Blood Pressure...

The Voice said:
Interesting re: intercranial pressure. I get ice pick headaches now and then - related?
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very probably related - another common symptom is blurred / foggy vision - - but all the symptoms typically fade away within 10 mins or so.

intracranial hypertension - for the most part, is easily managed
 
Tinuva said:
My wife, with nowhere close to blood pressure problems, get those palpitations at times.

She seen many doctors, no one was concerned, except for my wife. I did remember during pregnancy, the gynecologist, said her iron levels are too low. Doctors would look at it and say nothing, except for this gynecologist.

When she fixed the iron levels, the palpitations stopped. Ive read that palpitations is one of the random symptoms that can happen if you have low iron levels. Not saying its the case for you, just saying sometimes random stuff happen when something is out that most doctors ignore.
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Interest point about iron. My ferritin level is constantly low. NHS minimum is 30. I was 28 when I first got tested. Refused to give me an infusion because I’m not anaemic (yet). Was taking 210mg of ferrous fumerate, and it only went up to around 55. Still wouldn’t budge. Have a gut issue that’s probably stopping me from absorbing most things properly that I’m only getting tested for at the end of the month. It’s a long ass, month long process that involves a breath test over like 3 hours on the last day.

They don’t seem overly concerned, again because I’m not anaemic, but low iron over a long time leads to anaemia. And as a cardiac patient, the minimum should be 100 on their scale of 30-300.
 
Wrath of Khan MD said:
always have a full blood count test, men should not be taking iron pills unless you want to peg...

often one can "feel" their heartbeat pounding in their ears or the likes and think they are having an episode, but yet you strap on a BP monitor and you get a perfectly normal BP and heart rate. I would guess sometimes your body is overly sensitive to pressures... always trust a good machine.

brushing your teeth or having a poo will increase your BP / heart rate, you are straining a bit so nothing to be overly worried about. Try brush your teeth with your head up as many people brush with their head down in the basin, see if there is a difference.
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It doesn’t happen every time I do it. Literally only once, and I brush my teeth twice a day, every day. The pooing thing is completely different, because it involves bearing down which shoots internal pressure up (same thing when doing a squat, popping your ears, etc). There’s also a technique called the vagal manoeuvre (same principle) which quickly brings the heart rate down if you’re having a tachycardia episode.
 
got a call from synexus (i was on the j&j covid vaccine trial with them) earlier this morning, asking if i would be prepared to participate in a clinical trial related to cardio-vascular conditions.

im guessing it is related to statins - during the pre-screening the doctor was more focused on the statin aspect (im on rosuvastatin) than any other medication.
 
Grant said:
got a call from synexus (i was on the j&j covid vaccine trial with them) earlier this morning, asking if i would be prepared to participate in a clinical trial related to cardio-vascular conditions.

im guessing it is related to statins - during the pre-screening the doctor was more focused on the statin aspect (im on rosuvastatin) than any other medication.
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Hmmm, interesting. I’m also on rosuvastatin. Did they elaborate?
 
117/86 no meds. I had some success with raising my arm up on a pillow for a bit (saw the magical 80 a few times), but my diastolic has gone back to “normal” now of the mid to high 80’s. Still can’t figure that out. No point taking BP meds, because you can’t treat it in isolation, and my systolic is good, so don’t really want to mess with it. As one of my favourite cardiologists once said, if the top number isn’t high enough to burst a balloon, then you shouldn’t really worry about the bottom number. Of course, that doesn’t mean I should ignore it, but I’m not really panicking, either.

As an aside, how have you guys coped with all the different meds you’ve been on? My heart, according to my cardiologist, is tip top, with no damage after the MIs, but I’m a shadow of the man I was 7 years ago, and the only common denominator is the medication I’ve taken since then. Each pill has side effects, but combine those with the side effects of all the other pills, and it can’t be good at all. I’m not talking the **** they put on the label like dizziness, vomiting, etc. I’m talking like, just for statins, the fact that it strips your muscles of CoQ10 (which is what causes the cramping), and causes memory loss (and as they’ve discovered dementia) because your brain uses cholesterol as a it’s energy source. And that’s just statins, not to mention the unique bullshit all the other pills I was on caused. Now combine all of them over a 7 year period and explain how I’m meant to live a normal life?

I guess I’m just sick of feeling like I have to wake up every morning and think like a scientist just to feel NORMAL again.
 
Blegh. Still not under control.

Getting put on alpha blockers now in addition to my candesartan, and got an ECG next week.
 
Sinbad said:
Blegh. Still not under control.

