Inspiration took hold after watching yesterday morning's rerun of the Tour de France so, despite threatening rain, I jumped on my bike and headed for a ride around the north half of Lake Washington. Despite feeling a bit sluggish in the beginning, the over sized portion of spaghetti for dinner the night before seemed to be doing its job because my energy felt like it grew with each mile - for the first half of the ride anyway. Three hours later I was home and had ridden 49 miles on a route that took me past Bill Gates' driveway in the hilly neighborhood of Medina.
Just before dinner, about three and half hours after completing the ride, my bp read a stellar:
119/68
Then came dinner with two old friends from Visio at Brauer's in Fremont. The menu is chock full of meaty goodness, and it all sounded so good! Knowing I've been paying close attention to sodium and potassium while exercising regularly, it seemed a good time to indulge in the mixed grill platter. The platter arrived with a healthy portion of roast duck, a giant sausage, and a juicy medium-rare chunk of steak. It was mighty tasty, and, after doing all I can to eliminate sodium, man did it taste salty good!
After indulging in meal so bad for one who has a low tolerance for salt, I was eager to see how it affected my blood pressure the next morning. The answer:
126/83
As stated before, I am no doctor, so am not sure what to make of the diastolic increasing by 15 points from the night before. I'm guessing that the low 68 from the day before is partially due to exercise temporarily expanding the capillaries, thus decreasing blood pressure. The bottom line, however, is that it is still better than readings I would get months ago when I was taking a daily dose of a beta-blocker. My change in habits appears to be working well enough to handle an occasional culinary setback.
Last night's mixed grill was good, and I'd be lying if I said I will not eat a meal like that again, but staying off big business meds to me is much more important than an ephemeral meal that is pooped out the next day. Today the diet returns to a tasty and healthy mostly-vegetarian fare.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
SiCKO
This morning, after yesterday's hike up Mt. Pilchuck, my blood pressure is still nice and low:
124/75
Hooray for exercise beating the expensive little white pill! And as an added benefit I experienced some of the wonderous beauty in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.
I recently saw Michael Moore's wonderful movie Sicko. Given my feelings about the US health care system, there is no question I am one of the converted to whom it is preaching and I walked out shaking my head at how sad it is that a nation as rich and supposedly advanced as ours has such broken health care.
I find it a little amusing that the movie claims the United States ranks just behind Slovenia in health care when I was just there in May. I actually almost needed to see a doctor for an ear infection. The pharmacist I communicated with (to say "spoke with" isn't quite accurate given the language barrier) offered to have me see a doctor and asked for absolutely zero insurance information.
Another emotion hit me while walking out of the theater: despair. I mean, what really can those without health insurance, or those who fall through health insurance's cracks do? That's when I thought about this little blog here and why I started it. One of my goals it to rid myself of all dependence on pharmaceuticals. I had asthma and know that Albuterol inhalers are expensive, and I've dealt with chronic sinusitis and know that a round of antibiotics can run over $200. It is insane and I was lucky to have stellar insurance through Microsoft's carrier. It's no surprise that millions of people in this country aren't so lucky.
What to do then? Until the powers that be can learn from the socialized success stories of medicine in countries like Canada, England, and France, among others, you and I can find homeopathic, naturopathic, and other methods to cure problems the big business pharmaceutical companies want to charge you an arm and a leg for.
This blog has been going for only a few days, but perhaps it can inspire the use of non-drug solutions to help:
124/75
Hooray for exercise beating the expensive little white pill! And as an added benefit I experienced some of the wonderous beauty in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.
I recently saw Michael Moore's wonderful movie Sicko. Given my feelings about the US health care system, there is no question I am one of the converted to whom it is preaching and I walked out shaking my head at how sad it is that a nation as rich and supposedly advanced as ours has such broken health care.
I find it a little amusing that the movie claims the United States ranks just behind Slovenia in health care when I was just there in May. I actually almost needed to see a doctor for an ear infection. The pharmacist I communicated with (to say "spoke with" isn't quite accurate given the language barrier) offered to have me see a doctor and asked for absolutely zero insurance information.
