Update on retirement & blood pressure

[Khan]

I gave blood this morning, BP: 128/70.

 

[W2R]

Excellent!! With any luck maybe ER (next year) will help to correct Frank's BP, as well.

 

[harley]

Excellent! Congratulations!

I'm down 20+ points to the 120s over 70s since FIRE, mostly due to a decrease in stress. I've also lost some weight, but I largely attribute that too to decrease of stress. W*rk s*cks!

I was reading recently that having decent BP is a major determining factor in longevity. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Goonie]

Yesterday morning I had to stop by the Doc's office for an 'oowy', and while I was there they took my BP.......118/78. It's been running mid-120's/70's. For years it was upper-130's/80's.....but a couple months ago I had to have a wisdom tooth yanked out, and the oral surgeon (dentist's around here WON'T pull ANY teeth....they ALL send you to an OS. ) checked my BP........170/94! YIKES! I just figured 'white coat syndrome' plus the thought of having a tooth yanked.

A week after the extraction I had to go back for a final follow-up, and he checked it again....178/114! Double YIKES!! I went to my family Doc, and he gave me a pill to take once a day (night) just before I go to bed. One week later BP was down to 124/74. Needless to say I'm still popping my 'one-a-day'.......and I certainly can live with that. BTW, I have a loooong family history of High-BP.

My triglycerides were a bit (way) high also......it's all that darn bacon & fried clucker......so now I'm taking a [-]daily degreaser[/-] pill for that too. It's heck being well-fed and healthy. Everything else....LDL/HDL/Total Cholesterol, blood sugar, etc, are all normal and happy!

 

[bbbamI]

Double congrats to you Khan for your bp and giving blood.

Goonie....

My bp ALWAYS goes up when I go to the dentist.
Otherwise, it's fairly normal.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Congrats, all for the low Bp and Goonie, you are very wise (IMO) to take the meds. as untreated high Bp is one of the worst risk factors. End of lecture.

Khan, good going giving blood. Is it true giving blood goes faster for people with higher Bp?

 

[harley]

Giving blood is a good thing to do IMHO. I have done it for years. Wish I still could. I went in a couple of years ago to donate, and failed the anemia test. Took iron for a couple months, failed again. Decided to make my once-per-decade visit to the doc to see what was up, and got diagnosed as diabetic while I was there. Very early catch on it, though, and so far I've been able to manage it with my diet and exercise. So I attribute donating blood to improving my long term health too.

They never did figure out what's causing the anemia though. Supposedly my RBC count is below what is acceptable to Red Cross, but not bad enough for major hematological intervention. I'm taking iron and B12, and eating steak or tuna when I can. Just another thing I'll have to keep and eye on as I wander through life.

 

[Khan]

Congrats, all for the low Bp and Goonie, you are very wise (IMO) to take the meds. as untreated high Bp is one of the worst risk factors. End of lecture.

Khan, good going giving blood. Is it true giving blood goes faster for people with higher Bp?

Not that I've noticed; I've been donating blood for almost 40 years and have had high, regular, and low BP over that time.

The way to make blood come out faster is to drink extra water beforehand (nothing extreme, a glass or two).

My bp ALWAYS goes up when I go to the dentist.

I've never had a dentist take my BP.
---------------------------------
Last year, my BP was often elevated when I gave blood because there was major road construction going on and I would get lost in downtown Dayton on the way.

Can anybody else feel your BP going up?

 

[Alan]

I used to love giving blood and gave several times a year. These days I can't give in the USA because I lived in England they still ban folks like me in case I have mad cow disease. I'm O-ve and CMV -ve and used to be a member of the "baby club" at our local hospital as this is the type of blood used on new born babies.

My life was saved at 6 weeks old by multiple blood transfusions so I am forever indebted to all the wonderful people who take time to donate.

I was always very fast donating blood (~5 - 7 mins) and I always had low BP so I don't think that high BP is a major factor in the speed of giving blood. As Khan says, being well hydrated is probably a major factor.

 

[Nords]

I used to love giving blood and gave several times a year. These days I can't give in the USA because I lived in England they still ban folks like me in case I have mad cow disease.

Same for me, and spouse for her time in Spain. Bummer... we were gallons into it.

I was always very fast donating blood (~5 - 7 mins) and I always had low BP so I don't think that high BP is a major factor in the speed of giving blood. As Khan says, being well hydrated is probably a major factor.

