<p>Mayo’s smoking cessation advice is lousy, IMO. In general, they seem to be a pretty good site for an overview of any particular health issue.</p>
<p>"DocT…does metropolol work for you? Warfarin is serious stuff. You’re not taking it? "</p>
<p>I’m not really certain if metropolol works. I’ve had only one attack since I’ve been on the medication which I started to use in November. I ended up in the ER on Palm Sunday. One of the issues with a-fib is it starts for no reason and stops suddenly. By the time I got into the ER, they were able to get a heart rate measurement, but by the time they hooked up an EKG, it stopped. When it stops, you feel perfectly normal. As far as the warfarin is concerned, that’s to prevent clotting to reduce the potential for a heart attack or stroke. Since my wife uses warfarin for clotting problems and I’ve seen the issues - my wife’s readings are always off and she is constantly in the doctor’s office, I decided on the aspirin treatment instead (which was not preferred by the doctor). Apparently once the a-fib starts it tends to progress so that it occurs more frequently and for longer periods of time at which juncture other treatments will have to be used.</p>
<p>I will tell you this, I am a 17 year old male, and I have had a history of odd medical conditions. Including, but not limited to, a potentially lethal bite by an iguana, and I actually had tuberculosis in 7th grade. This year I had my blood pressure checked and it was about 164/90. It was insanely high for someone of my age and physical condition (I am of average weight and height). That was actually one of the lower measurements for me too. I got up to 185/105 (this is at rest too). My heart rate has always been high too, around 100 at rest. It was especially strange because I have no family history of high BP, I actually have a history of it being too low.I saw specialist after specialist, and they were all kind of baffled. I had been found to have slight heart murmurs a few years early in my daily cardiologist visit I needed because of my ADHD medication. Eventually one nephrologist at CHOP (awesome place, great doctor) figured this may be a severe case of stress. So I was told to change my diet (low sodium), exercise (haven’t really started this…), and take a break (still looking for a good one). Anyway I have yet to check my BP since then which was about 4 months ago, and don’t really feel better, but I do think it is down a good bit. I go back in July, and if it is not significantly lower I will have a lot of tests and such to deal with. I really have no idea why I am saying this, but I really think you should just call up your doctor and see if it is a common thing for this machine to say. I know when I was having mine checked, which was very often, sometimes I would get readings like that if I moved or whatever. I would suggest scheduling a visit with them anyway too, no matter if it is common or not. Always better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>Clfdwir, there are blood pressure machines in some grocery stores like Safeway, and drug store chains. Why wait 4 montages or more to get a reading?</p>
<p>Walking lowers blood pressure…walk more…</p>
<p>Doct…I hope you never have to go on warfarin.</p>
<p>I know, but I am anxious, and there is no real point in checking, they want to see the long term changes, so even if it is still high I will get treatment soon enough. I can tell by the way I feel it is definitely not higher than it was though. Thanks for the suggestion though.</p>
<p>"Doct…I hope you never have to go on warfarin. "</p>
<p>Yeah I know - my wife has also had to go on heparin from time to time.</p>
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<p>High blood pressure is not called the “silent killer” for nothing. You cannot always “tell” by the way you feel, though I can often sense when my blood pressure is really high. But you can be walking through life with less than “really high” blood pressure yet still too high and not necessarily know it. And make no mistake, it does indeed take its toll. Monitoring your blood pressure at least once a week would really be a good idea.As a cardiology nurse, I can tell you that single readings several months apart are nowhere near as valuable as general trends are.</p>
<p>I know when you’re really young, it’s easy to try to ignore these kinds of things, but they do add up and can cause problems down the line that in retrospect might be things you wish you had attended to earlier. </p>
<p>Good luck-and I’ll echo that exercise is a terrific stress reducer. You don’t have to run a marathon to get results. A brisk daily walk can do absolute wonders for the soul, and in turn, for the body.</p>
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<p>Yes, that’s true. My Dad is always in a-fib, therefore warfarin is a must. He had to go without it for 3 weeks due to a surgery, and he ended up in the hospital with a small stroke as a result. He was really lucky it was a minor one. </p>
<p>Warfarin can definitely be a nuisance, but one can certainly lead a happy productive life while on it. I hope you can avoid it, but if push comes to shove, I’d rather have to mess with warfarin and its attendant inconveniences than live like my mother-in a wheelchair for life and paralyzed on one side as a result of strokes which occurred due to uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes.</p>
<p>Good health is a balancing act and attaining it is often a big pain in the rear. I’m very close to needing to get on BP meds (gaining even 10-15 pounds puts me in hypertension). I wish I had appreciated my impeccable health when I was young!</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, thank you for your concern, but I have taken many measures to control, including going vegetarian to try and have better control over my sodium intake. I am also going to start an exercise regiment as soon as I get past my AP tests and can shift my focus from school.
I know what it feels like when it is elevated as you do too, it is a very noticeable feeling. If I were to feel light headed, or if any of my limbs feel strange I know (I dont know if others have that same thing but I always notice it) I have I am having a problem and at that point I will schedule an appointment for the next day and will immediately go and check it. I have not felt that way since my last appointment, and they have all assured me that I am in pretty good health and shouldn’t really worry. These are some of the best doctors in the country too. If none of that happens, I feel pretty okay. Again thanks for the input and concern.</p>
<p>^^^When my BP is very high, I feel it in my neck. It feels like my neck is engorged and every heart beat throbs in my neck. </p>
<p>Some people will get chest pain with high bp. It can be a scary sensation; fear, of course, only increases it, as does pain.</p>
<p>It really is, I always had a fear that it would put into a full fledged panic attack which would be the absolute worst thing possible at those moments.</p>