Getting put on alpha blockers now in addition to my candesartan, and got an ECG next week.
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Candesartan was ****. Stopped taking it last year and my kidneys immediately improved. They were still crap (GFR only 70) but an improvement was nice. Recent bloods show they’ve dropped down to 56, so have to go for an ultrasound and some other tests. At least they’re doing something about it this time instead of just saying that the reading of 60 for the last 6 years is “normal for patient”. Like what the **** kind of diagnosis is that?!
 
The Voice said:
Candesartan was ****. Stopped taking it last year and my kidneys immediately improved. They were still crap (GFR only 70) but an improvement was nice. Recent bloods show they’ve dropped down to 56, so have to go for an ultrasound and some other tests. At least they’re doing something about it this time instead of just saying that the reading of 60 for the last 6 years is “normal for patient”. Like what the **** kind of diagnosis is that?!
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All the other ones I've been on have given me shitty side effects. The calcium channel blocker left me feeling like I was having electric shocks down my body, the prexum and ramipril gave me ridiculous muscle cramps.

I actually just wanted to go onto a beta blocker, but the clinical pharmacist said rather try the alpha blocker plus candesartan first.
 
Sinbad said:
All the other ones I've been on have given me shitty side effects. The calcium channel blocker left me feeling like I was having electric shocks down my body, the prexum and ramipril gave me ridiculous muscle cramps.

I actually just wanted to go onto a beta blocker, but the clinical pharmacist said rather try the alpha blocker plus candesartan first.
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“Ramipril cough”, don’t remind me.

I was on bisoprolol, but it would drop my HR to like 45 while driving, which was NOT good. Then got put on Candesartan and amlodipine, the latter made me look like I had elephantitus, so had to stop that after a few months because I couldn’t get my shoes on anymore. Still felt like ****, though, so eventually stopped the Candesartan.

Only talk half a rosuvastatin, coated aspirin and levothyroxine daily now.
 
yoh - I have no idea what BP drugs are you guys talking about. Could be just a regional nomenclature though. I have been on BP meds for 15+ years and have only had experience with prexum plus and then co-zomovek.
 
Sideshow Bob said:
yoh - I have no idea what BP drugs are you guys talking about. Could be just a regional nomenclature though. I have been on BP meds for 15+ years and have only had experience with prexum plus and then co-zomovek.
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On a serious note, I think it’s because they don’t use brand names here in the UK, eg: Prozac is sold as fluoxetine hydrochloride, Ambien as zolpidem, etc.
 
So, had to up my levothyroxine last week (yeah, have hypothyroidism in my old age, too). My regular brand doesn’t make the increased dosage (I’d been doubling it to get to the 50mcg I’m on), so had to take 25mcg with 50mcg of a different brand. Felt like a zombie for 5 days, and then eventually said **** it and went to 3x my usual brand.

Same hormone, just with vastly different fillers. Not the first time it’s happened, either. Got me thinking, so I checked all my other meds, and they’re filled with the biggest load of ****. So, as someone who takes a few meds every single day, I not only have to contend with the side effects of the drugs themselves, but also all the crap they’re cut with. My rosuvastatin is cut with titanium dioxide, for example, which is banned in the EU for human consumption because it’s toxic.
 
nyb247 said:
It’s wild how something as routine as blood pressure treatment can end up hijacking your quality of life.

What really stood out is how many said they’re technically “fine” according to tests, but still feel like crap. That’s not nothing, and it’s worth paying attention to.

On that note, if you’ve ever been prescribed valsartan and later developed health issues, it might not just be coincidence. Valsartan was recalled in several cases due to contamination with potential carcinogens. A lot of people didn’t even know about the recall until much later, and by then, the damage was done.
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You mention blood pressure treatment hijacking your life. You might find this interesting;
I've stuttered my whole life, severely as a teenager.
Tried everything, been to more than a dozen speech therapists over the years, a couple psychologists and psychiatrists, a witch doctor of sorts, two hypnotherepists, and of course 99% of people you interact with will eventually tell you their cure "I know how to stop stuttering...you must..."
In my early 20's I read up about a growing number of therapists seeing results with medication.
I brought this up with my then therapist, I actually introduced her to how to use Google and that other countries are miles ahead with speech therepy/stuttering knowledge. We agreed that I'd start a course of Propranolol. It's a beta blocker that's commonly prescribed for high blood pressure.
This was, honestly, the closest I've experienced to a "cure"
In a very short time my speech dramatically improved, I could literally feel what it must be like to not have a stutter. BUT, it came with a nasty side effect. It completely changed my personality; made me angry, vulgar and short tampered.
The people close to me, all shared the sentiment that they would much rather have the stuttering version of me, over this fluent dick head I'd become. After about 4 months I stopped the pills. Personality (and stutter) returned to normal.
I still hakkle for the A team, though I've grown to be thankful for it, in a way. It's made me, the me, I am today.
 
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