Pete's moving along

[doc henderson]

It is for high blood pressure and angina caused by vasospasm.  
Amlodipine - Wikipedia   

2.5 is a low dose, check in with your doctor.

what drug are you on that is 20/10 am/pm?

record your home bp and take it to the doc.  take your machine to the visit to compare to the reading at the office.

[Old Greenhorn]

Doc beat me to it Pete. Check your B/P 'machine' against what the Doc's office is doing. The home units can give some wild numbers depending on how they are used and made. Back in the day I ran a few ambulance calls where somebody checked their own B/P and got a very high number that scared them, so they called. The had no other symptoms and when we checked them with a conventional manual cuff we found them in their normal range. Trying out their own 
'machine' we found it to be very sensitive the where and how it was placed and gave a wide range of numbers. This became a recurring theme and often turned into a long educational session for new EMT's I was FTO for. Many people from EMT's to E/D nurses and techs can pick up the habit of treating the 'machine' rather than the patient. If the machine gives a number, but there are no other supporting symptoms, suspect the machine. Pulse Ox's are the same way. Once had a new EMT read a pulse of 176 on a pulse Ox and flipped out, but the patient looked just fine, was alert and speaking fine, breathing normal. Turned out there was a 'normal for that patient' and well known and treated arrhythmia that caused the pulse Ox to get a weird reading. a palpated pulse show 78 BPM. And one time I had a nurse in my doctors office do my B/P for an exam. I said nothing as I watched her grab an obese cuff, slap it on me, and record the result. Doc came in and read the chart and remarked that my B/P was perfect, big improvement. I said "Doc, my B/P ain't been that low since I was 16, you gotta re-train that nurse and I told him what she did. He got his own standard cuff and re-checked it, sure enough, right where I expected, just a little high.
 I'm not suggesting this is the case for you at all, in fact I doubt it. It's just a good idea to know that your instruments are accurately working for you. If you had a moisture meter that was always 20% off and you could never tell in which direction, what would you do with it?
 I read a peer reviewed article a while back in the Journal of Medicine where they did a study at Boston Med or Boston University Hospital on B/P's recorded by nurses, doctors, and technicians where they found that depending on the device used, statistically more than 40% of B/P reading could be off by 15-20% on any given day. After that I started paying attention.

[21incher]

As others  have said the home machines can be inaccurate.  I am on my 3rd machine and finally  have one that's close. Another thing I found is take it early before the 2 cups of coffee I usually have with  breakfast.  The nurses in my doctors office mostly use the automated machine for check in and my doctor always double checks the old way. Usually really  close . It took quite  some  time to get the right combo of drugs in my case and the biggest  side  effect of most is kidney damage so blood work is used to monitor kidney function a couple times a year.  Salt intake should be lowered if possible also.
With most cholesterol medications avoid grapefruit and CBD pain relief products. 

[doc henderson]

if you are having a symptom, and then check your BP, and you are worried about the symptom, the symptom may be the reason your BP is high.  many little old ladies work up the ladder of checking their BP.  We often just observe for an hour, and it is back to normal with no treatment.  we send them to their doc.  too many cooks in the kitchen is not good.  older folks do better and feel better with a little higher pressure.  also, the damage is done over 30 years not instantly.  We do not react to one number or a brief episode.  plenty of ED visits for side effects of too much BP medicine as well.  stand up, get dizzy, fall and beak hip or hit head and bleed.  life threatening stuff.

[doc henderson]

to be complete, a bp over say 240/140 may break a blood vessel or aneurysm in your brain and be fatal.  hemorrhagic stroke.

[Magicman]

I have fasting bloodwork tomorrow morning with the followup appointment next week.  Taking a Cholesterol reducing med requires the quarterly checkups.

[Peter Drouin]

I did bring my BP machine into the doctor's office, It was spot on. Showed me how to use it too. Going in next Tuesday. If I live that long.   I look at it this way If the Father wants me, let's go. Everything is in a trust. I'm ready.

And I get to see Ann again. 

I think a broken heart started my path in this way. 6 years now she has been gone. I still cry when I think of her.
In some ways, I don't care if I live or die. Life without her sucks. I can't put into words how much I miss her.
I feel so empty inside. I thought the HOT ROD would help. 
It did not.
Thanks to all for your help.

[doc henderson]

speaks volumes about your relationship and lives together.  consider talking with your doc about an antidepressant.  you are stuck here for a while, might as well try to find a way to make it better if you can.  My wife and I both hope we go first.  not our choice.  the stress of your grief may be adding to your health problems.  Not meaning to minimize your pain at all.  Just wish it was all better.  all due respect.

[Peter Drouin]

BP 152/100 this morning right out of bed, My balance is so off all I can do to walk and not fall. My memory is bad too. I'm not getting better. How can a man cut wood and lift heavy lumber with a head like this? When I had my stroke the doc did a mri and found a damage vain in my head. Maybe it's getting ready to pop.
The rest of me is as strong as a bull.
I'll be right along Ann.

[Stephen1]

A broken heart is a hard thing to mend and you are fine example. 
I hope you get better today. patience. Might be time to hire a helper at the mill. 

[Peter Drouin]

No doc I don't think I need an antidepressant, Im not crazy sad just sad. Just came in for lunch. The head is better after cutting over 600 bf in 3 hrs all alone. Funny I get out of bed and can't walk well go out and cut some lumber and feel better. Running a Huskey 372 to trim some logs can be a job trying to keep your balance at the same time.

[doc henderson]

glad to hear.  you do what you need to do to get along!  cutting logs is therapeutic.  Regards Doc.

[Peter Drouin]

cutting logs is therapeutic. 

Yes it is, My math was off today too, Had a customer today buy a bunch of wood, gave him the bill. He looks at it, this is not right. He said you shorted yourself $100.00. I look, yup. He hands me a c note. That's how my customers are. The best.    

[Ed_K]

 I was at the VA one afternoon getting meds, and decided to go to the quick check there. The quick check is in another building so we had to walk maybe an 1/8 mile to it, when ever you go there or to the ER they check you B.P. Well here's a shocker, the bp showed 247/132 they freaked out called an ambulance to come take me to the hospital, when the emt's checked my bp again it was 107/72. the quick check machine was way off. But they sent me anyways. Got to the hospital and again it was 102/69. I kept telling them my pressure has always been around 90/60. That machine being off cost them   .

Peter, isn't there something else that's not an antidepressant? After our youngest son died and 4 months later we found out I had Multiple Myeloma, Rita kind of got something like PTSD, her Doctor has her taking Venlafaxine Hydrochloride to keep the lump in your throat away. 

 I find that if I go out and find something to do, the feelings go to the back of my head for awhile. Like i said before come on down some Sunday and hangout maybe watch the nascar race.

 Y'all have a great day and more.

[Peter Drouin]

I do at times feel sad. Been 6 years now. I went to the library where Ann and the ladies in town get together and nit, and talk a lot.  I grabbed a bunch of Anns wool and yarn and gave it away to them. I think there were 8 or 10 there. WELL, they said thanks and went after the stuff like chickens after grain you through on the ground.

That made me happy. And jump out of the way.   Then some asked If I was selling any looms or spinning wheels, I have a house full of them. 
I said yes. Just now I can let stuff go. I put out some roving un-spun hair for the birds to build nests with. Funny a nest looking like a rainbow.
 I'm ok Ed-K just got a bunch of stuff for the HOT ROD. And have customers beating down the door for lumber. A big pile of $$ makes me happy too.
Thanks for the invite. Going out now to chip some slabs before the rain comes. AGAIN