My health update

[geForce]

I went to the doctor about 3 months ago to get some more nasal spray, and he wanted to just do a routine blood pressure check.

I've always had this whitecoat syndrome thing where I get nervous at the doctor's office. I'm not scared of the doctor himself, but I just get really nervous that he'll find something wrong with me. Anyway, so again, when he checked my blood pressure, it was high, like around 170/90. He knows I have whitecoat, so he asked me what readings I get at home. I hadn't been checking recently, but doc told me to start monitoring it again.

So, I started doing it again. I used to get around 130/80, but now I've been getting an average of 155/85, which is slightly elevated and considered mild hypertension. I told the doctor, and he said that there's a possibility that whitecoat syndrome extends to at home too... pretty much the thought of even taking my own blood pressure reading will trigger that nervousness. On the safe side, he told me to lose weight and put me on mild blood pressure medication.

I finally got around to doing the Paleo diet thing. I think I started about 2 or 3 weeks after Jai and Dunc did. I've been on it for about 3 weeks now. I've also incorporated intermittent fasting to my weekly routine (or aka 5:2 diet).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -fast-days

So, 5 days of the week, you eat "normally", then for 2 consecutive days of the week, you would "fast". Not fasting as in completely not eating, but restricting your food intake to about half of what you normally eat. I think it's a complementary diet plan to the Paleo diet. The reasoning behind the 5:2 Diet is that our hunter/gatherer ancestors didn't get to eat every day. They only ate when they were successful in catching their food, which in reality, was not every day for them.

So after 3 weeks, I've lost about 8-10 pounds (I forgot to weigh myself before starting, so I'm going by 3 month old weight). Not anything really amazing, but I think it's not bad for being mostly sedentary.

[nature boy]

did the doctor have any other reason for the high blood pressure? it seems funny to me that he'd think it's just an extension of white coat.

however, eating right is never a bad thing.

[geForce]

Yeah, being overweight... that's why he told me to lose weight. I went for blood tests too, and my glucose and cholesterol levels came out normal, so it's not diabetes or clogged arteries.

When my doctor first tested my blood pressure around 4-5 years ago and we didn't know it was whitecoat syndrome, he sent me in for a bunch of tests too, like kidney and liver scan. Those came up with nothing conclusive relating to blood pressure. That's how they incidentally found that cyst in my kidney when I had that cancer scare.

[geForce]

That being said, even overweight people can have normal blood pressure. He's not really sure why my blood pressure is high. I've been through quite a few blood pressure related tests which came out normal, which got him pretty stumped. He's just eliminating the few other possibilities now, starting with lowering my weight.

It could be just genetics too. It does kinda run in the family.

[se7entse7en]

My mom had/has that whitecoat syndrome as well. Goes to the doctor... sky high. Checks it at home, normal. The doctor even insisted on having her machine recalibrated. Turned out to be even more sensitive than the doctor's.

In general, are you stressed?

[geForce]

I don't think I'd call it stress, and it's not continuously all the time. I am sensitive to situations in the moment, but it goes away as fast as it comes. Like with the doctor's office thing, I would feel nervous during my visit, but it would go away pretty quickly after I leave. It's not often that I dwell on things.

I actually got denied for health insurance due to whitecoat. My insurance company sent their nurse's report back to me, circling and highlighting my blood pressure reading, then politely saying that it's not within their policy guidelines to offer health insurance for people with such high blood pressure. The nurse who checked me out was pretty shocked too... she kept asking me if I felt dizzy or lightheaded, and she said a few times that I should actually go to the hospital. hehe

[nature boy]

wow, that's pretty crazy. and i didn't even think you were overweight. a giant, maybe, but not overweight.

recently in a course i was talking about family systems, my prof asked us how our bodies react when we're anxious. i replied with i hardly ever get anxious. he challenged me on that and since then i've noticed how anxious i do get, but deny that it's there because i don't like it. ironically, being anxious makes me anxious.

my point is i wonder if you ARE in fact stressed but subconsciously choose not to acknowledge it. it happens to lots of people, they don't realise it until something like this happens and they're made aware of it. and stress is like a silent killer, effs you up in some crazy ways.

i only say this because de-stressing (to me) is easier than losing weight. however, losing weight is always a good idea.

[supersuk]

could be high sodium intake too.

Whats your ratio of sodium to potassium like?

I had a somewhat high blood pressure reading before(this was while I was working out), but i fixed it with just reducing sodium and adding more potassium into my diet.

[geForce]

I tried reducing my sodium intake... didn't make a difference. I didn't increase my potassium intake though. Potassium is only useful to purge excess sodium in your body. I don't really consume huge amounts of sodium to begin with.

[se7entse7en]

fwiw, sodium isn't just the salt you add to your food or what's in your potato chips. It's used in processed food as a preservative. Canned soups, breads, tuna, milk, cheese, canned kidney beans... it's in everything.

[nature boy]

then how you cut down the intake of it? eat less?

[se7entse7en]

Fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables and do your own cooking. From what I've read/heard if you cook your own food you will use far less sodium.

[geForce]

Another benefit of the Paleo diet! No processed foods.

[nature boy]

sodium, can't live without it,
won't live long with it.

[se7entse7en]

Yep. Better to have high blood pressure than no blood pressure.