Hello everyone! We are having a very mild winter here in the Pacific Northwest. The temp today is supposed to be in the high 50's possibly 60 degrees, unheard of in January, but we will take it. The sun is shining and I can't wait to take a walk on our trail for some needed exercise.
The reason for this post today is to encourage everyone to stay healthy!. My goal for the last year has been to do just that, until Sunday evening came along. My husband had to take me to the hospital emergency because my blood pressure and heart rate was pretty high for me. It was 202/110 with a pulse of 133. Mind you I was just sitting, had not done any exercise or anything for that matter. I was a little scared and I believe the anxiety that I was feeling was actually causing my numbers to be higher every time I took my blood pressure reading. The other sign that something was wrong was feeling overly tired. I had just spoken to my mom in Texas on the phone and had told her I was hanging up because I felt really tired that afternoon. The other thing was feeling my heart beating so very fast.
So to make a long story short, the Dr. at the hospital immediately asked the nurses to start blood work, an EKG, plus a chest E-Ray. After those results came back he was a little perplexed because all were totally normal. He then began an IV of sodium/choride to help bring my blood pressure down and that certainly did the triick. In about an hour my blood pressure was down to 140/80 with a 75 pulse. I was so glad that it had not been a heart attack or clots. I guess now when they run blood work on you they immediately check for blockage, so I was happy those numbers came back negative. So he told me to see my regular Dr. the next day for a plan as to how to treat my high blood pressure. Next day I did just that, I am now on an anti-anxiety/blood pressure medication for a bit. She is checking my blood pressure again in 2 weeks to see how I am doing, then another follow up in a month. I guess we can have times when we do not realize that we have anxiety, I certainly didn't. I wasn't going through any stress that I could think of. But maybe it was a sign that I needed to exercise and walk more. I had been on a get healthier kick for a while, even started taking more vitamin supplements which the Dr. said could have been part of the problem. One of my multi-vitamins Centrum for women has extra vitamin B-12, like a lot more than your daily requirement. Since vitamin B-12 is an energy booster it's possible this could have made my heart go faster.
They are not positive on what brought on the high blood pressure, but one thing is for sure, I am so thankful that it was not more serious. I prayed to our Heavenly Father that evening and thanked him from the bottom of my heart that they caught it and nothing else happened. It's those times that you feel so vulnerable, so helpless because our life is not ours. We are in His hands and I certainly felt a peace about that, but for my family I was so afraid, especially for my husband Larry. After his heart operation last year we certainly rely on each other for so much now, we are connected and take good care of each other. I knew he was a little worried about me as well.
So I will be sticking to my original plan of getting healthier, after this episode I am much more serious about sticking to it. I have discontinued drinking diet cokes and caffeine. I also am stopping the Centrum and going back to my regular multi-vitamins with much less V-B-12. I also do not eat fast food at all. I try to eat only fresh fruits and vegetables with meals and hardly any carbs, due to the fact that Larry is diabetic so he can't have that very often, if we do they are smaller portions. I have cut back on cookies and candy, which is really hard for me since I used to eat a cookie before going to bed, that was something I really enjoyed. I now eat a tangerine or half of an apple. Larry has a membership to the local gym so he goes everyday to work out, I am so proud of him for that. I walk on our treadmill and or we take walks in our neighborhood when weather is nice.
My encouraging words to you are this; if you do not already have a plan for getting healthier - start now! It is so important to do this. Stay active and eat food that is good for you, and get good sleep. If you are serious about it pray for God to give you the strength and abilities to carry the plan out. He has certainly encouraged me to keep doing it, this little bump in the road is just that a bump, possibly a walk-up call not to take my health for granted. I urge you to talk to your kids about good health, especially if they are young to help establish good eating and exercise habits. I wish I had done this when I was younger. The good news is I am not a candidate for high blood pressure because I am not over weight, don't smoke or abuse alcohol and I am active, but sometimes when high blood pressure is in our genes there isn't a whole lot we can do about that. My mom and some of my family members have high blood pressure so it does run in the family. So we have to do the best with what we are dealt with and try to control it and stay healthy.
