well, that was a fun day in the hospital....

[Great White]

I've been on blood pressure meds for about 3 weeks now. They recently just upped my dose.

 

It's nothing serious as far as meds go. It's commonly known as "the water pill". Restricts your sodium if I've got it right.

 

Well, I've been getting little "twinges" in my chest since I started taking them. Lat time I was int he MIR I mentioned them to the nurse and she said for me to come in next time it happened so they could get an EKG. She didn't make it sound like a big deal at all.

 

So I'm sitting at my desk this morning and I realize I'd forgotten to take my pill. I tell the boys I'm running home and will be right back.

 

I get home and take my pill. Then, about 10-15 minutes later I'm standing in the driveway and getting my gear on to ride back to work.

 

I start getting the "twinge" but it's mostly gone by the time I pull into the parking lot at work. I shut the bike off and start walking into the building and realize my chest is tight and my breath is shallow.

 

Well, I figure I'll just run over to the MIR like the nurse wanted and they'll just run a nice simple EKG to confirm it's nothing.

 

I drop into the clinic and tell the receptionist what's going down.

 

The nurse comes out and leads me into the examination room (which is OK by me, she's a hottie! )

 

Well, then the world just comes right frigging apart!

 

I'm getting wires hooked up, needles poked, aspiring shoved down my throat and nitro sprays!

 

The nitro hits me so hard I almost pass out. My BP goes from 149/110 to 102/74 in about as much time as it takes me to type it!

 

Doctors are coming in and out and they're contemplating all sorts of things they might (or might not do). Seems my symptoms "somewhat" conform to cardiac, but I'm atypical since I don't exhibit classical symptoms.

 

Jeez, it's not pain guys, just discomfort.

 

Next they want to transfer me to a civy hospital. I text my wife (also works on base) and she heads over. I'm thinking she can drive me since it's only about 10 minutes away (they won't let me ride the bike!)

 

Well my wife shows up in the parking lot and some base protocol must have kicked in when they reported a patient with chest pains because the firefighters have the trucks outside, are running in to the MIR with defib packs, the Military police are clearing out the parking lot and an ambulance is pulling in! One of the FF's asks my wife if her name was "XX" and she goes into full on terrified mode! She was terrified I might have crashed while she was on the way over and has a freak out attack!

 

The hospital staff is also calling my Chief and scaring the crap out of him as all they told him was that I was cardiac! Sheesh!

 

So I get the missus calmed down when she see's I'm fine, just hooked up to a bunch of monitors. They bundle me up on a gurney and out into the ambulance I go. I'm usually on the other side of this, loading people into an ambulance, not being loaded in to it myself!

 

My wife goes to pick up a few things at work and she runs into my Chief. She explains the situ to him and he's relieved. Then she gathers up some stuff from home and meets me at the hospital.

 

Then it's a day of laying on a bed, people taking blood, xrays and whatnot. Sheesh. I think you missed looking up my colon guys.......

 

8 hours after this all started, they pop out "you're OK", release me, the wife drives me back to the base and I ride the bike back home.

 

What a day!

 

Just for a chest "twinge".

 

I think maybe next time I'll just keep my trap shut unless it's pain.....

Edited August 1, 2015 by Great White

[etcswjoe]

Glad you are ok, know exactly what you are talking about Navy here reacts the same way.

[djh3]

An the Doc wonders why we guys wait u,til last minute or we cant stand it anymore. Glad your OK but with all the panic mode.........

[GAWildKat]

Sounds like a day in my life, only I'm just a civy lol. Been almost admitted more times than I can count, and several times because the doc overruled me. I once went to the ER because I had a bad case of the flu and it made me really sick. I was admitted with "pancreatitis" but in reality it was a bad case of the flu. Usually when I'm deathly sick I am atypical and show few symptoms.

[Condor]

My blood pressure is boarder line high. Nothing to panic over. So the doc prescribes a mild pill.

Every time I take one the damn things it gets me to bouncing off the walls as I go down the hallway in the morning.

No balance what's so ever. Usually takes a day or two to clear up. No way I could ride a bike. I don't take them any longer.....

Edited August 2, 2015 by Condor

[BlueSky]

Just a reminder of what I posted before. I have found out from personal experience that the "water pill" Triam/HCTZ will cause my arthritis to get worse.

[MikeWa]

BJ

I am glad you are ok. It seems to me the medical reaction was exactly right. I have lost several friends who did not pay enough attention to chest symptoms. The results from over reacting are far far better than those from under reacting. Be Safe.

