OT: Health
Papi_Chulo
Miami, FL (or the nearest big-booty club)
In my usual oversharing M.O.
I had mentioned in a post/review or two, that I’d been feeling a bit off lately.
I’ve had hypertension since my 20s but didn’t start taking meds till my 40s – given my history, and the fact I’d been feeling a bit off, decided to go see a cardiologist for the first time.
Given my hypertension, even w/ meds my BP is usually 130/90 or a bit above – to my surprise the nurse at the cardiologist office told me it was reading 90/70 which is too low and I’ve never had a reading that low or even close (she took it more than once).
So I was very surprised but kinda goes hand-in-hand w/ how I’ve been feeling w/ low-energy/weakness, waking up tired even when I sleep 8 to 10 hours – lightheadedness from time to time especially when I do something mildly taxing like just riding the stationary bike for a couple of minutes – plus digestion issues (soft stool and some burping, from time to time).
This was my first cardiologist visit and all he did was an EKG and ordered some additional tests for next week – beside my low-BP, to my surprise the EKG came back abnormal (low Q wave) which is the first time that’s happened (usually get an EKG once a year w/ my physical).
Anyway – obviously not asking for a TUSCL diagnosis – just wondering anyone that has experienced these symptoms and what came about it?
I had mentioned in a post/review or two, that I’d been feeling a bit off lately.
I’ve had hypertension since my 20s but didn’t start taking meds till my 40s – given my history, and the fact I’d been feeling a bit off, decided to go see a cardiologist for the first time.
Given my hypertension, even w/ meds my BP is usually 130/90 or a bit above – to my surprise the nurse at the cardiologist office told me it was reading 90/70 which is too low and I’ve never had a reading that low or even close (she took it more than once).
So I was very surprised but kinda goes hand-in-hand w/ how I’ve been feeling w/ low-energy/weakness, waking up tired even when I sleep 8 to 10 hours – lightheadedness from time to time especially when I do something mildly taxing like just riding the stationary bike for a couple of minutes – plus digestion issues (soft stool and some burping, from time to time).
This was my first cardiologist visit and all he did was an EKG and ordered some additional tests for next week – beside my low-BP, to my surprise the EKG came back abnormal (low Q wave) which is the first time that’s happened (usually get an EKG once a year w/ my physical).
Anyway – obviously not asking for a TUSCL diagnosis – just wondering anyone that has experienced these symptoms and what came about it?
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion
37 comments
I remember from my dads medical issues - he had low BP - and his lethargic spells were due to an iron deficiency (and anemia). But I think too much iron can make stools a bit too solid.
Oddly enough my symptoms do diminish when I have some big-booty all over me - perhaps my insurance will pay for future SC visits since it seems to have a positive cardiovascular effect
Yeah - some people are like that - but per a preliminary websearch it seems 90/70 is too-low (even for folks with normally low BP) - it's concerning for me since I've always hovered in the high-normal range of 130/90
-I assume they’ll order an echocardiogram
- Low BP and light headedness could be caused by something as simple as dehydration. With the weather getting warmer, that’s possible
- Diet can also play a role. Obviously caffeine. Smoking. Carbs. Blood sugar levels. Lots of interplay.
-Depending on what you take, prescription side affects can explain GI issues.
- Anxiety, Depression, and overall outlook on life can have a big influence on BP.
Papi, do yourself a favor and avoid DR. Google for the next couple of weeks. You don't need the stress and unproductive worries. You are seeing the appropriate specialist. The follow-up testing will shed more light on the q wave abnormality. Hope you get feeling back to normal soon.
Yeah - that is what the doc said; that I could have had a heart-attack at some point - further tests will hopefully yield more info good or bad but best to know what I'm dealing w/ vs not-knowing
Only when I read your "Club Ad" posts
Nah - I naturally have a curious mind so I rather have more info than be-in-the-dark - and I don't tend to jump to conclusions based on web-searches; I just liked being more informed vs less.
I'm 51 - not an old old guy - but I'd def be freaking out more if I was in my 30s - naturally I am taking it seriously but the older you get the more you can take things like this in somewhat stride.
If you should ever have chest pain or shortness of breath, I would go to the ER.
That’s a possibility – if it was just my BP being-low then that could have more credence; but the fact my EKG came back abnormal makes me think there may be something else there – I guess “it’s possible” the med could be causing both issues (low-bp; and abnormal ekg) but I got the feeling that may not be it – hopefully the other tests will start clearing-up things.
BTW – I take Losartan 100mg which I think it’s a pretty-strong dose (actually it looks like it’s the highest dose) – in case anyone has any experience w/ that med.
