AAAGH!! Got Shanghaied!!!!

[stetto]

Had a chipped tooth last month that wound up needing pulled, the dentist almost refused to do it because my blood pressure was so dang high. Told me to see my family doc and get the hypertension taken care of...So I did...and the worms were freed from the can.

Yup, he put me on bp meds, then started scheduling every test and screening in existence. Apparently if you don't volunteer for this stuff when you turn 50 they sneak up on you when you need your teeth cleaned...SHEESH!!!

Tomorrow I get to visit the colonoscopy guy, someone I've been avoiding ever since I heard the term. Treadmill fun soon to follow. ALL of these guys want blood samples. I hope I have enough to make everyone happy and stay conscious afterward.

And all this stuff during the holidays. All for a chipped tooth.

[Frazz]

This is one time I can really relate to this.  Been to see the colonoscopy guy here, on bp meds myself,  not faced the treadmill yet but the vampires have some of the blood in reserve up at our hospital.  Next time I go in I think for fun I will make a necklace with a piece of garlic on it 

[Onepoint]

Be careful with those docs and pharmaceuticals they like to hand out, they can kill you, seriously.   We have been going through the slow deterioration of my Father in law, and its due mostly to complications with prescriptions, which started out with BP medicine.

I went to a voodoo doctor at the prodding of my wife after a blood draw showed a hyperactive thyroid.  And I would have never went except I saw such improvement on her with nothing but diet change and supplements.  I have to say I would recommend anyone at least try something like that before handing your self over to an MD anymore.

http://countrydoctornutritionalcenter.us/home

[stetto]

Oh I don't eat good at all...never paid attention to cholesterol or diglycerides or any other mega-syllabic food ingredients. I wouldn't doubt that has something to do with my physical state. My diet has changed in one way though. I saw a graph about a year ago showing the correlation between the increase in heart disease since the introduction of oleomargarine. There hasn't been a tub of the stuff in the house since. We ONLY buy meat from a butcher friend of ours who does all his own processing, from slaughter to end product in my freezer. Terrin has been trying to wean me off salt for se time, but my blood sodium and sugars are dead center of normal range.

We have a friend who is a supplement addict, and she swears she hasn't seen a doc in over ten years, so there may be something to it. I loathe places medical, always full of sick people.

[zrct02]

Yep.  There are a few (note few) people sensitive to salt.  Generally, it is a non-issue.  Another, is some proclaim that eating foods high in cholesterol is bad.  Bunk.  The cholesterol molecule is way too big to be absorbed through the intestines.  Both side of the medical issue are full of fear mongers.  A criteria I use is when deciding is when I see the terms "big pharma" or "unproven folk medicine" and the like. These are red flags that tell me someone is trying to sell me something - usually at a somewhat inflated price.

[Onepoint]

Heh, I hate taking the supplements as much I hate taking any other pills and I am taking a handful of them right now.   But they are not a life time thing either for the most part.   All of us have a parasite fungus called candida, normally its maintained in balance to other bacteria in our body,  but with the modern heavy sugar and yeast diet it gets way out of control and really effects the appetite wanting you to eat more of those things.   It leads to bone and joint pain, which my wife was having problems with, bedsides tons of intestinal and other systemic problems etc.  The biggest dietary problem is the processed sugar and bleached flour.  Salt, coffee etc are minor compared to those things.

This all started 2 or 3 years ago.  That natural doctor I linked who started practice up here in Torrington had a little seminar type thing at a neighbors house, I think mainly it was organized through some people in their church or something, but we were invited and Vicki went to it.  When I heard about it,  I thought that was all BS,  just another pill pusher for some sort of natural supplement so I was skeptical to say the least.  Vicki  was interested however  because it was getting to the point she could barely function delivering mail, pretty severe pain etc.  She also had some pretty serious fatigue going on, she would nap nearly everyday, and still be tired. So she gave him a shot. 

