JohnsBabe
01-31-2005, 07:55 PM
Hello! I'm new to this board and hoping for some guidance...
My husband (52) has been under a lot of pressure at work for a while now and it's beginning to affect his health. He came home for lunch today after a stressful morning and I noticed numerous red blood vessels on the side of his face. At my insistence he checked his BP and it was 236/136! His heart rate was 91.
Needless to say, this has me terrified for him. He is downplaying things, perhaps wanting to protect me and not worry me, but I feel we need to do something ASAP.
As a brief background...he has been taking 100mg Atenolol since prior to our getting married almost 3 years ago, at which time he also had angioplasty and 3 stents done after having some chest pain. He also has high cholesterol and T2 Diabetes.
He's a very laid back and easy-going guy and until recently had been doing very well, but now that his workplace has become hostile things are quickly changing. With this kind of BP shouldn't he see someone immediately?? To see a specialist in another town will take us 2-3 weeks at best.
I'd appreciate any suggestions or information...this is all very new to me and I'm very worried...
Thanks~
My husband (52) has been under a lot of pressure at work for a while now and it's beginning to affect his health. He came home for lunch today after a stressful morning and I noticed numerous red blood vessels on the side of his face. At my insistence he checked his BP and it was 236/136! His heart rate was 91.
Needless to say, this has me terrified for him. He is downplaying things, perhaps wanting to protect me and not worry me, but I feel we need to do something ASAP.
As a brief background...he has been taking 100mg Atenolol since prior to our getting married almost 3 years ago, at which time he also had angioplasty and 3 stents done after having some chest pain. He also has high cholesterol and T2 Diabetes.
He's a very laid back and easy-going guy and until recently had been doing very well, but now that his workplace has become hostile things are quickly changing. With this kind of BP shouldn't he see someone immediately?? To see a specialist in another town will take us 2-3 weeks at best.
I'd appreciate any suggestions or information...this is all very new to me and I'm very worried...
Thanks~
Sponsor
zekat
01-31-2005, 08:09 PM
I am not the most qualified to answer, but I do feel compelled to reply. I think a very prudent action would be to call a hospital & see what they think. I do this from time to time when I am not sure what to do (like once when I fell & knocked my head against concrete). Personally, I feel you need to take him to the ER as soon as possible. I don't want to stress you out, but I don't think he needs to be walking around with those numbers.
jtu91952
01-31-2005, 08:24 PM
Hi Johnsbabe and welcome to the board. I am diabetic w/ hbp, high cholesterol and thyroid problems. I am difficult to treat with hbp and have tried just about every class of bp meds. Not too long ago, i posted with the same problem as your hubby. My bp was 236/110(something like that) and i waited a da or two b4 going to urgent care.
As a diabetic, that kind of bp is very dangerous. I went to the ER and they kept me for two days. Just to be safe, your husband should call his dr to see if he can be seen asap. My suggestion and what aarp health coaches suggested to me is to go to the er asap. I am also 52, diabetic and on various bp meds.
IMHO, its better to be ridiculed for being panicky(and be alive) than to wait it out to see what happens. High blood pressure is a serious matter for a diabetic. Good luck.
As a diabetic, that kind of bp is very dangerous. I went to the ER and they kept me for two days. Just to be safe, your husband should call his dr to see if he can be seen asap. My suggestion and what aarp health coaches suggested to me is to go to the er asap. I am also 52, diabetic and on various bp meds.
IMHO, its better to be ridiculed for being panicky(and be alive) than to wait it out to see what happens. High blood pressure is a serious matter for a diabetic. Good luck.
Machaon
01-31-2005, 08:30 PM
Hello! I'm new to this board and hoping for some guidance...
My husband (52) has been under a lot of pressure at work for a while now and it's beginning to affect his health. He came home for lunch today after a stressful morning and I noticed numerous red blood vessels on the side of his face. At my insistence he checked his BP and it was 236/136! His heart rate was 91.
Needless to say, this has me terrified for him. He is downplaying things, perhaps wanting to protect me and not worry me, but I feel we need to do something ASAP.
As a brief background...he has been taking 100mg Atenolol since prior to our getting married almost 3 years ago, at which time he also had angioplasty and 3 stents done after having some chest pain. He also has high cholesterol and T2 Diabetes.
He's a very laid back and easy-going guy and until recently had been doing very well, but now that his workplace has become hostile things are quickly changing. With this kind of BP shouldn't he see someone immediately?? To see a specialist in another town will take us 2-3 weeks at best.
I'd appreciate any suggestions or information...this is all very new to me and I'm very worried...
Thanks~
There is a strong probability that your husband has Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or Syndrome X. The signs of Syndrome X are high blood pressure, diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, among other signs.
It is a reversible condition, but the "cure" is through frequent small meals (like six per day :eek: ) of high fiber and proper veggies, balanced by sufficient proteins.
There is an excellent 2002 article about Insulin Resistance from the UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center. The link follows:
http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Resources/Handouts/HODiabetesandInsulinResistance.pdf
My husband (52) has been under a lot of pressure at work for a while now and it's beginning to affect his health. He came home for lunch today after a stressful morning and I noticed numerous red blood vessels on the side of his face. At my insistence he checked his BP and it was 236/136! His heart rate was 91.
