New Year – Old Issue

I an now officially feeling old.  I finally got to the point that the doctor had to put me on blood pressure medicine for the obvious reason.  I’ve been borderline high blood pressure for a couple of years and it had started going up over the last 6 months.  This week the increase wasn’t a little bit, as it shot up to 201/120. I took the 201/120 reading with a small electric BP monitor, so I wasn’t sure how accurate it was and although I didn’t feel great, I didn’t feel horrible.

The next day things seemed to get worse. While at work, I began to feel horrible.  That was the best word to describe it as I felt as if I couldn’t keep my eyes open, my legs wouldn’t work or hold me up and finally my chest was aflutter.  My partner-in-curricula had the foresight to contact one of the paramedics in our office.  This time the reading was 190/120.  (This is when it is good to work where there are health professionals.) I’m guessing my little BP monitor wasn’t all that inaccurate after all. He had me put up my feet and relax while I awaited a call from my doctor.  Of course when I finally saw my doctor, my BP was much lower (still borderline) but thanks to the paramedic, the doc decided it was time for meds.  Obviously, controlling with exercise was not doing the job.

Only two days on the new meds and I am already feeling better.  I can only imagine how much better I’ll feel once my BP is stabilized.    It is like night and day.  I am looking forward to seeing how things may change including my running.  It will take up to 3 weeks or more to stabilize my BP, but I think this is a good start.

Since I have just started the medicine I’m going to give it time to work.  In that sense I’m going to take a few weeks off from racing.  I had planned to run one on Valentine’s Day, but I think I’ll volunteer instead.  I should be good to go for the Shamrock though. I am also taking it a little easy at my torture session.  I think I gave the Sadist a little bit of a scare with the high numbers.  He has shown concern and follows up on how things are.  He keeps this up and I might begin to think he likes me.   Who knew?

Building Frustration

Running along the Promenade - Fells Point

This past week has been pretty rough for me and has had me contemplating a return to my corner of the couch. 

After a month of annoying pain and tingling in my left arm,  I finally went to the doctor.  I didn't think it was MS for a couple of reasons but I knew it had to be something.  Apparently, it was.  Turns out I have a bulging disk and it is encroaching on my exiting left C7 nerve root.  Want to take a guess on where that nerve goes?  At least my pain corresponded with the encroached nerve.  So what does that mean, it means I'm getting older.  Luckily for me a NSAID helps keep the pain in check and hopefully it will calm down soon.

If that wasn't enough good news, I also found out that my BMI and BC are on the high side and I'm considered over-weight.  I know those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, but I also got to hear that my blood pressure was so high they wanted me to either call the doctor immediately or head off to the hospital. (I did have my doctor check it out and I'm all good, for now, at least.)  The only good news I really got was that I was normal for cholesterol.  Add all this to the fact that I haven't lost any weight in over a year and I'm just a tad bit frustrated.  

For all the whining I do, I work very hard with the Sadist.  He pushes me and I push myself, even when I would rather not. I've definitely gotten stronger and my balance a little better.  I don't fall over every time I do the various exercises, just every now and again. I am also running around 7 miles a week and it was only 18 months ago I could barely run 500 feet.  Maybe there has been some changes for the good, but I would love to see it reflected in the numbers, just once.

Tomorrow I will be running the Run to Remember 5k to honor those we lost on 9/11.  While I'm there maybe I'll remember why I continue to push myself, even if it doesn't seem like I'm getting anywhere.