attitude is close to Paul's but, <sigh> it has to be. Getting old ain't for sissies! And, that's the truth.
Excuse the rambling.
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by Moe (Member # 4494) on March 23, 2015, 09:36 AM:
When I was in my early 20's I worked as a cable splicer with GTE. We worked with a lot of lead back in the old days and I breathed in lead oxide and at with hands almost black with lead. As a result I've had blood pressure problems since my early 20's.
When going in for a flight physical my diastolic number was always close to 90. The doctor would pass me but I'd get a lecture. When I got into my early 50's I went to the doctor for what I thought were migraines. Turns out it was my BP. One reading was like 225/120. They kept me and put me on meds that same day. I'm resistive to pretty much any medication so today I'm on a maximum dose of 4 different BP meds. They sap all of the energy out of me and I have to push myself to do the things I used to enjoy.
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on March 23, 2015, 04:34 PM:
I have a handy little built-in warning device that alerts me when I miss my med. Ten years ago, I got a steroid shot for my allergies and began six months of what can only be described as total hell. I began having thumping palpitations. Told my doctor it was like being thumped in the upper left chest just off my sternum. My heart would be beating along in rhythm, then suddenly miss a beat, and then suddenly it would come in, called an escape beat, hard enough that my wife would see me flinch when it happened. Most of the time, it would be a single beat. Occasionally, it would be two beats together, and that got my attention. One Sunday morning, it was flip flopping all over and I would have runs of four to five beats like that accompanied by dizziness and sweating - signs of a heart attack. I was scared shitless, to say the least, Forty years old, wife and two young kids.
Went to the ER and my BP was 220/124. Doc was there and we talked, realized I'd just had a 32 oz soda with tons o' caffeine. He suggested the steroid shot + the soda was giving me fits. Went to my doc the following day and told him I had been researching my symptoms and had a good idea of what I had happening. He agreed that it might be a condition called dysautonomia, a congenital benign defect in the pacemaker in the heart. He asked me what tests I thought he ought to run and I said stress test, echocardiogram to assess the possibility of a mitral valve prolapse, and a King of Hearts, which is essentially a 30-day halter monitor. He laughed and said that I had done my homework and ordered all three on the spot. By that evening, I was capturing the palpitations with the KoH monitor which I transmitted via phone line to a place in Chicago who would then read and interpret the strip and email the strip and the doctor's interpretation back to the hospital. Because I am trained to read EKG rhythms, doc sent an order to radiology to let me see the strips and notes anytime I asked to do so. I delivered mail to the hospital every morning and a couple radiological techs that didn't know me had a hard time with why the mailman was reading EKG strips for them. That was very cool as it alleviated a lot of my anxiety. The stress test prompted the same irregular beats as I was catching at home and the echo was negative. Turns out I have a congenital condition that won't kill me but makes me extremely sensitive to caffeine, refined sugar, dehydration and extreme heat by triggering powerful extra beats originating from the same little bundle of heart cells in the wall of the lower chambers of my heart. Had I tried to enlist in the service, they probably would have found it and sent me home. Common name is "Soldier's heart". As long as I avoid caffeine, drink a lot of water during the summer, and combine protein with sugars if I have to eat sugar, I do fine. Essentially, I have a prescription for peanut butter cups. LOL It was scary though, I must say. Information is a good thing.
[ March 23, 2015, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2015, 05:13 PM:
Might have to modify your custom title?
Posted by Dave Allen (Member # 3102) on March 23, 2015, 06:15 PM:
Wow !! that's some scary BP numbers you guys posted up.
Mine was only 186/102 ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Posted by knockemdown (Member # 3588) on March 24, 2015, 03:45 AM:
<<<musical interlude>>>
Buncha badazz gee-tars over a fatback bass line. Better than coffee in the morning, and shouldn't adversely affect BP...
Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on March 24, 2015, 03:52 AM:
last time I was n the hospital for a removal of titanium plates they forgot I was on oxycodone started withdrawals man I didn't like that death was sounding like an option that sucked. In a couple more weeks they will be bringing me off slowly and hopefully to a place with some discomfort and no drugs. I had he morphine for a while Leonard that shit works. Good luck Lance I hope you find a solution and good care.
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on March 24, 2015, 04:58 AM:
Thanks, Paul. I'm good. I manage it and it really doesn't bother me muchanymore. Even when it does, knowing it isn't a possibly fatal condition allows me to just ride it out. Now, if I could just lose some weight.....
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 24, 2015, 06:45 AM:
Sheryl Crow? If she called, I'd do her.
Yeah, Paul. I get both the Oxycodone, for what the label says is "breakout pain" AND morphine sulphate, three times a day. Hands up, don't shoot! I'm probably a junkie?
Good hunting. El Bee
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