I hate when you guys are right....

[nitelightboy]

So recently we had that discussion on how I should be dead by now, or at least in much worse health, based on my lifestyle. Smoking too much, drinking too much soda, etc. I've always been rather healthy and even had a physical recently where everything checked out just fine. My blood pressure's always been a tad high, but so has my dad's. It was about 130/90 when I got my physical.

For a few weeks, I've been getting migraines pretty frequently, though I've had migraines most of my life and have some prescribed medicine for it. It's hereditary, just about every single member of my dad's family suffers from the same migraines. So I didn't really think much of it. Just thought that it was stress and a lack of sleep that was causing them.

Well, for shits and giggles last night I checked my blood pressure on one of those grocery store machines. 174/115. I figured it must be off, so I went home and checked on the one my dad has and it was 170/105. This morning, it was 175/110. I can't ....in believe it!! It's never been anywhere near this high before.

So I'm gonna call my doctor's office when they open in about an hour and get myself an appointment ASAP! I need to get on some blood pressure meds and start altering my life style to get myself out of stroke territory. ....! This really isn't good. And I hate you all for pointing out the obvious

[JPMDan]

dude when you think about soda, drink water instead, even if you hate drink water only. .... soda, thats like ice cream once in awhile only.

[nitelightboy]

Yeah I know. I had just never had any health issues in the past and I've lived this way for a long time. Guess it finally caught up with me. I hate getting older, everything just seems to fall apart on you

[Popsyche]

I'm living(for now) proof of that! The blood pressure thing could be part hereditary as well. You may have to lay off the caffeine and salt. I say, drink more beer!

[nitelightboy]

I could do that.

[Your Majesty]

First, props to you Joey in realizing you need to make changes to your current lifestyle habbits: smoking, diet, drinking, etc....it is a first step!

Second, take care of yourself.

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by Your Majesty

Second, take care of yourself.

I do that more than you know

[JJ Rodriguez]

I only drink the blood of virgins and goats. It's done wonders for me!

[JPMDan]

I eat small mammals and I look young and have low blood pressure plus it's good for the hands.

[Your Majesty]

Originally Posted by nitelightboy

I do that more than you know

Hahahahahahahah! Didn't see that one coming.

Oh well...... That's a good one! Wanna a tissue?

[nitelightboy]

Yes please....

[JPMDan]

Joe lay off of YM's profile picture

[nitelightboy]

Sorry YM......it's just that you're such a hottie AND you play 7 strings.......I couldn't help myself

[Chris]

You don't need meds dude. That's a terrible mindset to get in. Meds are needed when your body can't naturally correct itself.

Your problem is that you lead a VERY unhealthy lifestyle, namely with the outrageous amounts of sugar you take in every day. Skip the meds and start taking care of yourself.

[noodles]

^

[nitelightboy]

I don't plan on using meds long term, just to help me get my pressure to a safer level than I'm at while my body begins to take care of itself. I'm not an advocate of taking any kind of meds, but sometimes it's better to have them help while you and your body do what needs to be done on your end. I've already been evaluating my diet and seeing what can be improved as well as looking at my fitness level and starting up what I think is a pretty good fitness plan along with a healthier diet and hopefully enough fear to get my ass to stop smoking. I just don't really want a stroke or heart attack over the next few weeks while my body gets into gear.

[noodles]

What Chris is getting at is that you don't need them at all. Cut out all the sugar and fatty foods right now, and you'll be amazed at how fast your blood pressure will drop. It will literally start taking effect within days.

Any doctor is going to tell you the same thing. Ask for blood pressure medicine, at your age, and they are going to ask you about your diet right off the bat. I understand that you're freaked out by this, but don't go to the other extreme. Start with diet and exercise.

[Chris]

Answer this honestly: Have you had any soda today?

[nitelightboy]

I've never seen blood pressure drop over a few days. A few weeks, yes. My dad recently found out his pressure was scary high also and changed his diet and exercise completely. After about a month, there was absolutly no change so they put him on meds and it dropped immediately and then his body kicked into gear. He quit the meds after about 2 weeks and now he's right on track for someone his age.

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Answer this honestly: Have you had any soda today?

Honestly, not yet. It's been water and decaf tea for me since I saw where my pressure was. I've got a splitting headache, no doubt the results of caffeine withdrawl, but I'm not really craving it and at this point, giong 7 hours without a coke is pretty amazing for me, so I just hope I can keep it up.

[darren]

Try cutting the sugar, caffeine and nicotine first. Your body is already coping with tons of chemical substances and adding another one to correct an "imbalance" seems like a fast track to a rapid out-of-control spiral.

There could be a lot of factors behind your headaches. I hesitate to call them migraines, because with your diet and lifestyle, they could just be chronic headaches... migraines are a totally different beast. I'm amazed that your doctor(s) haven't told you to get off the sugar first, before trying any kind of migraine treatment. I get NASTY headaches if i've had too much sugar. Like "i can't shake it for four days" kinda headaches.

I used to get very frequent headaches. Like two or three a week. Not super-intense, but persistent. Then i started developing some acid reflux problems, so i made some changes to my diet, cutting out acidic foods and beverages. Now, i'd grown up drinking a glass of orange juice every day with my breakfast since i was a little kid, so this was a tough change. But within a couple of weeks, my stomach started settling down. And you know what? My headaches almost entirely vanished. Gone. History.

My suspicion is that my acid intake was pushing something in my blood over a threshold, which resulted in symptoms of a headache.

Lots of health problems can be tied back to what you put in your mouth, whether it's allergic reactions or just sensitivity to particular kinds of foods or food components.

I can almost guarantee that if you stop putting that shit into your body, you will start feeling better in a VERY short time. If you didn't exercise, you'd probably be dead already.

[Chris]

I can almost guarantee that if you stop putting that shit into your body, you will start feeling better in a VERY short time.

Yep.

[JPMDan]

Originally Posted by nitelightboy

Honestly, not yet. It's been water and decaf tea for me since I saw where my pressure was. I've got a splitting headache, no doubt the results of caffeine withdrawl, but I'm not really craving it and at this point, giong 7 hours without a coke is pretty amazing for me, so I just hope I can keep it up.

good, keep that shit up otherwise I'll get my boys over in miami to squeeze your nutts together with pliers then shove them up your ass.

[JJ Rodriguez]

I think I'm going to try hypnotherapy for my smoking. I "want" to quit again, but it's actually taking that leap that I hate. I was quit for a year and a half but the issues I had with my house/gf that I've talked about a million times already got me started again. I just hope I can take that leap again. I really don't want lung cancer. The only noticeable improvement I made when I quit smoking was not being out of breath as much when moving around. That makes it hard too, not really seeing any other benefit than a bit more money in the bank. I gained 30-40 lbs too when I quit, and have already dropped some when I started again, and me being a really vain person, that makes it harder to take the first step as well I hope it works out for you dude, I quit drinking Pepsi so much and didn't notice any difference what so ever in me, but then again I don't really have any health problems, aside from IBS.

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by darren

There could be a lot of factors behind your headaches. I hesitate to call them migraines, because with your diet and lifestyle, they could just be chronic headaches... migraines are a totally different beast.

I've had them since I hit puberty. I really didn't start the soda craze until I was about 16 or so. That and most of my family has the same thing and almost everyone drinks unsweet tea. I'm the only oddball. Aside from that, you're right.