She had to cut out as much sugar, and yeast as possible and went gluten free for about 6 to 9 months.  I teased her unmercifully,  but I have to admit the improvement is undeniable.  The joint and muscle pain was radically reduced over a couple months and she feels much better, she can now eat that stuff, just has to keep it moderate or she starts getting aches and tired again.  If that wasn't enough, Kayla all through high school had some pretty severe abdominal pain and fatigue too, the regular docs took CT scans and all kinds of tests never found anything.  After Vicki started with the doc, and during  her senior year we sent her down to the which doctor, same deal with diet change,  and her 1st year at college she had maybe a couple episodes of that, and it was only because she started to eat poorly again, which she adjusted and got over.  I think she is down to a couple pills worth of supplement, one is just a vitamin and no drastic diet restrictions anymore.


I have not even had any diet issues to deal with yet. Like I said, my deal was thyroid, and in his testing prostate.  The blood draw test said the prostate was fine, but I know I have not been urinating like I used to so I figured something was up.  The thyroid was getting bad enough it was effecting me too, I could not relax at night, I would get fidgety, had trouble sleeping which is what finally made me break down and see the guy.

That was only a couple weeks ago, and I have already seen improvement with the anxiousness in the evenings.  I will be curious to see how it goes.

Also I thought it was interesting my cholesterol was on the high end of what the blood draw test said like 220 or something.  But he said they are seeing more heart problems with the people in the lower range under 200 than people in the 200- 230 group, so unless it starts trending in climbing its nothing to worry about.   


The one thing that blows your mind is how they diagnose. They do it through muscle testing, and it seems so hokey you want to laugh.  They have you lay down and hold your arm up, and can tell by the resistance you have when they push on it, and you can tell too, its bizarre.   They will lay bottles of different herbs or supplements on you and test to see what you need, then they get the dosage by laying the number of pills in your hand, too many and you get weak again in the test.   I know it all sounds like snake oil, but I can't argue with results, and I don't think its placebo effect.

Of course finding one who is not a  charleton  may be a problem else where for all I know, but may be worthwhile.

[stetto]

My chiropractor (actually a classmate from school days) is one of those holistic guys. He "prescribes" certain supplements (which he also sells, naturally), but I've never had all that much luck with his prescriptions...Not so much a charlatan as my refusal to change diet habits. I LOVE my bread, bake my own for the large part, but hey, flour, butter, sugar, salt and yeast and of course I ADD gluten to help soften the loaf, so I doubt it's any healthier than the stuff we buy at the store, but it makes the house smell great and it tastes better than store-bought...Sugar, eh, not so much in my diet as used to be, but it's an ingredient that's in just about everything edible, and hey, doesn't carbs and the like convert to sugar during the digestive process? I did quit drinking beer (pork chop in every bottle!) a couple years ago and now I drink boxed wine--I got no discerning palate when it comes to wine...And I learned long ago that if you put enough gravy on just about anything makes it a meat product.   

On the cholesterol subject, I had it out with the doc on this, told him that several cardiac specialists had "come out of the closet" to say that the cholesterol scare is a trumped up fallacy generated by early studies that were just. Plain. Wrong. Natural cholesterols actually lubricate the walls of the blood vessels creating a non-stick surface that reduces plaque buildup and such...These newer polyunsaturated gobbledygook synthetic varieties actually scour the vessel walls, and, being a painter who knows why we sand surfaces before painting, I know dam well the effect that has...He agreed that there were some alternate beliefs and theories on the topic, but he was sticking with the status quo. I'll have to work on him.

So my bp meds are working, pressure is quite a bit lower after only a few days of the stuff. But the doc convinced me to quit smoking my cigars (ya, I know Ron, blasphemy), which I'll admit has gotten a little out of hand, and he put me on bupropion. The urge for a cigar is way down, bupropion (Zyban) works for me, got me off the cigs the year Dylan was born, so I'm going that route again. 2 problems though. The combination with my bp med is making me feel a little less than clear headed, and in order for my ins. to cover the cost the doc prescribed it as an anti-depressant. We gun guys are well aware of the potential ramifications of that, and it's in my permanent medical record...But the stuff is temporary (if that matters) and I'll have them make note on my record when I quit taking the stuff.

