It’s been a while guys.

RSB wrote:

I eventually found a job after the move to Saltburn.

Silly me I read Saltburn as Saturn.

Based on your post that would have made for the perfect SCI-FI.

Good news on the job and settling in OK, less so with the health!!

I also had high blood pressure diagnosed 3 years at about 160/120 but with daily tablets ( 5mg felodipine ) that’s down to 145/85 now. It’s annoying how your body reacts to the things you enjoy and they end up on the sh1t list!! All part of getting old(er).

Other than hugely better, how’s life at the seaside comparing to Bradford?? Even living in London’s suburbs, especially working in London, I noticed the change of pace and other people’s attitude – so much more placid and easy going as opposed to the hectic scrum before!! Drivers actually stop and give way with a smile and mostly either thank with a smile or a wave if you have – an absolute sea-change from London and the M25!!

I’ll admit that my comment on GP practices was ‘loose’. What has really impacted on the quality of service in this area was three or four excellent group partnerships being bought out by an American company and merged into one faceless and impersonal mega group practice that has policies  which require at least three weeks notice of being ill, and passing an Internet test before seeing a live person! Failure to be able to competently use a smart phone automatically puts you at the back of the queue.

With that off my chest, Richard’s information is good, and it is worthwhile if Lee found the location of such services and did a weekly check of BPs. BPs can go up and down like a yo-yo. If you are only checking weekly, do try and do it at roughly the same day/time, and make sure that you rest a bit before being tested. Don’t worry about a single result too much, the trend is often more important.

Some medication works well, others do not and can have nasty side effects. Its worth checking if yours suits you.  You should definitely read the scrap of paper that comes with your meds and check if you get any of the side effects. An irritating cough is a common side effect.

Well, the title is right, it has been a while. At least all the house aggro is now behind you.

Still on the barge?

Regarding blood pressure, a testing device is quite cheap. I bought a fairly good model at least 15 years ago and I do periodic checks. About two years ago, it went up, so I saw quack and he added another type to prescription. I have been taking Amlodipine (sounds similar to yours) for 15 plus years, but now have Ramipril as well. Figures of 120 to 135 over 70 to 80 are current results.

Last year I was phoned after a (nominally annual) blood test. I was told my sodium was low.  20 years ago a friend advised me to drink more water (because she believed in it) which I did. Big improvement in sleep, not waking up from bad dreams, always desperate for a pee. I think I had been overdoing it, so after considering his comments, I cut down by about half on how much I drank when I woke up. Not had a retest, but I think it will be OK now. I had been getting quite a few early morning cramps (legs), and after a couple of weeks of reducing the water, I realise that had stopped.

When you get to my age (81 this month) you need to try to be ahead of what is going on, i wasn’t!

best wishes, Les.

Ed is right about some blood pressure tablets working better than others. I have been through most of the list and had problems with many of them. Not as bad as those of my wife, who ended up with anaphylaxis, caused by Ramipril. I stopped Ramipril after the coughing issue ED referred to. Now I still cough, (I had a lung function test yesterday), results awaited. Currently, I am on Amlodipine and Lercandipine, which are working okay for the blood pressure, though it is still highly volatile. Most days it is good, but sometimes bad, though not as bad as RSB. I did have the low sodium but a few minor changes, including less fluid have helped with that, though if anything the cramp at night and when walking is getting progressively worse. The pains in my joints have been joined by pains in the tendons and in many muscles, hey ho, noni no.

I think ED’s comments about his local GP practices being bought up does represent an issue. Being GP owned they can be bought and sold and far too many GPs are leaving, either shutting down their practices or selling up and running away. This is down to a range of issues, the pension/tax problem, being one, but also the grand paper chase issue being another.

I now refer to my wife’s terminal stage 4 cancer treatment as a welcome into the world of DIY medicine where you do not get the scheduled blood tests because a letter told you to do so and you are there, you have to chase down someone who can set them up on the day. I call it the parochial health service, because we have a 3 to 5 hour round trip to get the damned test, plus a conversation with the oncologist that could be done by telephone. If I sound ratty, I am, my wife has had some good treatment, she had 7 brain tumours operated on via the so-called Gamma knife option two months back, a scan two weeks ago still has no indication of success or failure. She is disturbed and needs to know. I must now sign off, I can barely see the keyboard or string letters together, but perhaps you can understand why I am rarely here.

E&OE for the above reasons!

Correction, I was on amlodipine at one time. However, it was stopped for a reason I no longer remember. Perhaps it was my sodium level, as ED suggested, it can cause such problems and I did. My second tablet BP tablet is Losartan Potassium, this combination is working for me at the moment.

Without careful checking of the packets, a familiar name, incorrectly, stuck in my mind. My experience of BP tablets is like many other drugs, some are suitable and work without objectionable side effects, and some really are not suitable. Unfortunately, I have a history of abreactions, sedatives may produce strong reverse effects and some treatments, e.g. tramadol are totally ineffective, so useless. Cocodamol was slightly effective, but it is metabolised to morphine and can show in blood tests for a long time. I had other issues as well, so I strictly limit its use. Given my experiences, addiction to either was never a risk on my timeline.

I missed something in previous message. The GP did say last year that (yes) I should take a bit extra salt. However I simply kept forgetting. Then a bright idea. I now buy 6 packs of Walkers “ready salted crisps”, and consume one late at night, but before eating, I shake more salt all over it. That is probably just as important as the less water aspect. It is a pleasant and easy way to be certain of increasing salt intake.

If I read the above replies correctly, am I to understand that amlodipine causes low sodium levers?

Les.

Apparently 12% of those over 75 have low sodium levels (8% of those under 60). It appears to me that the medical practitioners who objected to the mandatory reduction of salt in  foods may well have been correct in saying more people might die from low salt levels than will be saved by lower blood pressure in the 10% of population at risk.

So Les  and anyone else in the low sodium category, enjoy your salted crisps/peanuts but do abstain from taking your blood pressure for a couple of hours to allow your body to handle the salt as it will add 20 points or so to your readings .