Overly medicated

It's official. I think the healthy choices have been making (believe it or not - I AM doing some) are working.

NOW - I think the BP meds are too much.

Let me back up and explain more.

I am trying my best to get my blood pressure under control. I have suffered from hypertension since I was a child. You may be looking at my picture now and thinking, "Oh.. she must have been overweight as a kid. That's explains it."

The answer to that would be - NO. Actually, I was very healthy. I was a dancer, very fit but just a little high strung.
NOW - I have a weight issue, but the BP has always been elevated. I had all of the necessary tests needed to make sure there was not some underlying factor for the elevation in my BP. The group cardiologists concluded - I just have good old fashioned hypertension. I was even informed that some people, regardless of their lifestyle, may (rarely) simply be hypertensive.

Then there was the sleep study. Yep - Sleep apnea. I now have a cpap machine (very sexy contraption for a newly wed.) The problem is, I would quit breathing in my sleep, my body would shoot adrenaline and that would raise my heart rate and my BP to force me to "wake up" and breathe. Needless to say, I rarely had a good night's sleep.

Now I sleep much better. Granted, my mind is still my mind - no fix for stressful, racing thoughts on bad days - but I am BREATHING in my sleep. ;-)

This has made my BP go down. My cardiologist also changed my meds. Instead of a beta blocker and a diuretic (strong one) - he now has me on an alpha beta blocker and a less strong diuretic. I am on a "prescribed" Mediterranean diet (which I am on again off again), and of course exercise (again - on again, off again.)

Lately, I wake up sooooooooooo refreshed. I make my cup of coffee, then head to take my first two pill of the day. One hour later I feel like I drank about 2 glasses of wine. You would think would be nice, but my brain is sooo cloudy.

As the day progresses, the meds seem to taper off... and I am good to go. Then between 5 - 7pm I pop the last pill. One hour later I feel as if I drank 1/2 a bottle of wine. I am sleepy, my coordination is off, and I border feeling like a zombie. If i wait it out and try to stay up, it will taper off.

Then I get the good night's sleep and boom wake up refreshed with low BP.

What I think is happening - my BP is leveling off with the help of the CPAP machine and lifestyle changes. I think I am over medicated now. When I was first prescribed the meds, I was not doing well. Now, I am.

I think Monday I will make an appointment with my cardiologist and pulmonary doc and make sure we are moving forward. In my non-professional opinion, maybe I should drop on of the alpha beta blockers (and only take one once a day.) Then.. in time.. maybe the rest can go also!

Now.. I will return to my cloudy head. *yawn.*

Snake bites, Flower Girls, and No meds

My Sunday ended up VERY ODD. I just have to share - quickly.

If you are looking for something profound.. wait until tomorrow!

This is just one of those - gotta tell ya stories..

Sooooo... where to begin?

Let's start with the sad part. I just found out that my dear little lady bug (my niece) was left out of her father's latest wedding. (I say it like this - because this is his 3rd wife.) I saw pics posted, and saw that her 1/2 sisters were all in the wedding. Little Autumn was not there at all. My sister, (bless her heart), posted a FB status that said - " thinks if you have a beautiful wedding ceremony where "all" of the daughters are involved- wouldn't it be nice to ask ALL of the daughters - including a little 4 year old (say as a flower girl) who loves her daddy more than anything? I knew where she stood with her "grandmother"... it's nice to see how she stands with the rest of her family in Florida now... ranking a generic invitation. She deserved more."

Ouch.

The "grandmother" comment is about the fact that her paternal grandmother wishes she was never born. Triple ouch.

Obviously I wish my sister could cut this man out of their lives. However, I understand the whole needing a father bit.

Since I have nothing nice to say.. I will move to the next story..

Sooo.. I realized that I needed to pick up my BP med prescription from Walgreens this evening. Little did I know, the pharmacy closes early on Sundays. Boo - so I am unable to take my meds. I decided to call my mom to find out if she thinks it's okay to skip (you know, we always think ours moms have a m.d. behind their names..)

My sister answers the phone.. here is how the conversation went:

"Hey - can I speak to mom, please?"

"Umm.. she's not here."

"Where is she?"

"She's at the hospital. She got bit by a snake."

WHAT???????????

First of all - this is not the type of news someone with high blood pressure needs to hear with out meds.. while she lives 4 - 5 hours away.

LOL

I laugh now, because - thank GOD - she is okay. She stayed for observation, had some shots - and is now fine.

But still...

What a weird.. crazy.. day.

Just had to share!