Beware the Silent Killer

Hey there folks! Sorry I haven't been around for awhile. Been crazy over the last few months.

Anyway, I had a pretty bad scare this week which started with a trip to the hospital.

I had sprained my ankle when I tripped and went it to get it checked. The hospital as part of their normal triage procedure checked my blood pressure to see if they could 'fast track' me and get me outta there a lot sooner. No luck there. They started looking at me really strange and started asking all kinds of questions like if I had a headache, chest pain or tightness, dizziness, nausea, vision problems etc. Nope. None of these symptoms although my face was flushed (wife pointed that out). Turned out my blood pressure was very high and I was noted as 'asymptomatic' (no symptoms). (237/110). I was told about this and was kept in for reassessment. When I was finally allowed to leave, the pressure went down to 220/100 but I was put on meds and told very sternly to follow up with my family doctor.
Follow up with my doctor showed despite the meds, my blood pressure was at 240/137. Back to the emerg I went for more aggressive treatment.
Got an IV and was hooked up to a monitor. Finally got my pressure down to a safer 168/80 and fortunately, no damage was found. The doctor wouldn't dare take it down any further as he was concerned that the extra drop in pressure could cause a major artery to collapse (like an air or hydraulic hose) and that can kill me. I have to do another follow up with my doctor and my dosage was increased.

I'm doing much better now and am making changes in my lifestyle. I've set a goal of getting off this medication safely as I don't want to die as a young man and don't want to be on meds for the rest of my life. What scares me is that I'm less than a month shy of turning 41.

Just want to say, get your blood pressure checked regularly (even use one of those machines at the pharmacy and if it looks high, get to the doctor). 120/60 is considered safer and if it goes above 140/80, get see your family doctor.

Considering the hassles I've had recently, I am luckier than I thought. Someone was definitely looking out for me.
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Hey there buddy,

Thanks for the warning that may save many lives. I'm glad you found out about it and can take steps to get that blood pressure down. Thank goodness you sprained your ankle, huh!? Sometimes things work out this way. I had a friend who found a kidney tumor when getting checked for a rib injury. Best wishes and good health!

Ralph
 
Hey there buddy,

Thanks for the warning that may save many lives. I'm glad you found out about it and can take steps to get that blood pressure down. Thank goodness you sprained your ankle, huh!? Sometimes things work out this way. I had a friend who found a kidney tumor when getting checked for a rib injury. Best wishes and good health!

Ralph
Yeah. No kidding. When I first sprained my ankle, I muttered a few words. Now my wife and I are just grateful that this is being tended to now and that this didn't involve calling 911 or worse.
Thank you very much for your wishes.
 

steamhead

Active Member
Hey MadM...You never know what life can throw at you...and how it comes about. Luckily for you and yours, things turned out OK. Hope to see you getting off those meds soon, and to lead a sane and rewarding life...
41...Sheess...Just a kid...
 
Hey steamhead.
Thanks for your wishes. Looking forward to that myself. Meds are making me a bit sleepy on the extra dose but I was warned about that by the doctor. I've been laying down most of the day today taking it easy but will be going for a short walk tonight as the doctor ordered.
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
A few months after my 45th B-day the doctor didn't like the fact my BP was up near 210/90... Now that I'm on meds it hovers around 140/70 a lot better :D :D

Really Good advice to have a check up every year at least!!! I have to go every 3 months since I'm also diabetic...
 
That is a great thing you did for us there. Very considerate

Thank you
You're very welcome.
My Dad died at the age of 47 from complications from a heart attack. Things would have been much more different had he got himself checked.

N Gauger, I'm glad to hear your blood pressure is holding steady especially with diabetes. I have loved ones who are diabetic and I know that this disease is not something to be trifled with. Here's hoping you're health will hold for a very long time.
 

brakie

Active Member
I had a major heart attack in '05 and came within a angry mule's kick of dying.

Today I am on blood pressure and blood thinner pills(and several others) and my blood stays around 130/80 with dips to 105/70.

Folks as MadModeler pointed out check your blood pressure regularly.Your life and health depends on it.
And guys/gals if you smoke today is the day to quit.Your body and love ones will thank you.
 

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
Well I'm glad they found the problem and hope you are doing alright. In 2003 I was check with very low blood pressure and a hypo-thyroid. Fortunetly a very good friend of my wife's in a naturopathic physician. He discouvered that I had lead and cadium levels that wre off the charts due to my work environment I was in. He put me on a natural diet and supplements that took the poisons out of my system and both my blood presure and my thyroid returned to normal (my blood presure is on the low side of normal)
Did they find what was causing such high blood presure?
 
