Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Not sure. Basically, if I'm logged in today (which obviously I am a few times), I'll stay logged out for 2 days before logging back in. And otherwise try to reduce how long my face stays in front of this iPad. I'm a Politico (politico.com) junkie, for example, and usually the iPad travels with me. Now, it stays mostly home. Keep in mind my attention span for anything's about 3 weeks...

The new med, a beta blocker, brings my BP down, if I'm smart enough to stay hydrated. Hydration seems to make difference between 136-138 diastolic down to 119-126 range. Systolic 90-94 down to 77-83. I'd been taking a potassium supplement and too much or too little can cause arrhythmia--and right now, that's more a concern than the BP.

The 'old' med (since Friday, week before last)--seemed to work at first until I didn't hydrate--but hydrochlorothiazide can also cause arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). With arrhythmia, you miss one or sometimes two beats, your heart fills with this extra blood and then comes a walloping beat to push all that along. I have definitely felt these 'thumps'. Didn't think much of it.

Kidney problems, diabetes, salt/potassium balance, electrolytes, hypertension, sleep apnea--any of these can contribute to irregular heartbeat. Some irregularities are worse than others, more difficult to manage and potentially catastrophic. It's too early to come up with a 'why'.

Has all snowballed in two weeks... except that all summer I knew my health was going downhill.

May have had this for a while and not known about it. One symptom is shortness of breath and have noticed that and assumed I just needed to get off my dufus and start exercising. Didn't have the energy. The chelation/Plaquex treatments gave me back the energy to start exercising but didn't do much for my BP, as it did in 2012. Brought BP down from 150/100 level to 120/83-ish in 2012.

Chelation/Plaquex did pull my pulse oximetry results down from likely severe sleep apnea requiring oxygen (I had no clue) down (614 events below 85%) into normal-very mild range (29 events below 85%). That's not trivial. And I'm sleeping really well except new med can cause some insomnia. Will take the pulse oximeter recorder home again about 10 days from now. We'll see.

Not sure how long my BP has been elevated but I think it's been a while and when needed have been able to get it down. Probably goes right back up.

When I donated blood at the Red Cross (week ago last Wednesday), tech had me at 120/80 and no mention of arrhythmia. A day later, no arrhythmia but elevated BP, which did not come down the next day (Friday) and so got the prescription for hydrochlorothiazide. There was no arrhythmia Friday before last, either. Arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) came up this Tuesday.

So it's who's on first and what's on second... except for a definitely irregular EKG. The blood donation should have reduced my BP!

Not bothering with TTR does seem to pop my productivity. Got a lot of neglected stuff done but my to-do lists are miles long. Where to start? Then again, the med could have something to do with that, too.

It's a big, 'Dunno'. I think my TTR involvement does distract me from higher priority stuff. All of this begs the real issue, dropping some weight. That's the long-term solution. Short term feels like I turned a corner and walked into a Sunday punch! 3 - 2 -- 1 -- and off for a couple days.

 

Stress Test Today!!

First thing over in Terre Haute this morning, take shirt off and Amy, the tech, starts hooking me up. On one side of the treadmill stands a large, free-standing EKG machine and on the other side a medical table you either sit or lie on and further past that, an ultra sound.

Once hooked up and the EKG runs for a bit, she has me lay over on my left side and starts to take measurements inside of my heart on the ultra sound.

Amy even has color and sound, which sounds kinda like a washing machine, squish, squish. Who'd a thunk, eh? Thought my only noisy part was my stomach--or a little lower on rear discharge. But, no, my heart's doing a squish, squish, squish and seems she can pull readings and noises from different parts. Oh, really? Imagine that!

She's gone for a while and I can still see the irregular beat, about every 10th or 12th a blip instead of a thump. Ugh! Well, that's a lot better than last week when it looked considerably worse and more frequent. Doc starts the treadmill and it goes until I reach my 'target' 130 beats per minute. It actually shows 137 when he shuts it down after 5-3/4's minutes.

The blip pretty near goes away as the treadmill speeds up. A good thing.

After, Amy then goes through much of the same ultra sound with me back on my left side in a sort of post mortem--well, not quite post mortem just yet anyway! Pre-post mortem. Wrap up!

Later I learn that if he brought 30 'normals' in with no cardio issues the 'normal' range is 6 minutes to 11 minutes (to reach target, which is based on your age). Doc said the 11 minutes is almost an anomaly, someone super fit. He gives me a C- to D+, just slightly below normal.

They find no leaky valves, a slightly enlarged aorta, within 'normal' but at the outer edge of normal. We're not going to change anything on my meds. What about my DOT physical, I ask. No problem, says the Doc. What about on the track and treadmill at the Spencer Y, I ask. No problem says the Doc.

Doc says my pump, my heart is good. It doesn't relax as quickly as it might and he lists the various possible reasons. I understand immediately. In my tournament days, speed directly related to how your body did or did not completely relax between takeoff and nailing it; sluggish or lightning depended on how relaxed you could achieve in that instant interval. Okay, fine.

Now I know what I'm looking for on the track and treadmill. Recovery rate. Pulse recovery. I can work on that with my $20 Amazon 'best seller' finger pulse oximeter. Will take it with me to the Spencer Y now.

