What do you know about high blood pressure?

[shootingstar]

Keep watching your sodium. Perhaps ask doc if you will have to watch sodium intake for the rest of your life...even after weight loss?
My mother has been hypertensive for almost last 15 years..yes, she's about 30 lbs. overweight. She does take a pill of sort daily. Of course, she's 74 yrs.

She has changed her diet drastically to eliminate much salt...including soy sauce. Yes, it is STILL possible to cook Chinese cuisine without or hardly any soy sauce..it's in technique, etc.

Keep us posted.

[OakLeaf]

Star, I'm sure you and your mom already know this, but for others watching their sodium intake: soy sauce is salty and no way around that, but different types vary widely in how much sodium they contain. So if you use soy sauce, read the labels, and if you change brands, don't assume you're getting the same amount of sodium you were with your old brand.

mmmmmmm... Nama Shoyu...

[Tuckervill]

Sodium is HARD to think about. A new thing I have to learn. I've not used the salt shaker since the day I went to the doctor. It's going to be really hard during PMS because the only thing that helps is hot salty french fries.

I ordered an Albuquerque Turkey from Schlotsky's today--but I did remember to tell them to leave off the bacon. I've been counting calories all this time, and now I have to think about calories AND sodium. oy.

I had my yearly exam at the gyno today. I told her about the BP and the heart palps, and she said I should go back to my regular doc and get it checked, for sure. She wasn't panicky--she said it could just be PVCs, but it should be checked. She said they would probably do a 24 hr. Holter monitor or an event monitor. Unfortunately, I had to take my son in to our doc for his knee today, too. (He got hammered by the dogs running in the yard and he has his father's bad knees.) So that has taken the focus off of me for the moment. Xrays and a trip to the ortho is next.

I am sure that dh will have something he needs to go to the doctor for, soon, since we're going. It always works out that way!

Karen

[crazybikinchic]

Have you been under more stress than normal?

[jesvetmed]

Tuckerville:

I can't believe it... you perfectly described what I get... I've never been able to put it into words, and I've not heard anyone else talk about the pressure / cough thing. That is exactly what happens to me, and I feel the palpatation. I had ekg's, a holter monitor (3 day ekg continuous reading) and of course, they never found it then. But I will say, when I am tired, have had too much caffeine, or am stressed (especially when all of the above align), I have a lot more of them. It's my body's way of telling me... WHOA THERE! They feel scarey, though, even though I try to tell myself they are nothing. I'd have the ekg / cardiac exam done no matter what -- just to be sure there is nothing else underlying it. Apparently they are quite common and harmless in most cases. Good luck and I hope you are feeling better than a couple days ago.
Jes

[Tuckervill]

Hey, I've been off enjoying my stress. lol.

No, it's the start of our baseball season (I'm the league president) and I'm just busy. It is stressful, but not the "no one's gonna die" kind. I think I DO react to stress like this. Sometimes it's my TMJ acting up. Two July's ago it was an ovarian cyst that chose to pop at the EXACT moment I was completing the last acts as director of three tournaments in a row!

So the heart palps could be stress related. I've been having them regularly ever since Monday night, especially in quiet moments (maybe I just don't notice in busy moments). BUT I'VE BEEN TOO BUSY TO GO BACK TO THE DOCTOR!!! (Except with my kid, which is another thing I didn't have time for.)

My gyno sent me for fasting blood work, so I did it first thing this morning. Afterwards, I'm sitting a stop light, and I have a few light radiating pains...beginning at 10:00 on my left breast, and reaching back behind my scapula. Sharp, lasting 2 seconds, about 7 of them, no palpitations. I thought, oh ****, this is it, I'll have to drive myself back over the hospital (just left there) and go to the ER and then I'll miss all the baseball meetings I have today, and who will do Opening Day on Saturday and.....they stopped.... I breathed deep, checked the body for pain, checked my jaw for clenching, twisted my neck for pops, checked my psyche for panic--nothing.

I KNOW! I shouldn't wait. But I feel FINE. Except for the palps. I'm busy!

Okay okay, I'll go after my big meeting with the bank president to discuss funding for the new concession stand. They're just going to do the Holter monitor and find nothing. I'll bet.

Karen