Plague 2021 #1 Hypertensive Crisis
Jan. 18th, 2021 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geowenchY'all, so far this year is sucking pretty hard. I'm not even going to go into the whole rioting at the Capitol stuff, because the newspapers are all over that shit, but can I just say holy crap.
On a personal level, I finally got to my GP about 10 days ago and she prescribed me a med for hypertension. At first it seemed to be helping a teeny bit, but then it did not and last night my BP was so high that in nonCOVID times I would have gone to the ER. I did call the ER and spoke a very nice nurse who was like yeah, you could come, but OTOH, if you're not having any symptoms like blurred, vision disorientation, or pounding headache, you could just try and relax and hope your BP comes down a bit, b/c we are admitting COVID patients right and left and are pretty much full. So, I broke dry January and had a small amount of rum to try and get my anxious self to relax, and E and I watched an underwater animal documentary, and I guess it worked because I did calm down some, I didn't have a stroke, and I got a good nights sleep and this morning my BP was still far too high, but the far too high it's been for weeks now and not quite in OMG she gonna stroke out territory.
So this morning I called my GP and spoke with her nurse. Nurse got back to me with a new plan. Stop the medication and start a new one (a beta blocker). And tomorrow I have a renal artery ultrasound scheduled to try and find out WTF is going on. I've taken one dose of the beta blocker, and maybe it's just the placebo effect, but I do feel calmer and the pressure in my head seems to be a little less. (Beta blockers are used for both hypertension and anxiety, basically they block the effect of epinepherine and sloooow everything down, which I desperately need right now.) I haven't taken my BP again because what's the point? We'll see how long that lasts. As long as I'm calm, and not having stroke symptoms, I feel like taking my BP will just make me more anxious.
This weekend normally we would be in Tulsa for our big 5 day work conference. Instead I had to attend an all day online meeting on Saturday which was certainly stressful, but I don't really see how it could have precipitated this whole BP crisis.
As for my vision - my R eye remains fine. The left eye has cleared up a little bit - maybe 20%? In bright light I can see well enough to drive, and I can read. In dim light I definitely cannot see well enough to drive and I can only read if I've got a high contrast setting, or I just close my L eye and use the R eye. Basically it is like looking through a veil. In the light it's a light colored veil that I can more or less see through but in dim light it's a dark veil that really obscures most of my vision.
SHEESH, I totally forgot to tell about going to the retinal specialist and the super fun part about getting a shot in my eyeball. It was there I learned that my BP was so high. When they told me what it was, I was like No, it's not, very dismissive, becuase I've always had quite low BP. But I took it when I got home and then took it again the next day and yep, high, so I was able to get into my GP the very next day, which brings up back to where I started this entry.
The good news is that E has been really supportive. I delayed telling him what was going yesterday because I didn't want him to freak out. But he has remained calm and supportive and willing to do whatever is necessary including driving me to the ER and waiting in the car. He drove me into town today to pick up my new medicine. I underestimate his ability to deal with a crisis that isn't his own. The other good news is that my various injuries seems to have really improved and I'm able to manage them with only Tylenol now. Turns out NSAIDS like ibuprofin increase BP and I had been popping those babies like candy for months (years?) now.
So. Writing this out has helped me to calm down a little bit. I really hope to get some answers and some decreases in my BP soon.
On a personal level, I finally got to my GP about 10 days ago and she prescribed me a med for hypertension. At first it seemed to be helping a teeny bit, but then it did not and last night my BP was so high that in nonCOVID times I would have gone to the ER. I did call the ER and spoke a very nice nurse who was like yeah, you could come, but OTOH, if you're not having any symptoms like blurred, vision disorientation, or pounding headache, you could just try and relax and hope your BP comes down a bit, b/c we are admitting COVID patients right and left and are pretty much full. So, I broke dry January and had a small amount of rum to try and get my anxious self to relax, and E and I watched an underwater animal documentary, and I guess it worked because I did calm down some, I didn't have a stroke, and I got a good nights sleep and this morning my BP was still far too high, but the far too high it's been for weeks now and not quite in OMG she gonna stroke out territory.
