For a post that I did not share publicly… I am somewhat shocked by how much traction my Wednesday post managed to get. Sometimes, I forget how many of you will read this blog regardless of what I do to promote it. I appreciate all the people who reached out to me in private… and there were so damned many of you. As a result, I thought it was probably a good idea to talk a bit about the situation I found myself in and what the resolution is looking like thus far. Yesterday I had my follow-up visit with my primary care provider, and essentially I now join the legion of folks on a daily blood pressure medication. I also did not fully realize how much it was impacting my life until after being medicated. There were a lot of things that I had just chalked up to getting older… that seemed to have magically gone away within roughly two hours of taking the meds for the first time.
For literally a decade or more… I have dealt with pretty much a constant headache. I even went so far as to have assorted tests trying to figure out what was causing this. I tried migraine medication even and it never really seemed to help so I kinda of just assumed it was something that I would have to live with. Just doing normal stuff would make me out of breath sometimes… especially bending over for long periods of time… which I just assumed was my sedentary nature and being as big as I was… and also just a sign of getting older. I would have dizzy spells and was a bit wobbly on my feet, which I just assumed was more wear and tear on my body from being rather large. Additionally, everything sorta ached all of the time and I just didn’t really seem to have any energy. This had been the background noise of my life and it is shocking how much you can get used to it and just assume it is normal.
Legitimately by the end of yesterday… almost all of this went away. I am more clear-headed, nothing hurts anywhere near as bad as it did… and my headache essentially disappeared. This is trite but it legitimately feels a bit like I am a new person. So I said this the other day but when I was in the ER my blood pressure was 210/110 and even after sitting there for a few hours it was only down to 180/95. In the Doctor’s office yesterday it was 165/90, and then two hours after taking my new blood pressure medication it was down to 130/80 by yesterday evening I took it again and it was down to 104/70. I am shocked that it worked that quickly… and caused such a wild result. I am partially kicking myself for not taking all of these little things more seriously and secondly wondering just how close I was to having a stroke. That prospect seems all the more scary in the rearview mirror after seeing how radical the impact of being medicated seems to have been.
I think on some level this latest round of crisis was brought on by some events happening in my life. A bunch of stressful situations have collided at once to push me beyond my normal limits. I spent some time venting about it to a friend yesterday, and once that dam cracked… a deluge came rushing out about all of the effects it has had on me. I think on some level I had not even realized fully the toll it had on me. So all of this… the pathological, the emotional, and the mental wear… seemed to just culminate in a medical crisis. I guess I am thankful that per the doctors and my otherwise clean bill of health… I did not seem to do permanent damage as of yet. I am shocked that was the case though given how much I had seemingly stressed my systems.
The hardest thing right now for me to get used to… is the absence of all of the things I was just dealing with. I’ve had a constant headache living in the back of my skull for longer than I can remember… maybe even for the better part of two decades. I’ve also just dealt with subtle aches and pains that I assumed were just the toll of the poor shape that I am in and carrying around as much weight as I do. But with all of that gone or at least lessened to a point where it does not even feel like it exists anymore… it is just surreal. I keep expecting reactions from my body to the things I am doing that are no longer there. It will take some getting used to everything and developing a new baseline.
Anyways! Thanks for everyone sticking with me through this and checking in on me. It meant a lot.
I am very late to the party on this one, had it open in a browser tab almost since publication date, but only getting to it now.
Even with that being the case, wanted to chime in and say how glad I am for the dramatic shift in your health and general life experience for the better!
I can barely imagine the difference between your old and new normals. 🙂
Only just seen these posts, but very glad to hear you’re feeling better now!
wow, i totally understand your thought process over time, just dealing with each little annoyance as aging or what have you, and all this time they were all symptoms of one thing, controllable with medication. glad to hear you are feeling so much better!
Darn Bel! I’m just seeing this and am glad that you are feeling better!
It took my girlfriend (now my wife of many years) to make me go see a doctor in response to debilitating headaches I used to get. Which were promptly squashed by getting properly medicated to treat my high blood pressure.
I hope that your day to day living improves now that you’ve been properly diagnosed.
HUG I’m so happy the meds worked for you.
I’ve been talking mine for 2 years now. I was in emergency and they said that I was as close to a heart attack as one could get without actually having one. It was scary.
But take care of yourself and we are always watching lol 😆
Glad to hear you’re doing better and that the medication is working. Take it easy, and don’t worry about us here. Your health is what’s important, and we’re all rooting for you.
I didn’t see your post on Wednesday so let me apologize for that, but it’s great news to hear the medication has been so effective and so quickly. I’m used to the doctors telling me they’re a little worried about my blood pressure every time I go in for something else, but even at it’s worst it’s only around 150/90 or so and when I take it at home in peace and quiet it’s more like 130/90. Those readings you were getting at the highest there sound terrifying!
Here’s hoping the medication continues to be so effective and the outcome is a permanently improved quality of life for you.