Today is the day the Lord has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it. It's only by God's grace and his amazing Love that I am here, so I will make the best of it - hope you will too!!
Be blessed and do take good care of yourself!
The reason for this post today is to encourage everyone to stay healthy!. My goal for the last year has been to do just that, until Sunday evening came along. My husband had to take me to the hospital emergency because my blood pressure and heart rate was pretty high for me. It was 202/110 with a pulse of 133. Mind you I was just sitting, had not done any exercise or anything for that matter. I was a little scared and I believe the anxiety that I was feeling was actually causing my numbers to be higher every time I took my blood pressure reading. The other sign that something was wrong was feeling overly tired. I had just spoken to my mom in Texas on the phone and had told her I was hanging up because I felt really tired that afternoon. The other thing was feeling my heart beating so very fast.
So to make a long story short, the Dr. at the hospital immediately asked the nurses to start blood work, an EKG, plus a chest E-Ray. After those results came back he was a little perplexed because all were totally normal. He then began an IV of sodium/choride to help bring my blood pressure down and that certainly did the triick. In about an hour my blood pressure was down to 140/80 with a 75 pulse. I was so glad that it had not been a heart attack or clots. I guess now when they run blood work on you they immediately check for blockage, so I was happy those numbers came back negative. So he told me to see my regular Dr. the next day for a plan as to how to treat my high blood pressure. Next day I did just that, I am now on an anti-anxiety/blood pressure medication for a bit. She is checking my blood pressure again in 2 weeks to see how I am doing, then another follow up in a month. I guess we can have times when we do not realize that we have anxiety, I certainly didn't. I wasn't going through any stress that I could think of. But maybe it was a sign that I needed to exercise and walk more. I had been on a get healthier kick for a while, even started taking more vitamin supplements which the Dr. said could have been part of the problem. One of my multi-vitamins Centrum for women has extra vitamin B-12, like a lot more than your daily requirement. Since vitamin B-12 is an energy booster it's possible this could have made my heart go faster.
They are not positive on what brought on the high blood pressure, but one thing is for sure, I am so thankful that it was not more serious. I prayed to our Heavenly Father that evening and thanked him from the bottom of my heart that they caught it and nothing else happened. It's those times that you feel so vulnerable, so helpless because our life is not ours. We are in His hands and I certainly felt a peace about that, but for my family I was so afraid, especially for my husband Larry. After his heart operation last year we certainly rely on each other for so much now, we are connected and take good care of each other. I knew he was a little worried about me as well.
So I will be sticking to my original plan of getting healthier, after this episode I am much more serious about sticking to it. I have discontinued drinking diet cokes and caffeine. I also am stopping the Centrum and going back to my regular multi-vitamins with much less V-B-12. I also do not eat fast food at all. I try to eat only fresh fruits and vegetables with meals and hardly any carbs, due to the fact that Larry is diabetic so he can't have that very often, if we do they are smaller portions. I have cut back on cookies and candy, which is really hard for me since I used to eat a cookie before going to bed, that was something I really enjoyed. I now eat a tangerine or half of an apple. Larry has a membership to the local gym so he goes everyday to work out, I am so proud of him for that. I walk on our treadmill and or we take walks in our neighborhood when weather is nice.
My encouraging words to you are this; if you do not already have a plan for getting healthier - start now! It is so important to do this. Stay active and eat food that is good for you, and get good sleep. If you are serious about it pray for God to give you the strength and abilities to carry the plan out. He has certainly encouraged me to keep doing it, this little bump in the road is just that a bump, possibly a walk-up call not to take my health for granted. I urge you to talk to your kids about good health, especially if they are young to help establish good eating and exercise habits. I wish I had done this when I was younger. The good news is I am not a candidate for high blood pressure because I am not over weight, don't smoke or abuse alcohol and I am active, but sometimes when high blood pressure is in our genes there isn't a whole lot we can do about that. My mom and some of my family members have high blood pressure so it does run in the family. So we have to do the best with what we are dealt with and try to control it and stay healthy.
Today is the day the Lord has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it. It's only by God's grace and his amazing Love that I am here, so I will make the best of it - hope you will too!!
Be blessed and do take good care of yourself!
