Sheesh
Little Miss Normal Blood Pressure couldn’t be treated at the local Walgreens clinic today because her BP was ridiculously high. Yeah. That’s me.
I actually went into the clinic because my throat is so sore and has big white splotches. The congestion has finally eased up enough that I don’t feel like I’m vacuum-sealed, but the throat kept me awake all night and I can barely swallow.
With LD coming to town tomorrow, I figured it would be a good idea to get checked out. Enter Walgreens. I’d looked online for low cost clinics and they came up. I had no idea they even offered such a thing. They do. So I went. Only to discover my BP was outrageously high. That’s so not me. I’m chalking it up to the pseudoephedrine, cough syrup, and lack of sleep.
The Physician’s Assistant who saw me didn’t charge me anything (good news) and I had to sign a paper saying I would either go to the nearest emergency department or to an urgent care clinic. Of course, the closest urgent care closed an hour earlier (bad news) and there’s no way I’d pay for going into the emergency room for something I firmly believe to be an aberration. Instead, I’m going to bed now and getting as much sleep as possible; I’ll go back first thing in the morning before I have to go to the airport and pick up LD. If the BP is still high at that time, yes, I will go to urgent care and have it checked out.
So, for now, I’m curling up in my warm bed. The humidifier is on. I’m laying off the decongestant and cough syrup. And I’m going to take a full Ambien tonight (yeah, I think that contributed to my lack of sleep last night). In the morning I’ll have some orange juice and head back to Walgreens. I’m pretty sure all will be well. Hey, with any luck, I’ll wake up and my throat will feel better and I won’t have to do anything!
And there was something good (other than the no charge) that came from my little adventure: Walgreens has butter mints. I love love love butter mints. Not the standard after dinner mints that come in various colors, but the creamy, yummy yellow mints. You know the ones. I bought three bags. Haven’t opened anything, but at least I have them on hand for when I feel the need for a special treat. Yay! (I know, it’s pathetic, but I don’t care.)
Do me a favor, please, and pray my BP is normal in the morning. I don’t have the money or resources to deal with hypertension and the meds and everything at this point. I don’t have the patience either.
Before you go in and while you are in there here’s what you do.
Slow deep abdominal breathing. In for 5, hold for 5, out for 5. As you breathe out, picture all the blood sinking to your finger tips and down into your toes. Let your shoulders sink down. Feel the pressure sink out of your head. The hold part is necessary at first to keep from overdoing and passing out.
Of course when they finally do take your BP – skip the “hold” part. Breathe in and out slowly, keep it to abdominal breathing and remember to picture everything sinking to your finger tips as you breathe out.
I went to see the doctor way back when I was pregnant with my son… some idiot had tried to run me off the road – therefore I was livid when I got into the office. BP… 145/85 (since my usual was 110/60 this freaked them out). I said – give me 2 minutes (yeah they were about to start having all sorts of tests done when it was merely a matter of me having a bad day…) did the breathing – the mental picturing, 2 minutes later I said, Okay, try it now 130/70… everyone relaxed. heh. Next visit, BP normal.
Most of the time being tense will up the BP considerably. We breathe shallowly and high in the chest, we hunch the shoulders around the ears. This makes everything worse. A little relaxation and proper breathing go a long way. Good luck! :cross:
Comment by Teresa — 2010/02/13 @ 22:49
I did all that, Teresa. No such luck. All that great biofeedback training I had and nada. Visualization = zip. My BP only went higher and higher. I even tried going to the bathroom, sitting in a different chair, a quick catnap, and nothing worked. Same with my sleep tonight. Gonna try again. :cross:
Comment by DaGoddess — 2010/02/14 @ 01:21
Good luck with it today; hope the lack of otc meds helps. I know you want to have as much quality time with LD as you can get while he’s there… :hug:
Comment by Pam — 2010/02/14 @ 06:03
Please don’t fool around with this. Get yourself in to see a doc, okay? :pirate: Don’t make me goose you their at sword-point…
Comment by Omnibus Driver — 2010/02/14 @ 09:01
I hope your solution of the good sleep and no OTC’s worked! And I’m guessing having LD around is helping even more!
Comment by Teresa — 2010/02/15 @ 16:22
pseudoephedrine, cough syrup, and lack of sleep.
Those will do it…
Comment by patti — 2010/02/16 @ 11:44