My High Blood Pressure

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 by: Steve Alan

I have probably had high blood pressure for a long time. This is the story of how I found out.

In hindsight, I can identify many symptoms of high blood
pressure, but I either ignored them or thought they were related to
other things.

The major symptom I had was headaches. Most days I
would either wake up with a headache or develop one. Some of them were
real "head splitters" ... occasionally I would have to lie down to stop
the nausea. I remember often working in front of my computer and trying
very hard not to move my head to avoid feeling sharp pains.

Since being diagnosed with high blood pressure and
starting medication, I have not had one headache (around nine months
now). My headaches were definitely due to my high blood pressure, but
back then I thought they were due to stress, or poor posture due to
sitting at a computer all day ... or any number of things.

THE DIAGNOSIS

I had been told for years by doctors that my blood
pressure was high, but that it was probably due to the "white
coat"effect. Turns out it wasn't. I went to a new doctor, and as she
took my blood pressure, she had a very worried look on her face.

My systolic blood pressure reading was over 200.

She told me to go to hospital immediately and made me
promise I would not ignore her warning. At the time I did think she was
over-reacting, and I pictured myself sitting in the hospital emergency
waiting room for a couple of hours, waiting for a doctor to see me,
giving me a couple of pills to take, and heading home.

The actual story was very different.

I arrived at emergency and was given the standard
"patient detail" form to fill out. Before I was 1/3 of the way through,
a nurse turned up to take my blood pressure. She also got a worried
look on her face, and took me straight to one of the emergency beds.
This is in a hospital system famous for making people wait hours in
emergency.

I had doctors all over me ... injecting things, taking blood, scanning me and god knows what else.

My clearest memory of that day was suddenly feeling very light headed.

The doctor later told me that I "liked" a drug (I think
it was hydralazine) he injected into me. I say "liked" because only a
doctor could think I "liked" it. In about 30 seconds I went from
feeling what I then considered normal, to being drenched in sweat, head
spinning and throwing up my lunch. The nurses told me later that I was
as white as a ghost.

I remember asking one of the emergency nurses if she thought I would be able to go home that night. She laughed.

I ended up spending 4 days in intensive care, and 6 days in the general hospital before they let me go home.

The quality of the care, the doctors and the nurses were
all amazing. We have a free hospital system in Australia which
sometimes gets a bad rap, but my experience was very positive.

MEDICATION

They never found a cause ... I just have high blood
pressure. I take a fair bit of medication, and my blood pressure is now
at normal levels.

My doctor told me to buy a blood pressure monitor and
record my readings each day. Because I kept forgetting to take my
readings, I wrote a software program to remind me. The software also
charts the readings from my home monitor, and it is clear that my
readings have been dropping over the last six months.

My readings are now around 110-120 over 70-80. Much
better, but more importantly, I feel a lot better ... I had no idea
that high blood pressure could make you feel so unwell.

If you also have high blood pressure I wish you well! If
you have not seen a doctor about it, I highly recommend it ... don't
leave it as late as I did, they can help you to feel a lot better!

About the Author

Steve Alan is the author of a software program for Windows (free trial available), which reminds you to use your home blood pressure monitor, as well as recording and charting your readings. Email or print a report of your readings for your Doctor. For more information go to: http://www.my-blood-pressure.com.

steve@my-blood-pressure.com

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