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25 July 2021

Anyone else struggling with health issues? [More:]I had a routine check at the GPs on Friday. My ECG was normal but my blood pressure was really high.

The nurse thought it might be 'white coat syndrome', where people are anxious about getting a high BP reading at the doctor's, and it's a self-fulfilling prophesy.

A couple of years ago I had to wear a BP monitor for 24 hours. I hate having my BP taken, so feeling the cuff inflate every 30 minutes was awful for me, and I had little sleep that night. But the readings over 24 hours were normal, although at the higher end of the normal scale.

I have a home BP monitor, so I'll see how it goes with that. I'm not going to measure it every day, just twice a week.

We decided that, before I start taking meds, I would first address my weight, which has crept up lately. I lost 15lbs during the first year of lockdown, but it's crept up again, and I've been eating too much processed food.

So, I'm trying to eat as much raw food as possible, whole grains, healthy food. Although I'm vegan, I'm a fat vegan. Before I was vegan it would never occur to me to eat a Greggs sausage roll, as they're full of chemicals. Yet once they brought out the vegan sausage roll, I'd buy one every time I went past a Greggs. Also too many snacks have done me no favours.

But I'm feeling low about it. The only times in my life when I've been a 'normal' weight is when I've been exercising obsessively and severely restricting food.

Still, I know I need to lose weight, and the doctor thinks that at least 40lbs needs to go. It's so tough, a lifelong struggle for me.

Still, things could be worse. A friend, who is only 36, went to hospital as she thought she had appendicitis. She also mentioned to the doctor that she'd been having a pins and needles feeling in her left side for a while. They ran tests to rule out a mini-stroke, and all other tests were normal. But a MRI showed she had a kidney stone (not appendicitis), and - shockingly - a brain tumour. And although she'd had a negative Covid test the day before, she also tested positive for CV-19. So I have very little to moan about, the issues with my health are within my control to a large extent

So, how's everyone else doing?
Damn, I hope your friend get through this with as little trouble as possible. A kidney stone can be horrible but what a load of trouble to come with it.

I am having back issues. I have two damaged vertebrae and sometimes things can get out of whack and I get muscle spasms and pain in other places because of it. The last couple of weeks the pain has been in my left shin and left hip. It is slowly getting back to normal.

The second week of August I have to have two small cysts removed from my back and a large one removed from my under my chin. That one will be the tricky one.

Senyar, good luck with your weight loss. I have a few vegan friends with the same issue.
posted by arse_hat 25 July | 20:31
I should lose 20 lbs but agree with the agony of doing it.

My recent problems are brought on by avoiding health care due to cost and the lack of anyone to care for me because the ACL repair I had in 2012 broke loose and it's quite painful and is causing me to walk "funny" and thus I now have both hip pain and occasional back pain. My health insurance out of pocket deductible copay is $7000. That's a massive percentage of my income.

Next year when insurance comes up for renewal, I will check to see if there's any other available for Obamacare coverage. Premiums will be much higher, though.

I've had several small skin cancers removed because we were always outdoor kids in the sun all day.

Been on BP medication for a while. It's hereditary for my family.
posted by mightshould 26 July | 10:29
I have also been told to lose weight. It's the doctor version of "Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?"
posted by JanetLand 26 July | 14:31
My doctor always says he needs to lose weight.
posted by arse_hat 26 July | 16:03
The American healthcare system is fucking barbaric.
posted by Senyar 27 July | 13:58
When I said I was getting back to normal I was wrong. Today has just hurt all day.
posted by arse_hat 27 July | 20:35
I hope you are feeling better, arse_hat.
posted by mightshould 29 July | 20:33
I've been dealing with bipolar all my life now. Have finally gotten a doctor who was able to put me on the type of medication that fits me like a glove. I still have my ups and downs, but nowhere even remotely close to what they were a few weeks ago.

Sorry to hear about the back pain, arse_hat... I think you'd told me about it once but for the life of me I can't recollect it now. Did you have an accident of some sort?

senyar, in the past 3/4 years, I've gone from everything between 70 kg, which is my ideal weight, to having crossed 100 at some point. I'm 89 now, nowhere near as what I should be but have started working out. The thing is, my medication forces me to constantly crave food... I know, it's the perfect excuse, one which I'm trying to overcome.
posted by hadjiboy 10 August | 02:57
Wow hadjiboy, that's a good determined accomplishment to reduce weight while craving food. And it's grand to hear you finally getting good medical treatment.

Poor arse_hat. I hope you kick the pain. I finally resorted to cbd stuff which works way better than opiods. I was hesitant, but after an intense pain day, I took a "red kratom" product. After an hour, I could move again!
posted by mightshould 11 August | 17:09
mightshould, $7000 is crazy. We have issues here in Canada but I still feel safer than I ever did when I lived in the U.S. I was always in fear of ever needing health care. I wish I could do something helpful rather than just send good thoughts.

I may try CBD solutions but cannabis and I don't get along. Not sure if it's THC or some other cannabinoid.

hadjiboy, good to hear you have found a doctor who could find the right treatment for you. Bipolar can really take a lot of work to find the right control. Congratulations on the weight loss.

The back thing is from two damaged vertebrae likely not from one event but from a life of doing too much stuff I should not have.

I had the three cysts removed this morning and wow. It has always hurt before but I hardly noticed this despite the one under my chin being a bit larger than a Robin's egg. I love this surgeon.
posted by arse_hat 12 August | 14:01
Well, arse_hat, I don't know if the kratom products are different from cbd. I ended up with something called "red kali". I don't know if that's available there.
posted by mightshould 12 August | 17:59
I'm so glad for you too, might should and arse_hat... good to know the treatment that we're getting is working wonders for us. (:
posted by hadjiboy 14 August | 14:03
You hang in there, too, hadjiboy!
posted by mightshould 15 August | 12:31
Thanks!
posted by hadjiboy 18 August | 03:18
And, y'all stay covid-safe!
posted by mightshould 18 August | 14:15
Tell me something special about summer where you live - || Cats. Always cats.

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