So my date with the colon probe is set for next month, also a meeting with a hand surgeon to take care of a little problem with trigger finger, and I can finally go back to the dentist and get my dagnabbit TEETH CLEANED....

[balsum fractus]

So, it is just not me.......!!

High blood pressure, mid to high blood sugar, high chloresteral, etc etc.....fortunately, all caught reasonably early, that a changes in diet and exercise (yccch!) and vitamin E will bring things back to normal....it is a huge change on the dietary side....grocery shopping means skipping the bakery isle and reading the nutrition labels on all the products...avoiding sugars and saturated fats - two of my favorite ingredients...

I, too, have donated a considerable amount of blood to keep the dianostic labs in business. I have to monitor my glucose levels with one of those finger-pricking contraptions for another month....

Truthfully, I have known that a day of reckoning would come sooner or later.... Hopefully some reasonable changes to my lifestyle now will avoid major changes later on.....

[zrct02]

I used to smoke like a chimney.  I used Chantix to quit.  It worked really well.  I a;lidkghagf do miss aoghviqbfv the vivid dreams aps0egjhqih[gj0 but aoshgOING OTHERWISE it a';lrsgjhoa'[HGJ hasn't affected aoreghiaqr[igh me sdhgfpojaqwer[g at all.

[stetto]

Now that's just funny off the truck!

A friend of mine had the same wonderful experience. My dreams have been vivid enough lately, Chantix would have me traversing time and space.

[balsum fractus]

I used to smoke like a chimney.  I used Chantix to quit.  It worked really well.  I a;lidkghagf do miss aoghviqbfv the vivid dreams aps0egjhqih[gj0 but aoshgOING OTHERWISE it a';lrsgjhoa'[HGJ hasn't affected aoreghiaqr[igh me sdhgfpojaqwer[g at all.

Thanks for the laugh!  Good thing I still have bladder control..........

[stetto]

So it's day 4, and I havent jonesed yet for a smoke, very different from yesterday's roller coaster ride. I wound up doubling my dosage too early, had a pretty nasty reaction, and of course we were at a Christmas party at the height of it. Dreams have been pretty vivid, had one two nights ago where I watched a B-29 crash in the field across the road.

The losartan is working too, I guess. Down from 186/110 to 138/80 in only a few days. I find I don't have the shortness of breath and being easily winded.

[balsum fractus]

So, I have been able to keep my blood sugar levels under control, and beneath the diabetic threshold by watching my diet......this will be a forever thing. Now the pressing issue is high blood pressure. Cutting out salt and caffein hasn't had much of an effect. My wife has been begging me to go to this health food store she found.....an idea that didn't appeal to me knowing that there are snake oil salesmen on that side too (watch Jimmy Kimmel's Juce experiment).

Anyways, I re-read this thread from top to bottom. You guys talked me into it, and I will give the supplements a try. I'll give them time to work and start monitoring my bp again....

[Onepoint]

I have to say they seem to work if you get the right doc and the right stuff.  I have seen our voodoo doctor about 4 times now, last time he took me off the prostate stuff and said it tested out to be OK. And it does seem like it worked. He is now concentrating on the  thyroid issue, but there has been progress on symptoms of that as well.   The only thing they whine about is me not eating enough greens and fresh fruit,  I did remind them its winter in WY.  My only diet change has been to add more veggies and maybe drink some V8 when I can't.  Of course there is the 18 or so pills I have to choke down every day, but that's split up between meals.  Although Vicki is on lymphatic detox right now for 5 days, a gallon of water a day and 22 pills besides the usual supplements she does.  And I know both her and Kayla had to do a lot more dietary changes when they started.

[stetto]

I have officially decided that I don't have it so bad...