At a routine medical, I'd lost a couple of kilo's in weight, but managed to put an inch on my waist. However, my blood pressure for the second time in a row was 104/64, the lowest ever (Yay!). It was so low compared to the last few years that it startled them, and we had a bit of fun re-checking it 6 times - three per arm, manually and on the machine!
As usual, I joked, that if that's the case, I can stop taking meds altogether. And as usual, they said that in their expert opinion, the technical term for that is spelt seriously d-e-a-d. :)
That led to an interesting discussion about the side affects of medication.
On the rare occasions I've had additions to my tablets, we've always gone through the possible side affects the manufacturer reports and any diet changes. For instance, I can become quite ill if I have contact with anything containing grapefruit or pineaplle, and as I've discovered on two occasions, if I don't take any tablets, I develop powerful flu-like symptoms and become unconscious.
I was intrigued to discover that though it's possible to check how any two tablets interact with each other, it's actually quite difficult to determine how a whole group of medications interact. My dig around the net seems to confirm that.
Below is a list of my 'core' tablets - the tablets I've been taking for a long time, that are unlikely to change, and I'll be taking for the rest of my life. If anyone knows how to work out the possible downside of the combo, and suggest any remedies (short of changing them) I'd be pleased :)
Clopidogrel Hydrogen Sulphate 75 mg once daily
Asprin 75 mg twice daily
Atenolol 25 mg once daily
Felodipine 10 mg once daily
Doxazosin Mesilate 4 mg twice daily
Ezetimibe 10 mg once daily
Ramipril 5 mg twice daily
Cocodamol 500 mg twice daily
Pravastatin 40 mg once daily
Metformin Hydrochloride 500 mg three times daily
Folic acid 400 mcg once daily
Cheers!
You might remember that a little while back, I was promoting the uk Stroke Associations F.A.S.T. campaign.
F.A.S.T. Stands for Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech problems, Test all three.
It's thought if people are aware of the classic symptoms, then thousands of lives might be saved by getting people into hospital for prompt treatment. Well, you'll be pleased to know that the UK Gov have promised a 12 million UKP for a public awareness campaign, as part of a 100 million UKP three year stroke strategy. Report Here
The Stroke Association (UK)
3 comments:
Great job on the blood pressure! I agree with the d-e-a-d part (being an RN). Can't help you with any remedies though (NOT a doctor). I love F.A.S.T. pneumonic, very, very good if people will pay attention to it. I'm going to look at The Stroke Association (UK) website, thanks!
"Can't help you with any remedies though (NOT a doctor)"
No problem Lori, just wondered if anyone had found a way of working out multiple medication reactions rather than the usual one on one in the books my meds seem to use.
Thank you :)
mmmm, I recently went to the practice nurse for women's stuff and my blood pressure , the top figure was 140, can't remember the bottom one, (over the past 10 years the top figure has been near 200! and I'm not on any medication and before we changed dr's he said I'd had a TIA attack (that was in November 2006!) I can remember at the time, the right side of my face felt funny and i felt as though my speech was slurred, and every so often I get this dizziness and feel off balance, I've had MRI scans at Mexborough hospital and they found nothing! so what did the Dr do? erm, nothing, that's why we changed Dr's
Josie x
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