Needless to say, this has me terrified for him. He is downplaying things, perhaps wanting to protect me and not worry me, but I feel we need to do something ASAP.
As a brief background...he has been taking 100mg Atenolol since prior to our getting married almost 3 years ago, at which time he also had angioplasty and 3 stents done after having some chest pain. He also has high cholesterol and T2 Diabetes.
He's a very laid back and easy-going guy and until recently had been doing very well, but now that his workplace has become hostile things are quickly changing. With this kind of BP shouldn't he see someone immediately?? To see a specialist in another town will take us 2-3 weeks at best.
I'd appreciate any suggestions or information...this is all very new to me and I'm very worried...
Thanks~
There is a strong probability that your husband has Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or Syndrome X. The signs of Syndrome X are high blood pressure, diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, among other signs.
It is a reversible condition, but the "cure" is through frequent small meals (like six per day :eek: ) of high fiber and proper veggies, balanced by sufficient proteins.
There is an excellent 2002 article about Insulin Resistance from the UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center. The link follows:
http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Resources/Handouts/HODiabetesandInsulinResistance.pdf
bharkins
01-31-2005, 09:29 PM
Johns,
Your husband should contact his doctor immediately and if that is not possible I suggest that he go to the ER. Let the professionals determine just how dangerous those numbers are.
Your husband should contact his doctor immediately and if that is not possible I suggest that he go to the ER. Let the professionals determine just how dangerous those numbers are.
JohnsBabe
02-01-2005, 07:34 PM
THANK YOU all so much for your comments and suggestions...I appreciate it!
My husband's BP was better last night and he nixed my idea of going to the ER. Fortunately he did go see a doctor this morning (only after much pursuasion on my part, which probably raised his BP further!). His BP at the doctor's office was 156/100, better but still too high.
The doctor prescribed him Cozaar to take in addition to his Atenolol and also had him get 2 chest X-rays this morning. He'll be getting fasting bloodwork done first thing tomorrow morning. He's to begin taking his Atenolol at night instead of morning (should help the fatigue) and the Cozaar in the morning.
Oddly enough, his heart rate was actually a bit low (59) and his temperature was 97.5 at 10:00 a.m. I asked the doctor if we could have my husband's thyroid checked also since he had been treated with thyroid meds as a child and seemed to have symptoms that could be thyroid-related.
He picked up on this and is wanting to look into it in addition to everything else. In my shock he gladly agreed to test the Free's (FT4 & FT3) in addition to the TSH! We also got a referral to a local doctor...so hopefully we'll have some more answers and a new, more definitive game plan soon. We've been discussing some important life-style changes to begin implementing...starting today!
I'm just very worried because my husband looks terrible...his BP is obviously up, the whites of his eyes look yellow, and he's rather tired.
Thanks again for your help... :) I'll be poking around here trying to learn more as I go.
Victoria
My husband's BP was better last night and he nixed my idea of going to the ER. Fortunately he did go see a doctor this morning (only after much pursuasion on my part, which probably raised his BP further!). His BP at the doctor's office was 156/100, better but still too high.
The doctor prescribed him Cozaar to take in addition to his Atenolol and also had him get 2 chest X-rays this morning. He'll be getting fasting bloodwork done first thing tomorrow morning. He's to begin taking his Atenolol at night instead of morning (should help the fatigue) and the Cozaar in the morning.
Oddly enough, his heart rate was actually a bit low (59) and his temperature was 97.5 at 10:00 a.m. I asked the doctor if we could have my husband's thyroid checked also since he had been treated with thyroid meds as a child and seemed to have symptoms that could be thyroid-related.
He picked up on this and is wanting to look into it in addition to everything else. In my shock he gladly agreed to test the Free's (FT4 & FT3) in addition to the TSH! We also got a referral to a local doctor...so hopefully we'll have some more answers and a new, more definitive game plan soon. We've been discussing some important life-style changes to begin implementing...starting today!
I'm just very worried because my husband looks terrible...his BP is obviously up, the whites of his eyes look yellow, and he's rather tired.
Thanks again for your help... :) I'll be poking around here trying to learn more as I go.
Victoria
zekat
02-01-2005, 08:04 PM
I think having his thyroid checked is a very smart thing to do. And you are right, a doctor that agreed to Free T3 & Free T4 testing w/out a struggle is a GOOD doc :) I did not have blood pressure problems until I went hypothyroid after RAI treatment for hyperthyroidism. I don't believe my BP would have stayed great forever, but I do wonder about the implications of thyroid imbalance on blood pressure. Good luck to you and I'm so glad to heart that your husbands BP came down & he's getting things looked at!
JohnsBabe
02-01-2005, 09:14 PM
Thanks, zekat!
This doctor today didn't feel that hypothyroidism would affect BP although he did agree that it can affect cholesterol...and we already know that high cholesterol can cause HBP. So my feeling is that at the very least they're indirectly, if not directly, related.
Hypothyroidism is quite the trip, isn't it?! :rolleyes: :D
Victoria
This doctor today didn't feel that hypothyroidism would affect BP although he did agree that it can affect cholesterol...and we already know that high cholesterol can cause HBP. So my feeling is that at the very least they're indirectly, if not directly, related.
Hypothyroidism is quite the trip, isn't it?! :rolleyes: :D
Victoria