 

Mike

[videoarizona]

 

Even a slight tightness means something isn't right. Glad they took care of you!

 

Regarding BP meds.... I'm on Lisinopril. I take the pill at night so I don't bounce down the halls. Supposed to take two a day...but I told the doc I was to dam dizzy with 2 so she approved one at night. Dizzy and sailing or riding bikes do not go well together!

 

The idea for me is to lower the BP a touch. Since all in my family die of cancer, no heart issues or cholesterol issues...even though we all have high cholesterol (Mediterranean Family)...I don't worry to much about it.

 

Glad you were OK....!

david

[Great White]

My family is a little different. My grandfather died of malignant hypertension and my uncle lost his kidneys from high blood pressure. Runs in the family I guess.

 

my blood pressure is always been OK, but runs a little to the high side. Nothing horrible, usually somewhere in the mid to high 120s and mid to high 80s. The last time they did my blood pressure was running 149/117. That's pretty high for me. But, I've also been diagnosed with PTSD from my work.

 

i'm pretty sure my blood pressure is running high right now is more in my mind that in my body. The doctor tends to agree, but wants to see the numbers down all the same. That's why she put me on the water pill...

[GAWildKat]

Heart disease runs on Dad's side of the family, but mostly in the men. Those who develop heart disease young used to be dead before age 40. At age 39 I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure from a faulty heart valve and being overweight. I was put on lasix right away and told I had to lose weight. Fast forward and I was approved for gastric bypass last year. I had surgery in Feb. I was able thanks to the preop diet to stop taking the lasix in Jan. I have not needed to add it back to my regimen.

 

High blood pressure guys is very dangerous. It can lead to heart attacks and strokes. My father in law started having high blood pressure in his 30's or 40's (he's in his late 60's now) and had a stroke in April as a result of his dangerously high bp. He refused all attempts to treat the high bp for the last 30 years and is now in a nursing home under 24hr care because of the stroke. I would take care of him myself, but the stroke left him a combative, angry man prone to being violent when he doesn't get his way. I wouldn't wish the result of his stroke on anyone.

 

Please rethink about ignoring doctor advice and medications if you don't wish to have your loved ones left with a sudden burden. My father in law was very selfish to ignore his high bp, and eventual heart disease because he's terrified of doctors. My mother in law is more than overwhelmed with dealing with the nursing home and now learning to become more self sufficient around the house.

[camos]

Water pill is a very generic non medical term which could mean just about anything. My "water pill" is hydrochlorothiazide which is a diuretic that makes the body fill the bladder to overflowing as quickly as possible.

 

I have been on blood pressure and cholesterol meds since about 30. When I was 38 I started having bouts of low level angina, the occasional "twinge" as you might say. At the time I had no idea what that feeling was and it never lasted very long. After 6 months or so the "twinges" turned into something more attention grabbing but still short duration and not too intense. I did not identify them as pain though. So far in my life any pain I experienced was short term and locally intense from doing stupid things like hitting a finger with a hammer or getting stabbed by a hook. This pain was totally different and so I didn't clue into what was happening.

 

After a couple of weeks the twinges got more frequent and more intense so I made an appointment with my GP to find out what was up. On the way to my appointment the episodes were more frequent and more intense than ever before. So I'm siting in the Dr's office waiting for my turn and thinking this really sucks. Finally get in to see him and explain whats been happening and he disappears for a couple of minutes and returns with a small bottle of nitro spray. He handed it and said you should get yourself to the ER which is about a 10 or 15 minute drive. So off I went.

 

On the trip, the twinges had intensified to the next level or perhaps the next one after that. I get to the ER and stand in line for about 20 minutes to see the triage nurse. (Never used the nitro spray because I didn't know what to do with it. My Dr probably didn't realize I was quite that stupid.) I'm feeling really crappy by this point. Nurse says what's up and I tell her and within a minute I'm on a gurney with an IV. Felt better pretty quick.

 

Ended up getting a stent in one of my genetically deficient heart arteries which was smaller than normal. So there it is... proof... size does matter.

 

Good times in the good old days. Quite a different scenario in civvy life then and now.

 

Obviously things could have gone much worse. Took it as a heads up and cleaned up my eating habits. Kinda slowly because of the general difficulty in separating the marketing BS from fact. Which is part of the reason I have on occasion posted some nutritional hints. Probably all of us should do better with what we shovel into our gob.

 

Glad you are OK GW. We would miss your entertaining posts.