I have a BP-monitor at home that is supposed to be pretty-good – I hadn’t used it in months since it always gave me similar readings (in the same ballpark but as w/ BP-readings it fluctuates every time I take it even if back-to-back but the multiple-readings are usually fairly-close to each-other) – anyway I dusted-off my BP-monitor a little while ago and was giving me more normal-readings “for me” (high-120s/low-130s over 80s) – so IDK what is going on and if:
+ my BP-monitor is erroneous?
+ the nurse at the office didn’t take my BP-reading correctly?
+ or it could be something transitory?
When I see the doc next week I will take my home BP-monitor and compare it to their readings and see if they are out-of-whack w.r.t. each other or what – the mystery continues.
I may stop taking my BP-med for a day or two and see if it makes a difference w/ respect to my low-energy/lethargic symptoms (shouldn't be a big-issue since in the past there were many days I'd forget to take it and I didn't feel anything) - and I'll start monitoring my BP throughout the day especially when I'm feeling a bit more off than usual and see if I can catch some kinda transitory pattern.
I haven't seen any significant difference as of late during the time I've been feeling off (about a month) - I don't get the rockhard-erections I used to get a couple of years ago but I still get hard-erections when I watch porn or get dances - so there's a bit of a difference w.r.t. a few years ago but not a big difference where it'd raise my concern - I just assumed not getting as rock-hard as in the past years was part of turning 50
Papi a hope you feel better and get well soon.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
~ Hippocrates
“The healing power of nutrition is a combination of multiple supporting roles that synergistically and unselfishly work together. “Let food be thy medicine” has withstood the test of time because it reflects the power of nutrition to heal as it supports our physical body in its literal structure, function, and energy needs; our mind and its connection to our thoughts, beliefs, values, and behaviors; our movement as it sustains daily living on an external and internal level; and our relationships with both our own bodies, our friends and family, and our broader community of support.”
~ The Healing Power of Nutrition
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/…
The 90/70 was at the cardiologist's office this afternoon and the only time I've gotten a reading like that
Of course I won't go w/ w/e TUSCL says; I gotta wait for Juice's input
2) Has the doctor checked for orthostatic BP?
3)if the nurse was the only time you ever got a low reading, then she or he should have double-checked. Can you get a BP reading at an area pbarmacy? Maybe asknyour
...ask your primary care doctor for a referral to another cardiologist for a second opinion
EKG, Stress Test, Cath (done thru the wrist these days; a breeze), Cardiac MRI if needed.
Don't mess around when it comes to the heart.
-----------
Had multiple cardio tests done (including a heart-stress test, and wearing a heart-monitor for 2-weeks; plus 2 other tests) and everything came back normal.
The cardiologist had also done extensive blood-work and the only thing that came back abnormal was my Vitamin-D levels – supposedly Vitamin-D levels are to be b/w 20 & 40 (some say 30 & 50) and mine were at 11 – I assume my low Vitamin-D is from spending more time indoors thru the pandemic; supposedly the best way to get good-amount of Vitamin-D is to get some sun.
The cardiologist put me on a high-dose prescription-Vitamin-D supplement for now (once a week pill vs a cheap OTC low-dose/low-quality supplement) – I’m feeling pretty-close back to normal and not feeling the symptoms I had been previously feeling (low energy, somewhat achy muscles; etc) – I also started hitting the gym again and not feeling dizzy like I was a few weeks ago (I had started going to the gym a few weeks ago after my 2nd-vax after a year+ of not going to the gym due to Covid then stopped b/c I would get dizzy working-out and didn’t know what was going; but restarted hitting the gym again recently and not feeling dizzy anymore nor feeling odd/different like I did a few weeks back).
Need to make it a point of getting a bit of sun – I tend to avoid sunning on purpose b/c I’m very-fair skinned but supposedly it doesn’t take much sunning for one’s body to produce adequate levels of Vitamin-D – especially downhere in sunny Miami 10 to 15 minutes per day maybe 3x/wk should do.
I had been hearing of issues of low Vitamin-D and its deleterious-effects for a few years; seems it’s an issue in our sun-adverse mostly-indoor society – I don’t recall if my GP has tested me for Vitamin-D (need to look at some of my old labs) – anyway if you have also been indoors a lot-more over the last year perhaps you should make sure your Vitamin-D levels are not too-low b/c it seems to be an important-vitamin one should not be low on.
SJG
Blatant Lip Sync, and a Shameless Pretty Boy Croner. Still nice to list to some.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfgnc6Ey…