Well, spit and dirty socks. Yesteday I had the conference with the doctor to discuss the results of my 24-hour blood pressure test. I don’t trust that meter to be accurate – whenever I was moving around or even just moving my arm it had to take two or three attempts, and in my experience that always results in a higher reading. It came out with an average of around 160/95 (again, interesting, because when he took it in his office yesterday it was 140/90) which the doctor says is way too high for someone my age. So he put me on blood pressure meds – Lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor. We talked for a while about me being a rower, and he took that into account; he’d originally been going to give me a beta blocker, which I think might be bad for racing. Also, according to Dr. Internet this is seriously contraindicated for anyone who is pregnant, so kudos to the doctor for believing me when I say I am not planning to. Finally, the one thing that makes this more tolerable is that it’s one tiny pill a day, only.
On the bad side, I’ve never had any health condition requiring long-term medication, so this is making me feel very, very old and infirm. I hate the idea of having to take this into account. (Assuming it works, I guess it’s better to be dealing with medication than with actual high BP.) Further, we still want to take a year off and travel when we get back to the US so please, America, get your shit together in terms of medical insurance. Preferably by next summer.
So we’ll see. I’m supposed to go back in two weeks to discuss how it’s working. Also, what do I do about my pretzel addiction?
Welcome to the club. I joined 40 years ago. Currently take: lisinopril (but also take a med for another reason that has a significant effect on BP).
Have found lisinopril to be benign, but was never very competitive and stopped racing (road) 25 years ago.
Was told to read “The Relaxation Response” when I joined. Author has a new one out that is reviewed to be like the first – a page of instructions repeated in each chapter with reworks of the reasons why. Basically it is meditation 101. IMHO, worth looking at if you are a basically antsy type A sort as I am. It does help me calm down.
Yeah, I’d wave goodbye to the pretzels (I did – and haven’t used table salt in 40 years) but there is a lot of hidden sodium – that is why diet folks are trying to encourage us all to pay attention and eat less of it. It is more important for you, now.
I have a cuff that I can use when I want – I do so sitting down and relaxed. Yeah, other times, I’m sure it is higher – but one wants to make damn sure it isn’t higher sitting down and relaxed. Two advantages – you keep track and your health care provider will give you more slack if convinced that you are keeping track.
Upside to watching: my father had high BP – I am now a decade older than he was when he had the stroke that killed him. One data point and lots of noise, but control seems to work pretty well.
Best wishes!
Your shock and disappointment remind me of Mick’s when he was diagnosed with thyroid problems. “Wait. What? I’m an ATHLETE for pete’s sake!”
As far as the BP goes, meds aren’t always forever, though if they work without any major problems that’s good! The ex made some big changes to his diet and zen and has been able to keep his BP in check without meds for a while now. I did a lot of research about hidden sodium when he was diagnosed (at 41) and found unless you’re a salt shaker junkie a bit of table salt isn’t a big deal, it’s the stuff already in the food and drinks. Weird things you’d never think of like spaghetti sauce and even some breads. I became a label reader and with some tweaking was able to cook for his health without the rest of us feeling deprived. Of course I don’t cook for him anymore, but I still cook and shop with an eye on the sodium.
Good luck. Sorry your body gave you a curveball. ~LA
yee gads!! high BP!!
might have to stop licking up all the salt on the pretzels.
seriously, i found out i was salt sensitive for BP some years ago, and had to make a serious effort to read the labels of prepared foods. exercise helped curb the BP somewhat, but watching out for the hidden salts made the biggest dents.