So this morning I called my GP and spoke with her nurse. Nurse got back to me with a new plan. Stop the medication and start a new one (a beta blocker). And tomorrow I have a renal artery ultrasound scheduled to try and find out WTF is going on. I've taken one dose of the beta blocker, and maybe it's just the placebo effect, but I do feel calmer and the pressure in my head seems to be a little less. (Beta blockers are used for both hypertension and anxiety, basically they block the effect of epinepherine and sloooow everything down, which I desperately need right now.) I haven't taken my BP again because what's the point? We'll see how long that lasts. As long as I'm calm, and not having stroke symptoms, I feel like taking my BP will just make me more anxious.
This weekend normally we would be in Tulsa for our big 5 day work conference. Instead I had to attend an all day online meeting on Saturday which was certainly stressful, but I don't really see how it could have precipitated this whole BP crisis.
As for my vision - my R eye remains fine. The left eye has cleared up a little bit - maybe 20%? In bright light I can see well enough to drive, and I can read. In dim light I definitely cannot see well enough to drive and I can only read if I've got a high contrast setting, or I just close my L eye and use the R eye. Basically it is like looking through a veil. In the light it's a light colored veil that I can more or less see through but in dim light it's a dark veil that really obscures most of my vision.
SHEESH, I totally forgot to tell about going to the retinal specialist and the super fun part about getting a shot in my eyeball. It was there I learned that my BP was so high. When they told me what it was, I was like No, it's not, very dismissive, becuase I've always had quite low BP. But I took it when I got home and then took it again the next day and yep, high, so I was able to get into my GP the very next day, which brings up back to where I started this entry.
The good news is that E has been really supportive. I delayed telling him what was going yesterday because I didn't want him to freak out. But he has remained calm and supportive and willing to do whatever is necessary including driving me to the ER and waiting in the car. He drove me into town today to pick up my new medicine. I underestimate his ability to deal with a crisis that isn't his own. The other good news is that my various injuries seems to have really improved and I'm able to manage them with only Tylenol now. Turns out NSAIDS like ibuprofin increase BP and I had been popping those babies like candy for months (years?) now.
So. Writing this out has helped me to calm down a little bit. I really hope to get some answers and some decreases in my BP soon.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-18 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 01:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 02:40 pm (UTC)No, I don't. Nothing I could do if it read high, and anyway, it's not that high - just on the high side of normal. Nurse incredibly nice, and did take it three times. I imagine I need to stay on amlodipine, or whatever it is called (my brain won't wrap round it) for now, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-21 10:55 pm (UTC)It's looking like I'll be getting a gastric sleeve in the next few months which will let me drop at least one of them. (surgery just approved by insurance, but might wait until we're vaccinated)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-23 03:33 am (UTC)WOW, gastric sleeve surgery - somehow I thought you were very anti-gastric sleeve, but maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. Waiting to get the COVID vac seems like a wise plan.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-24 08:28 pm (UTC)1. Science - in the last decade they have fairly conclusively proven that with weight loss surgeries the restriction isn't what helps maintain the loss, it's removing the fundus. They still don't know why but it triggers major hormonal changes that support weight loss.
2. Anecdata - I know several people who have had it done and maintained their loss for 8-10 years now. Some lost more than others, but it hasn't been a huge struggle. They also haven't had the same issues I had with barfing. One of them has never vomited in 9 years, the other only once.
3. Quality of life - I can't exercise like I used to - the infection and some scar tissue trigger unbelievable pain when I engage my abs. I accepted a while ago that I'd never be thin, but now I'm heavy and weak. That combo is the death spiral, both for my body and my sanity.
4. I am scared shitless about this infection. I've now been on doxycycline for 18 months. It's not MRSA yet, but the longer I have it the more likely that outcome is. Removing the mesh at my current weight would likely be terminal. The only chance I have of surviving if antibiotics stop working is to be thin enough that surviving the surgery is possible.
Good times.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-25 10:22 pm (UTC)I think back fondly on when we used to young and reasonably healthy and think "Oh, I'd survive that, I'm young and strong and healthy ..." Yeah, not any more.
I miss you. We shoudl talk one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-22 11:21 pm (UTC)