On the way out, I'm driving almost 35 in a 30 and a big pickup behind me tries to bully me, less than six feet back. It's a newer, big Ram pickup with dings and band-aids. When the road widens I pull over and flip the two guys the finger. The driver's right arm pumps up and down like an old fashioned water pump. We travel a mile or so; after some stop lights we both make the same left turn on the same street and they fall behind in the next lane. They finally pull up even and I flip them off again.

Come on guys, come outa that truck.

Today, I'm taking on all comers...

 

What Raises My BP

Bright One--and he is--(double yellow) asked if my time on TTR raises my BP and told him wasn't sure, except it certainly distracts from higher priority stuff that I should be doing. This morning I got a little sarcastic with him on another thread and then checked my BP.

It went up to 164/105-56, then 153/105-58, 158/100-54 and after about 15 minutes dropped to where it should be 112/86-60.

That's diastolic/systolic-pulse. Sorry, Bright One.

Just now made another post, jumped 148/85-72. I figure it'll drop back in a few to where it should be. So that's me, and the recovery rate is slow. Same thing on the track this week where I walked for 15 minutes and it took 15 minutes for bpm (beats per minute) to get down to 70 and thereabouts. Drops quickly from 115 to 90 (within seconds), then lingers as it winds down.

By the way, when we did the treadmill stress test, the Doc raised the elevation. Whoa! He responded that the elevation was more important than the speed. So I'm setting mine at 6%...

When the two big guys in their big Ram pickup turned off, it was the road I used to take to my now-closed favorite buffet in Terre Haute. Then, as I drove by saw a sign up--it's open again. Wonderful. Proceeded to Sam's Club, went over to BP tester. Darn! Way up.

'Hey!' I thought, 'Who calibrates these things?'

After all, just left from the Doc with 135/80, right? ...

 

Reading Between the Lines...

On the way to town this morning a group of Blue Jays, looking like blue-coated tuxedo wearers, flung themselves up to trees and back to the side of the road. That was before 10 am and 2:30 pm this afternoon some were still at the same spot. Well, I spotted some loose corn at the side of the road so must have been enough to entertain them. It's chilly.

After a 50-60 degree weekend, including nights, the temp has dropped to below freezing so has to be enough corn there to feed 'em pretty well. Who'd otherwise bother in these chill temps?

Apparently so far no one has read between the lines (Hey! Blu!), that my physical had run out. Well, it did. Thought my trip to Algodones would make it all good, no problem. Ugh! I guess not. Somehow have managed to shoot myself in the DOT medical card.

Went from dodging the bullet on Sleep Apnea, to 120/80 BP measured at American Red Cross, to high BP here in Spencer, arryhthmia at the next Doc, an unpleasant EKG with anomalies at the Cardiologist/Internist with echo ultra sound stress test, and today drove into town to take another crack at the DOT medical. Not feeling at all confident.

Glad to see those Blue Jays, tell ya.

Felt very anxious. Too anxious. I have 'white coat' syndrome in spades; my BP jumps up just thinking about taking the medical despite that my basal (at rest) BP lurks around 118/77, sometimes less, sometimes more. I have worked myself up into a cold sweat.

After talking on the phone last night with Roy, one of the New York Marines I met out in Algodones for chelation, I check my BP and it's way up again. Could have waited to talk to him until after today's medical. Roy's intense, tried everything, just everything in Algodones and since.

I mean, what's this all about!? It takes about 15 minutes for my BP to drop once it climbs some. That's long enough to flunk a DOT medical. Well, not today. First one was a little high. I could hardly believe it and at the same time, I could believe it, yes. Second one, squeaked through 138/83--still elevated, still way, way above what I get at home MOST of the time. Plus I know that under stress I level out, get better, not worse. For what it's worth. Except now in front of a white coat.

Back at home there are 3 eggs in the nesting box. I've only got two hens laying right now, the two (Rhode Island) Reds. Who's number 3 today? Well, it's a Golden Comet egg, for sure. Big. Thought they were all done. Apparently not quite. I'll take it. I'm open for good news today.

In the mail Saturday was a check for $75. Cool! When the clinic here in Spencer could not run my physical, I scheduled another a few days later at a different clinic. First BP came out at 150/100--Ugh! Second came out 138/83, just like today. But they wrote in 150/100. Say what?

At the window she asked when I'd like to reschedule. I don't. She does a double take. "You don't?" I explain, no, I don't. I tested below 140/90 and you write in the 150/100. No, I don't want to reschedule. A few days later I called back, left a message for the office manager, Charlotte.

The DOT form says right on it to take the driver's BP two times. Well, they did and wrote down the higher number! Left Charlotte a message that I wanted a refund since they didn't follow DOT protocol. She didn't call back. Called her again. Expecting her to tell me, 'tuffo'.

Instead, she says, "Is it okay if I send you a check?"

Yes, yes, it is. $75. More good news...

 

Hope yours goes a lot better than mine, Blu. I'm feeling like a product that started to fall apart just as the warranty ran out! For the first time I have a med card that's only good for a year, not two.

"Does that hurt?" she asks.

Me: Does what hurt?

Nurse: "That bulge, it's a ventral hernia."

Me: I thought that was the medicine ball I swallowed trying to get out. Just fat.

Nurse: "That's not fat. It's a hernia. Does it hurt?"

Me: No, doesn't hurt. Didn't think anything of it.

Nurse: "You need to tell your doctor about it. Okay?"

Sheesh!! What next!!?? So that's listed on my 4-page med report, too. Ugh!!

Really, I thought it was just...