If you do not see an entry for a while, check back on 10/31/2020 and you will understand why. Trusting humans have shorten this life span. Trusting doctors may kill me.
I've been thinking about death more than I usually do lately. Probably because I have not been taking the right dose of BP meds since early March. I talked the GI specialist into giving me a 30 day prescription but when I got the meds, he gave me a lower dose than the dose that the body has become addicted to. Twice before that was tried and twice before it didn't work. It didn't work this time either. At a doctor's office. I was hurried out with the wrong meds.
That's what heart.org tells me when I enter the blood pressure reading that the doctor's assistant took twice yesterday. Yes, twice.
I ran out of meds in Aprile and my specialists finally said no, that I needed to get my BP meds from a primary. So I made an appointment with a primary. The earliest I could get one that had a good rep and did not seem like a pill mill was May. In March I talked one of the specialists into giving me a thirty day supply. He gave e a lower dose. I guess he thought that was less risk to him because the higher dose was the max dose, but that is what this body is used to and what this body needs to keep it stable.
I took the lower dose of meds until they ran out in April and went about four weeks without meds. The blood pressure fluctuated like crazy. If we trust doctors and their assistant to take accurate readings. A big IF. Let's see what the internet (and some educated people) have to say about that. Here is what the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2010 October;77(10):683-688 has to say. Not lofty enough? Well, the internet, like life (and medicine) may just be a shot in the dark. So let's look at what a site called medscape has to say. Wait, there's plenty more to choose from.
How about JAMA, one of the most respected journals of what we call modern medicine. Maybe another respected journal dedicated specifically to high blood pressure as quoted by the National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health will discover the truth. Does Harvard University know what they are talking about? Well, if they do, let's see how Lake Mary Primary Care Center measures up:
Here's what Harvard says we can do to ensure a correct reading:
| • Don't drink a caffeinated beverage or smoke during the 30 minutes before the test. • Sit quietly for five minutes before the test begins. • During the measurement, sit in a chair with your feet on the floor and your arm supported so your elbow is at about heart level. • The inflatable part of the cuff should completely cover at least 80% of your upper arm, and the cuff should be placed on bare skin, not over a shirt. • Don't talk during the measurement. • Have your blood pressure measured twice, with a brief break in between. If the readings are different by 5 points or more, have it done a third time. There are times to break these rules. If you sometimes feel lightheaded when getting out of bed in the morning or when you stand after sitting, you should have your blood pressure checked while seated and then while standing to see if it falls from one position to the next. Because blood pressure varies throughout the day, your doctor will rarely diagnose hypertension on the basis of a single reading. Instead, he or she will want to confirm the measurements on at least two occasions, usually within a few weeks of one another. The exception to this rule is if you have a blood pressure reading of 180/110 mm Hg or higher. A result this high usually calls for prompt treatment. It's also a good idea to have your blood pressure measured in both arms at least once, since the reading in one arm (usually the right) may be higher than that in the left. A 2014 study in The American Journal of Medicine of nearly 3,400 people found average arm- to-arm differences in systolic blood pressure of about 5 points. The higher number should be used to make treatment decisions. In general, blood pressures between 160/100 mm Hg and 179/109 mm Hg should be rechecked within two weeks, while measurements between 140/90 and 159/99 should be repeated within four weeks. People in the prehypertension category (between 120/80 and 139/89 mm Hg) should be rechecked within four to six months, and those with a normal reading (less than 120/80 mm Hg) should be rechecked annually. However, your doctor may schedule a follow-up visit sooner if your previous blood pressure measurements were considerably lower; if signs of damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes are present; or if you have other cardiovascular risk factors. Also, most doctors routinely check your blood pressure whenever you go in for an office visit. For more on getting your blood pressure under control, buy Controlling Your Blood Pressure, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School. | N/A No No No No No N/A No No No N/A |
Lake Mary Primary Care Center, look them up. They should be ashamed. Still, I was not writing the doctor off because I needed the BP med and other things checked and I was hopeful. After all, I waited four months for this appointment. Obviously I was desperate. My BP was 195/115 in the right arm and 185/115 in the left arm and they let me walk out of the office without immediate treatment, but what shocked me most was they gave me a lower dose than the medication my history says worked for more than a decade.
Let's just look at recent history. At one doctor's appointment two weeks ago my BP was 145/80 (no meds x4 weeks). At another on Monday it was something like 190/110 (I started taking the lower med x1 day). Then yesterday it was 195/115 (after taking the right med x3 days {I had five left), which just goes to show it'll take a few weeks of the right med to stabilize again when I finaly get the right med.
The last two doctors let me walk out of the office without trying to bring down my BP. Malpractice, according to the medical industry's own standard. I'll repeat it just to help myself believe it. The new primary, yesterday, gave me the the lower dose. She simply ignored my history and her own staff's BP readings. When the pharmacy called, it went to voicemail. When I called, it went to voicemail. When an assistant called back, she told me the doctor wouldn't change it and explained why three times as if I was an idiot.
I finally asked if she was interested in my history since I've had doctors treating me for high BP for fifteen years and this doctor's judgment was based on a five minute interview, she was condescending. I explained to her the same thing I explained to six different people who popped in and out during my wait for the doctor.
This lowered dose has been tried before and the results were recorded in my history. In her chart my BP was recorded as 195/115 (which should have triggered immediate treatment, not dismissal) and her refusal to give me the meds that have stabilized my BP for well over a decade is what a lawyer might call malpractice, especially since her reason was kidney issues and I am followed by a Nephrologist who prescribed right dose for a year himself and those ran out in February. Her thinking she knows my kidneys better than better than the kidney specialist is dangerous for me. The assistant said the doctor will not change the dosage. I said I'll find the med I need elsewhere. She said fine.
Modern medicine. My BP range was 120/80 to 130/85 for ten years when I gave in to a new very insistent doctor I chose to trust (who assured me I could stop without effects, which was a lie) and started the medication. She kept raising the dosage into it was the maximum dose and that seems to be ok. When I pointed out where we started she said she was advised not to see me anymore. I could have gotten a lawyer then, but I am not into that litigation crap.
When on the right med regularly, it works. Proof is when I was in the hospital last year and the BP was 120/80 or under for two full days without any medication because when taken routinely, the right meds linger a few days, at least.
So I have an appointment with another new primary on Tuesday afternoon.
I hope I make it to then.
Especially since I am pigging out tonight. Let's not pretend to be shocked. It is a rebellious self-indulgence I got away with as a younger child without raging high BP and other medical issues. Tomorrow I play in a softball tournament. If I die, I die. I am not going to stop living because the medical industry got me hooked on a drug and now is putting me through withdrawals. Call 3212176628 if I die. That's the personal injury lawyer who sponsored my softball team for many years.
So serious, huh?
Welcome back.
So, until I find a doctor I can trust to integrate all of my specialist I am stuck with this crazy blood pressure that is actually much worse for the kidneys and body and puts me at serious risk of heart attack or stroke than the medications ever could be and the kidney and other specialists agrees.
Thunder and lightning outside.
A fine way to go.
Narf :)
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