Headaches

[tctrek]

Be careful taking a decongestant and thinking it is helping. I did that years ago and it ended up I was masking high blood pressure! I had moved from New Jersey to Florida and started having headaches and everyone said it must be a pollen or something that I wasn't accustomed to. A year later, decongestants no longer worked and I finally went to the doc and found out I had h.b.p. One of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life.

Not saying that's your problem... just be cautious about self-treating too much :-)

[Tuckervill]

Now see, this is something I don't understand. Medical professionals have told me that there are NO symptoms to high blood pressure. YET, the only time I have had HBP, I felt ill and had a headache. Others I know have said they felt ill.

What's the story on that? Anybody know?

Karen

[ZenSojourner]

I don't know, I've only ever had LOW blood pressure. So low in fact that when I was younger I had an EMT tell me to get an emergency ID bracelet for it, so in case I was in an accident they wouldn't automatically put me in shock pants.

How low? Well it was 90/65 when I was 5 months pregnant, LOL!

It's nominally "normal" now, which means high for me but normal for most folks. Because I'm carrying so much extra weight.

Gotta get back on my bike somehow.

[tctrek]

Now see, this is something I don't understand. Medical professionals have told me that there are NO symptoms to high blood pressure. YET, the only time I have had HBP, I felt ill and had a headache. Others I know have said they felt ill.

What's the story on that? Anybody know?

Karen

I probably had high blood pressure for at least 5 years before I knew it. By the time it was bad enough for me to know it, I was on the verge of a stroke. Since then, I know what it feels like and I do have a strange feeling if it goes up... kind of a disconnected, foggy feeling. But for the most part, I am "normal" now at 110/70.

Glad to hear that ZSj has LOW blood pressure!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well ZenS,
If you are not going to see a doctor about your ongoing headache, then you could take your blood pressure several times over the next week or two just to make sure about that. Most large chain drug stores seem to have blood pressure machines now- even some supermarket pharmacies do. I'd still suggest a Dr appt though.

[ZenSojourner]

Yeah, I've actually got one for my dad, it has memory for two people so I occasionally check my blood pressure when I'm checking his. Mine's been pretty consistently high-for-me-normal-for-most-people for a long time now.

I'm not being stubborn about the doctor, I have no health insurance. I'm on hiatus from my doctoral program until my dad doesn't need me anymore so not even student loan "income" either. There are 40 million people (probably more now with the economy in the crapper) who muddle along the best we can without affordable health care options.

Oh and it's been largely gone since I hit it with the decongestants. A little mild thing going once in awhile but it responds to rest and ibuprofen, not like before.

[Tuckervill]

kind of a disconnected, foggy feeling

Yes! That's the feeling I was having a year ago when my bp was up, and everyone said I was imagining it. But my BP was just borderline high, like 139/100. Maybe I'm just extra sensitive. I never took medicine. It was about a 3 week period where I just felt like s**t, but I wasn't sick. I charted my BP. It stayed in that range, and when I went to the doctor she gave me three months to get it down, and I did, by being diligent about my diet.

Now it's normal again, and since then I've lost 20 more lbs.

Karen

[Cataboo]

short term - anything that increases circulation to your brain will probably help.

Peppermint tea and/or caffeine.

But go to a doctor as well