I think that Navy corpsmen use large-bore needles... about .22 caliber.

 

[mickeyd]

Thanks for reminding me to check my BP. I cranked in at 116/69 so I guess my training program and the meds that I'm taking are doing their job.

I have a BP monitor that I purchased a few years ago at Wal-mart for about $50 (ReliOn brand 741 CREL) that I keep by the computer. I generally hook up a few times a week, but I had gotten away from checking lately. Thanks again for reminding me.

Do any of you folks have any experience with BP monitors that are out there?

I used to give blood on a regular basis, but they say that they do not want my stuff any more since I developed a few melanomas.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Omron is supposed to be decent.

 

[harley]

If you have your own monitor (I do), you should take it with you to the doc once a while to calibrate it. Just let them do their thing, then you do yours. See how close they are. That way you'll have a good idea what they'll see when you go in, and if anything is way out of whack you can doublecheck. I've had them screw up the readings before, making my BP come out way too high.

Of course, my last physical they measured my height at 5'10". I'm 6'1". The nurse was so short she couldn't see way up there. Got to stay on top of these medical folks. They'll put stuff in your record and you'll never get it back out.

 

[Buckeye]

Khan - are you losing weight? We started Weight Watchers at Work and my boss (the CEO) has lost about 15 pounds. That was enough for her to drop her BP medication dose by 75%.

 

[Khan]

Khan - are you losing weight? We started Weight Watchers at Work and my boss (the CEO) has lost about 15 pounds. That was enough for her to drop her BP medication dose by 75%.

I retired a/o 31 Dec '04 at 215# (5'3", yes I was obese).

I started losing weight at ~1/2 # per week for 3 years (~80#) without trying.

Hit a plateau at 135 at autumn '07.

Am still rearranging fat/muscle.

 

[Buckeye]

80# off......that's awesome! Lots of new clothes!

 

[Khan]

80# off......that's awesome! Lots of new clothes!

Am just finished digging out old clothes; weird how I can not remember buying such stuff many years ago.

 

[Rambler]

Khan - I've read your comment about not even trying before, and I think that is fabulous! But to what do you attribute it? Naturally rating healthier? Less stress = less stress eating? More exercise...naturally? All of the above? I would be interested to figure this out as I could stand to lose 40+ lbs.

R

 

[Khan]

Khan - I've read your comment about not even trying before, and I think that is fabulous! But to what do you attribute it? Naturally rating healthier? Less stress = less stress eating? More exercise...naturally? All of the above? I would be interested to figure this out as I could stand to lose 40+ lbs.

R

The main thing was less stress eating.

Looking back, I'm amazed at how much I would stuff down after a stressful day.

After ~6 months I noticed my clothes did not fit; at first I thought it was just because they were wearing out. Then I weighed myself and noticed I had lost ~15 pounds.

I slowly started consciously changing to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Later, I started exercising (high repetitions with slowly increasing weights).

I am now working on increasing exercise to decrease waist and build up some muscle in arms and legs.

Hint: Use smaller plates/cups and always take time to present food and sit down.

 

[Darryl]

Khan nice job on the BP and the donating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the monitor I have an omron hem-711 it seems like I did some research before I settled on it and I have taken it with me to the docs and it lined up with what they had in the office.

 

[Khan]

I've never had a dentist take my BP.

Come to think of it, I think the oral surgeon did take BP when I had wisdom teeth pulled.

 

[Rustic23]

112 over 68. I learned I can't give blood. DD has given blood most of her adult life. About a year ago, half way through a donation, they aid ask her if she had ever been to Europe. She said she lived in Germany from 1980 to 1983. They took the needle out of her arm and through the blood away. Here is the restriction from the Red Cross Website


You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

• From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany
• From 1980 through 1996 - Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece.

 

[Shredder]

Been borderline high BP, blood lipids, sugar, and over weight for a while now. I know , all the classic signs. We have a portable BP and I have been taking it for two weeks, averaging about 140 something over 90 something, so I had blood drawn today and will see Dr No next week. Winter is my time to get back in shape, watch my health, and all that good stuff. The last couple of years I was high on the checks and in 6 weeks back to normal though diet and exercise. But at age 54 maybe I should keep better track year round.......shredder