Another emotion hit me while walking out of the theater: despair. I mean, what really can those without health insurance, or those who fall through health insurance's cracks do? That's when I thought about this little blog here and why I started it. One of my goals it to rid myself of all dependence on pharmaceuticals. I had asthma and know that Albuterol inhalers are expensive, and I've dealt with chronic sinusitis and know that a round of antibiotics can run over $200. It is insane and I was lucky to have stellar insurance through Microsoft's carrier. It's no surprise that millions of people in this country aren't so lucky.
What to do then? Until the powers that be can learn from the socialized success stories of medicine in countries like Canada, England, and France, among others, you and I can find homeopathic, naturopathic, and other methods to cure problems the big business pharmaceutical companies want to charge you an arm and a leg for.
This blog has been going for only a few days, but perhaps it can inspire the use of non-drug solutions to help:
- Asthma - the Buteyko breathing method works. I know. I use it and went from 2x a day inhaler usage for over a decade to zero usage. I haven't used one in going on four years.
- Sinusitis - J's Nosedrops helps fight infection, especially combined with saline solution irrigation using a water pick and other non-drug solutions.
- Hypertension - Read "The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease" by Richard D. Moore. Follow this blog. Having a low-salt, potassium-rich diet can do wonders.
My hope is that this blog can provide brief insights on all three items above using known sources and my own personal experience. It will also contain other relevant information about taking control of your health while minimizing dependence on the failure that is our for-profit health care system.
Until the next post...
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Up and down Pilchuck brings bp down
It's been about two and half hours since completing a climb of Mt Pilchuck and my current bp reading is:
120/77
That's quite a drop from this morning. Ahhhh, the wonders of a little physical activity. Time for a cold beer.
Mt. Pilchuck is at the left side of the ridge in the photo below. The peak on the right is actually much lower and can be looked down upon from Mt. Pilchuck.
Happy Bastille Day!
120/77
That's quite a drop from this morning. Ahhhh, the wonders of a little physical activity. Time for a cold beer.
Mt. Pilchuck is at the left side of the ridge in the photo below. The peak on the right is actually much lower and can be looked down upon from Mt. Pilchuck.
Happy Bastille Day!
Morning bp versus later-in-the-day bp
One thing I've learned is that blood pressure in the morning hours is often higher than it is later in the day. This sounds completely logical. I picture the body's fluids, mostly dormant while asleep, all of the sudden having to charge their way through the capillaries that have constricted over night, thus raising blood pressure until the daily equilibrium has been reached. I take solice in knowing that my hypothesis is partially true. It's a bit more complicated, and a more detailed explanation can be found here, and the dangers can be found here.
As a brief example, here are my readings from last night and this morning:
Last night at 11:30 while watching the replay of yesterday's fantastic Tour de France finish and after one martini, two generous glasses of red wine, and two Corona's over the course of five hours I had a very healthy reading:
123/65
This morning, however:
135/91
The morning diastolic is definitely higher than I like.
It's been several days since I've taken an Atenalol. Rather than pop a pill, I think the prescription to get that lower today is some exercise in fresh mountain air, so I'm off to climb Mount Pilchuck with my lovely girlfriend Allison.
As a brief example, here are my readings from last night and this morning:
Last night at 11:30 while watching the replay of yesterday's fantastic Tour de France finish and after one martini, two generous glasses of red wine, and two Corona's over the course of five hours I had a very healthy reading:
123/65
This morning, however:
135/91
The morning diastolic is definitely higher than I like.
It's been several days since I've taken an Atenalol. Rather than pop a pill, I think the prescription to get that lower today is some exercise in fresh mountain air, so I'm off to climb Mount Pilchuck with my lovely girlfriend Allison.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Hypertension in the US
Hi. My name is Mark and I have hypertension.
Group response: "Hello Mark!"
Hi. It's a bit awkward to talk about this publicly. It's not something I really ever wanted to admit. A mostly-trim, relatively fit, active male in his 30's who eats a lot of rabbit food who has high blood pressure? What was I doing wrong? It didn't make sense.
I asked my doctor about it a few years ago when the reading in his office was something like 145/90 at what age I should start being concerned about it. His reply? "Now." I was promptly put on a low-dosage beta blocker, something called Atenalol.
