I'm learning about high blood pressure

"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."  --  Socrates

Up until recently, whenever I'd visit the doctor a nurse would routinely take my blood pressure before the doc came in the room.  I'd always assume my blood pressure was going to be ok -- never even bothering to inquire as to what those two numbers meant.

Then one day recently at the VA Medical Center in Phoenix, a gorgeous young female doctor by the name of Regina Derringer took a look at my medical history on her computer, then asked, "And why are you here, John?" 

I told her I had been experiencing severe headaches for several weeks. 

A nurse had taken my blood pressure before seeing Dr. Derringer, but the doctor wanted to see for herself, so she wrapped the cuff around my upper left arm and started the machine.  As she observed the machine, she placed her left hand on my shoulder.  In a few minutes, she exclaimed, "That's too high.  I'll have to start you on something."

I sat there thinking to myself . . . "Sure, you put your hand on my shoulder and get my hormones raging and my heart pounding, then you tell me I have high blood pressure!"

But as I was having those outrageous thoughts, I just sat there and smiled at her.

She told me she was going to prescribe what was known as a "water pill", a diuretic commonly used as the first defense against high blood pressure.  The formal name for this drug is "Hydrochlorothiazide".

"In a few days I want you to come in for blood work to see how you're doing."

"Ok, doctor," I said.

I went home and dutifully took one half tablet of the water pill every morning, then checked in at the VA clinic for my blood work the following Friday.

On Friday afternoon I got a call on my cell phone. 

"John, this is Doctor Derringer.  The clinic just called me and told me your potassium level is dangerously low and that you need to go to the emergency room at the VA Hospital immediately!"

I found out during this experience that if your potassium level gets too low it could cause electrical problems that affect the heart and a heart attack could be the result.
So the emergency room personnel gave me a good drink of an orange colored fluid heavy with potassium, then took me in a room to give me an electro cardiogram.

Surviving that emergency, I received a call from the clinic the next day.

They told me they were going to switch my high blood pressure medication to a drug called "Lisinopril", a "potassium sparing" drug known as an "Ace inhibitor" and that  I'd still have to take a couple of potassuim pills every morning, and that I'd have to check my blood pressure every day, preferably at the same time each day, and keep a daily log of the results. They'd have a  blood pressure monitor sent to me so that I could do that.

In future posts I'll pass on more information about high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, here's an excellent article about high blood pressure I'd like to recommend which came from the Walgreens website and cites an extensive list of references:

http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/library/contents.html?docid=000014&doctype=10&prn=t&langCd=0