I have high blood pressure!
Well this is official too, I have high blood pressure! Dammit. Anyways I was at my friends house and had her take my blood pressure, she's an RN (Registered Nurse). Well she said that I guess it's not bad, I only remember the top one, she said that it was at 150 something, and that past 140 was bad.
I think it was 150 something over 90 something. I didn't want to get into much detail, I just wanted to change the suject after that announcement!
Anyways, anyone have dealings with high blood pressure?
The definitive guide . . .
Well, gang, I could launch anotehr epistle here, but the good ol' Merck Manual - Home Edition has, IMO, the best guide to blood pressure issues I've seen. (The Merck Manual is the diagnostic guide used by all physicians. The home edition of the manual has everything in the original, but it's written in a more understandable lay language.)
You'll find everything you need to know at http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual_home/sec3/25.htm. It's well worth reading - even if you don't understand all of it, you'll get a broad enough picture to understand the basics.
Main points: (1) "High" blood pressure comes in different clasifications. If it's mild (which is a technical term based on specific numbers), doctors will often try alternatives to medication - such as diet and lifestyle adjustments. But, if it's consistently elevated, it's time to do something about it. (2) There is a veritable shitload of drugs that can be used to treat high blood pressure, and the selection of which broad type of medication to use is based on everything from age to race to other predisposing conditions. (3) It is treatable - no big whoop. But you do need to have it evaluated by a physician. In other words, it's easy to take care of the problem, but you'll have big-time hassles if you don't take care of it.
Yes, some anabolic steroids can cause hypertension, and once a cycle ends, chances are that it will return to normal. But you shouldn't assume that AS use is the sole cause of high blood pressure - it could be one of many causes, and you don't want to allow your AS use to mask another cause.
By the way, I've deveoped a somewhat personal interest in this over the past few weeks . . . I noticed that my systolic B.P. was higher than normal (like, averaging in the 160's) but, coincidentally, I also gave up smoking a couple of weeks ago. I've also been using nicotine supps (Nicorette gum combined with a Nicotrol inhaler) to make that task easier (which it has), and obviously, they have a tendency to kick up the B/P. No sweat - I called my doctor, reported the findings of several days, and went on an ACE inhibitor (one type of B/P drug). Like I said, easy to treat, and I've had no side effects. When I'm ready to stop the nicotine supps, I'll probably be able to cut, if not discontinue, the B/P drugs. But it is worth treating, since high B/P greatly increases one's cardiac and stroke risk.
You guys and guy-ettes already know the drill I've gone through many times - see a doctor, and be up front about your AS use. It takes an in-person exam by a medical professional to make an accurate diagnosis, and you have to look at the nig picture in determining if there is a relationship between high B/P and anything else you're doing (ranging from smoking to AS use to lack of exercise to obesity to family history, ad infinitum, ad nauseam). And it's nuts not to have it checked out since it's so easy to get B/P under control.
End of sermon.
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P.S. JuiceHound made an excellent suggestion. Get yourself a blood pressure monitor - it will cost a few bucks for a decent one, but it's worth it, and it will last you a long time. I got a good one for about $60 a couple of years ago at WalMart - an A&D unit that does pulse as well as B/P. And obviously, it's come in real handy recently.
Re: Re: The definitive guide . . .
Quote:
Originally posted by sk*
that's all folks!
TNT has spoken :D
Sheesh, I'm starting to feel like the dude in the commercial for a financial firm. Someone asks him a question, and all ears lean toward him to hear the answer. (Eddie Murphy spoofed this brilliantly in Trading Places.)
Anyway, one more word . . . I happened to glance at a hard copy of the Merck Manual article on my desk and noticed a paragraph that made me want to comment further:
A doctor also looks for the cause of the high blood pressure, especially in a younger person, even though a cause is identified in less than 10 percent of people. The higher the blood pressure and the younger the patient, the more extensive the search for a cause is likely to be. The evaluation may include x-ray and radioisotope studies of the kidney, a chest x-ray, and examinations of blood and urine for certain hormones.
I think this underscores the importance of being up front with your doctor about AS use. If a young person (which I interpret here to mean someone who exhibits high blood pressure and who is younger than might normally be expected for hypertension) goes into a doctor's office with high B/P and doesn't mention that he or she uses AS, the doctor is likely to order tests out the gazoo (or perhaps even up the gazoo) - tests that might not be necessary if an AS-related cause of the high B/P can esaily be identified.
The opposite argument could be made that if a doctor assumes that the cause of high B/P is AS, important tests might not be done. But most doctors should know which drugs are likely to have hypertensive side effects (and a little research on your own wouldn't hurt).
The main point, however, is not to be afraid of confiding AS use to a physician, especially if you have high blood pressure - it can help greatly at making an accurate diagnosis and determining the cause.
Now that's my final word. Really. I think . . . :D