Great. In my mid-30's and already on a drug for life.
I had just kicked the inhaler habit for asthma and now it's replaced with a pill.
My doctor also suggested a book called "The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease" by Richard D. Moore, M.D., PhD. Again, I thought, "Great." A self-help book for fat people that I don't need. However, for a brief while the thought of lifelong dependency on a pharmaceutical really pissed me off, so I bought the book for cheap used on the internet. It arrived a few days later. The cover's orange and red title between red heart-beat graph readings intimidated me. Really, I had just backpacked for days in the Cascades. This isn't for me.
As my 30's grew to a close I stayed on the Atenalol, doubling the dosage to a still low 25mg a day and the book gathered dust on the bookshelf.
Last month I turned 40 and, through a series of events I'll blame on the good luck of fate, I find myself in a mini-retirement - a term coined by Timothy Ferriss that I like quite a lot - and time to think about the drug issue again. I figured it's now or never, so I cracked Richard Moore's book and decided to see what I could do about it.
Thank you for listening.
Group: "Thank you Mark."
Moore's book is very intriguing and rife with medical information written for the layman. I am now almost finished with it and motivated to use its theory and recommendations to wean myself off Atenalol and live with a healthy blood pressure completely without drugs, like I did in my 20's.
There are probably many others like me. Your comments are welcomed and encouraged as this blog tracks progress, or lack thereof, of eliminating what I thought would be a life-long dependency on a little white pill.
Other topics will creep into the blog as well, from complete disdain for the United States' broken health care system to health tidbits.
It's probably important to know that I am not even close to a doctor. It's also very important that NO ONE discontinues any blood pressure medication without first consulting a doctor.
I write software for a living and am an active person who enjoys life, the thrills one can achieve when in good shape, and simply feeling good. And I hate the pharmaceutical industry.
I hope you enjoy and follow along.
Mark
Group response: "Hello Mark!"
Hi. It's a bit awkward to talk about this publicly. It's not something I really ever wanted to admit. A mostly-trim, relatively fit, active male in his 30's who eats a lot of rabbit food who has high blood pressure? What was I doing wrong? It didn't make sense.
I asked my doctor about it a few years ago when the reading in his office was something like 145/90 at what age I should start being concerned about it. His reply? "Now." I was promptly put on a low-dosage beta blocker, something called Atenalol.
Great. In my mid-30's and already on a drug for life.
I had just kicked the inhaler habit for asthma and now it's replaced with a pill.
My doctor also suggested a book called "The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease" by Richard D. Moore, M.D., PhD. Again, I thought, "Great." A self-help book for fat people that I don't need. However, for a brief while the thought of lifelong dependency on a pharmaceutical really pissed me off, so I bought the book for cheap used on the internet. It arrived a few days later. The cover's orange and red title between red heart-beat graph readings intimidated me. Really, I had just backpacked for days in the Cascades. This isn't for me.
As my 30's grew to a close I stayed on the Atenalol, doubling the dosage to a still low 25mg a day and the book gathered dust on the bookshelf.
Last month I turned 40 and, through a series of events I'll blame on the good luck of fate, I find myself in a mini-retirement - a term coined by Timothy Ferriss that I like quite a lot - and time to think about the drug issue again. I figured it's now or never, so I cracked Richard Moore's book and decided to see what I could do about it.
Thank you for listening.
Group: "Thank you Mark."
Moore's book is very intriguing and rife with medical information written for the layman. I am now almost finished with it and motivated to use its theory and recommendations to wean myself off Atenalol and live with a healthy blood pressure completely without drugs, like I did in my 20's.
There are probably many others like me. Your comments are welcomed and encouraged as this blog tracks progress, or lack thereof, of eliminating what I thought would be a life-long dependency on a little white pill.
Other topics will creep into the blog as well, from complete disdain for the United States' broken health care system to health tidbits.
It's probably important to know that I am not even close to a doctor. It's also very important that NO ONE discontinues any blood pressure medication without first consulting a doctor.
I write software for a living and am an active person who enjoys life, the thrills one can achieve when in good shape, and simply feeling good. And I hate the pharmaceutical industry.
I hope you enjoy and follow along.
Mark
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