OT Blood pressure

[rbowman]

Maybe, maybe not. My BP was always pushing to 140 but when it headed to

150 I figured it was time to do something.

[rbowman]

Check into it but most plans provide for an annual 'wellness' visit. In fact iirc I got email fro the AARP plan telling me I was due.

[gfretwell]

I have AARP UHC and I get my physical from my PCP for the co pay. ($15 on my plan) The house call is not really a physical. They send a nurse/tech sort of person to do a few rudimentary things. There is no real lab work and it is not a doctor's opinion. They guessed wrong on a couple of things the last time they sent someone here.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per rbowman:

140 is where my current cardio guy draws the line.

[rbowman]

I drove truck in the '90s and that was a cut-off for the DOT physical. Medication wasn't allowed either because of the potential side effects impacting safety. I was always borderline. The last time I renewed my DL I was over 140. However I hadn't driven a truck in about 15 years and with the new requirements like the DHS vetting if you have a HazMat endorsement, which is necessary for most companies, I dropped the CDL. I'd thought I might retire and drive summers for the hell of it but at this point in my life the only thing I want to drive in the summer is a motorcycle.

The conventional wisdom 60 years ago was 100 plus your age which allowed for the gradual increases with aging. Then they declared anything over

120/80 was borderline hypertension. The latest dogma seems to be 120/80 is nice but extremely aggressive treatment to get you to that reading isn't needed.

[philo]

This is the first time where I will now have to examine what I eat.

Even though I do not plan on obsessing too much... as far as the salty foods (sodium) go...it's not like I was a little over the recommended limit...I probably eat 5 times or more of the salt and carbs that I should.

So far my wife and I made a pack that we will not skip our once daily walks. I managed to cut way down on my salt intake and found if I need to add seasoning a few shots of hot sauce will do the trick.

Now that I've been watching things all week I was happy to see that I actually had a normal blood pressure when I woke up this morning. Even though it goes up as the day progresses it's not as far out of range as it was when I first became aware of this.

[philo]

I eat almost continuously and that will just plain have to stop.

My wife and I both have quit drinking and on the good side...I never smoked and she quit about 16 years ago.

I have lost quite a few friend due to smoking and some of those alive are on exygen

[philo]

I look more at my family history.

My mom at 90 is still alive and everyone on my mom's side lived to the

88-99 year range.

On my father's side things do not look as good as my dad died at

64...but he turned into a big fat blob.

One thing that seems to be a rule though:

Whatever it is you plan for...it will be something else that gets you.

[philo]

Yep ...no way will I take a statin.

[philo]

Thank you so much, one practically has to be a lawyer to wade through all this

[philo]

All I can say is Medicare seems to work very very well.

Truth is I don't really care about small doctor bills , it's the big ones.

My recent colonoscopy was $5000 by my part of the bill will not exceed $180.

The office thought the $180 was a bit high and they told me they see if there was a way to lower it...but truth is I'm fine with that.

[philo]

yep...must have been the way I worded it

[philo]

Fortunately I do not have a high sugar intake.

Years ago I switched to no-sugar peanut butter and it tasted funny at first but now I love it. I did try the sugared variety again and found it horrible.

Most things that I used to put sugar on or in I find taste better without it

[philo]

I got rid of my bicycle but thankfully had still walk at least.

One big thing was entirely stopping the consumption of all cereal with the exception of oatmeal...

[Frank]

Smoking is the worse thing you can do to your body. I quit in my late

20's. I've known several people that died of lung cancer including one on the surgeon generals committee that condemned cancer and switched to Larks because of the charcoal filter. I also had two uncles with emphysema which was the main driving force to make me quit.

[micky]

That's great.

And those walks are important. At least some daily exercise as little as walking is important to get.

I rode a bike for the first time in years yesterday, but the derailleurs wont' derail. Cables bad. I'm going to dig out my $10 bike that works and ride that.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Frank:

Lady I used to work with had both knees replaced.

One got infected.

They had to cut it apart, remove the prosthesis, and stuff it with antibiotics.

She spent something like 5 months laying on the couch with her leg in two pieces.

[philo]

My bike is now history but I love walking.

When we started out I was walking slowly and enjoying the scenery and my wife was walking ahead and growing impatient.

One the way home I was walking quite fast. Bladder

[philo]

Yep it's nothing but bad news. When my wife moved in here 16 years ago I made her smoke outside.

First -20F day she decided to quit.

Now she hates smoke worse than I do.

Also lost a few to colon cancer...they were around 50 and figured they were too young to get tested.

As to my blood pressure, by my cutting out excess salt I saw improvement but still it was too high.

Saw my doctor first thing this morning and he put me on a very low dose of Amlopodine, 2.5mg

Five hours later my BP is down to a high normal. He told me to give it a week to make sure I don't have any side effects

[philo]

That was my worst nightmare.