Partial update on me

[nitewind]

Ok, update on me. As I think you all know, I had a heart attack back on Memorial day weekend. Saw my heart doctor this morning. What a shock, bp 170 over 100. Don't know about you but sky high for me. He doubled the bp med I'm taking and added another blood pressure med and another cholestrol med and is setting me up for cardiac rehab. Weight gain is not good, have to get serious about that. That's how my morning went, can't wait to see my cancer doctor this afternoon. Going in for my usual checkup and now I'm worried about that.
If anyone knows a good site for tips on lowering blood pressure, I sure would appreciate it. Let's just hope my cancer is still in check.
I'll check in later, love you all.
susan

[Becky]

Hi Susan

Some things you can do on your own besides losing weight which always helps is to walk and watch the sodium levels. Also, drink your daily 8 glasses of water too. Those are the only intuitive things I know of. You will be fine but you do have to get the blood pressure under control. I believe self meditation may help.

If you remember, halfway thru treatment, I switched oncs within the same practice and the original onc was also (and still is) my mom's onc. Everytime I would go there, my blood pressure was high (not as high as yours but high for me). I would see the old onc and he would treat me like I broke up with him at the Senior Prom!. I started getting in a zone when I would go. I would sit in the chair and imagine I was floating on a float in a swimming pool - I would close my eyes and imagine that and my blood pressure was normal. Maybe yours is high but it was higher today because of the "pressure" of it having to hopefully be lower. There is a "syndrome" for this and I think it is called the "White Coat Syndrome" in which the blood pressure goes up just from being at the doctor's office. Try visualizing next time. You will probably get a better picture of what your pressure really is next time.

Also, pharmacies tend to have those blood pressure machines. It is a private way to check on things yourself and see if the visualization really works - visualize something serene and then visualize something stressful - I bet you will see the difference.

I am sure your onc appointment went well too.

[Sheila]

Susan
Glad to hear from you...you have had a year! Hoping they can get the B/P undercontrol...its all about finding the right medicine for YOU! And exercise, low sodium etc....I have found Lisinopril and Coreg are keeping mine under control....
Thinking of you!

[Jackie07]

Susan:

I found the following information from the website at the bottom:

If you have hypertension or prehypertension, you may be able to lower your
blood pressure by:

• losing weight if you are overweight or obese
• getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity each week.
• limiting alcohol to one drink per day
• quitting smoking if you smoke
• reducing stress
• following the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Eating Plan, which includes cutting down on salt and sodium and eating healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products

Source: http://womenshealth.gov/faq/heart-disease.cfm