Did they find what was causing such high blood presure?

Not at this time. The extra meds are starting to help and while my pressure is still too high, it's not as high as it was earlier. The doctor wants to get my pressure back under control and then it's a regimen of exercise and diet. For now, the only exercise I'm supposed to have is a short walk around the block as the doctor is concerned that heavier exercise can put me back to square one. I'm also taking light doses of aspirin to prevent a heart attack (per doctor's orders).
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Unfortunately, after a small lifetime in medicine, I can tell you unequivocally that hypertension is only one of a list of "silent killers", and one of the less lethal at that.

That is why we used to recommend that people see a professional once a year even if they were disgustingly healthy. Lance Armstrong, after all, had cancer.
 
Unfortunately, after a small lifetime in medicine, I can tell you unequivocally that hypertension is only one of a list of "silent killers", and one of the less lethal at that.

That is why we used to recommend that people see a professional once a year even if they were disgustingly healthy. Lance Armstrong, after all, had cancer.
That is very true Mountain Man. I've had a cousin and two close friends die of cancer just this year alone. One of my friends started with an annoying cough. When he went in, he found he had lung cancer and by then it had spread.

As an update: Blood pressure coming down but still high. Dosage was increased again and I noticed that the spikes aren't as high as they were so a bit of progress is happening.
 
Yahoo!

Hi there. As an update, blood pressure holding steady at 145/85! Meds, diet and exercise are having a pretty good effect.
 

60103

Pooh Bah
And you guys who are over 50 -- have your colonoscopy or the related smear test done soon. Everyone will tell you the worst part is clearing your system the day before.

And if you get flashes in your eyes, that's your eye telling you something. Flashes plus new floaters in your vision -- get to your eye doc or hospital emerg pronto. (Detached retina gets you to the front of the line.) Apparently prevalent for us short-sighted folk.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
It's all downhill, starting from the day you are born. So you eat right, sleep right, exercise right...and you die in 100% good health!

My philosophy is to treat my life like a sports car - run the **** out of it and slide right up to the Pearly Gates in a cloud of dust just as it falls apart! :cool:

Old joke about a really old geezer who is telling his best friend:

"I never smoked; I never drank and I never chased any loose women, and I done lived to be 105!"

His buddy looks at him for a moment and says: "What fur?"
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
I had a major heart attack in '05 and came within a angry mule's kick of dying.

Today I am on blood pressure and blood thinner pills(and several others) and my blood stays around 130/80 with dips to 105/70.

Folks as MadModeler pointed out check your blood pressure regularly.Your life and health depends on it.
And guys/gals if you smoke today is the day to quit.Your body and love ones will thank you.
A little over a week ago I started to get palpitations. One of the first things I did was check my B/P. 187/110. My heart rate was up to 116 and my defibrillator is set to go off at 120 so they call 911. ER says nothing conclusive, but by the time I got back home, it was obvious, a stomach virus was causing the whole thing. My B/P came back down, 118/78, my fever broke after four days and everything else when back to normal. I guess my point is that it doesn't take much to upset the balance, and your B/P and heart rate are good indicators that something isn't right.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
A little over a week ago I started to get palpitations. One of the first things I did was check my B/P. 187/110. My heart rate was up to 116 and my defibrillator is set to go off at 120 so they call 911. ER says nothing conclusive, but by the time I got back home, it was obvious, a stomach virus was causing the whole thing. My B/P came back down, 118/78, my fever broke after four days and everything else when back to normal. I guess my point is that it doesn't take much to upset the balance, and your B/P and heart rate are good indicators that something isn't right.

You might consider finding a better staffed ER. When a patient's life is potentially on the line, there is no such thing as "nothing conclusive".
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
You might consider finding a better staffed ER. When a patient's life is potentially on the line, there is no such thing as "nothing conclusive".
You're right on that count. They keep you waiting and isolated on a hard gurney for so long that all you can think of is going home. We weren't out of the hospital parking lot when it became obvious what my problem was, although I didn't connect the dots until a few days later when I did some research on the Net. And even then, I can't find an "official" connection between stomach virus, high B/P and heart palpitations, just a whole lot of folks that had the same problems.

ERs are notoriously understaffed and crowded. Ours is in the middle of retirement communities and usually have patients lying in the hallways. To their credit though, they are building a new wing in which the whole first floor will be nothing but a new ER.
 
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