ArizonaButterfly

I have problems with my blood pressure. That’s no big secret. My lower (diastolic) number is generally much higher than it’s supposed to be. If I understand correctly, this means that my veins are working harder than most people’s resulting in the higher lower number. Very rarely do I see a diastolic number lower than 90. I take blood pressure medication with mixed results. And so it gets changed more frequently than I care to admit, again with mixed results.

In an effort to be a more cooperative patient, I also changed (drastically) my lifestyle. I have faithfully followed eating and exercise guidelines, all as part of the effort to lower my blood pressure. I even stopped drinking Diet Coke (cold turkey) and began to practice yoga as a way to manage stress.

I check my blood pressure twice a day as requested and keep a record of it, looking for patterns. Ironically, my blood pressure being elevated does not often have anything relationship to work being stressful or any other stress-inducing event occurring at the moment. Actually, it is usually higher in the morning than in the evening, again, for no reason I can think of as an explanation.

After all of this, I had a TIA over the weekend. It was a short episode with no lasting effect other than it has left me wiped out and frustrated.

Quite honestly, the lectures from my doctor were unnecessary. If he would make an attempt to listen to what I’m saying is going on, or at the very least pretent to listen to me, I would be much more open to the lectures. Since he’s always in too big of a hurry to listen to me, I’m not usually inclined to listen to him either. He did, however, change my medicine (again) and tell me to keep doing what I’ve been doing because apparently it will all make a difference…”eventually”.