hamster treatment
Mar. 4th, 2005 04:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jayThis morning I took my first stress EKG test...
The electrodes were slapped on after shaving parts of my chest, then they were drilled (!) into the top of my skin to get a close connection that wouldn't shake loose. After a resting EKG, I started walking, then uphill, then jogging, then running (Stage 4) with increased slope before they ended the test... I was fine, but the M.D. there was uncomfortable with my blood pressure (240/150) at that point. My BP tends to be slightly high, anyway... resting, it was 140/90.
The good news is that my heart is quite healthy, "running flawlessly" according to the doctor, solid and consistent even at a 190 pulse and those peak BP values. Recovery behavior was normal. And really, I felt fine, no different than a heavy workout. The bad news is that they're a bit concerned about the lower BP number, which they think is high for someone my age ("you're making your heart work hard, even at rest"). Which is true, but it runs that way on my mother's side. We tend toward high metabolic rates, as well.
I want to lower it before someone tries to prescribe medications, though... less salt and caffeine would be a start. Less Asian and Mexican food, switch back to caffeine-free diet Coke instead of my favored diet-cherry Coke, decaf coffee. More exercise, a bit more, enough to shed about 10 lbs over the next 2-3 months. My BP and cholesterol tend to move in lockstep with my weight, which has crept back up to nearly the level of a year ago. Fewer lunches out -- I need to do that anyway for financial reasons, it has become a budget strain.
The electrodes were slapped on after shaving parts of my chest, then they were drilled (!) into the top of my skin to get a close connection that wouldn't shake loose. After a resting EKG, I started walking, then uphill, then jogging, then running (Stage 4) with increased slope before they ended the test... I was fine, but the M.D. there was uncomfortable with my blood pressure (240/150) at that point. My BP tends to be slightly high, anyway... resting, it was 140/90.
The good news is that my heart is quite healthy, "running flawlessly" according to the doctor, solid and consistent even at a 190 pulse and those peak BP values. Recovery behavior was normal. And really, I felt fine, no different than a heavy workout. The bad news is that they're a bit concerned about the lower BP number, which they think is high for someone my age ("you're making your heart work hard, even at rest"). Which is true, but it runs that way on my mother's side. We tend toward high metabolic rates, as well.
I want to lower it before someone tries to prescribe medications, though... less salt and caffeine would be a start. Less Asian and Mexican food, switch back to caffeine-free diet Coke instead of my favored diet-cherry Coke, decaf coffee. More exercise, a bit more, enough to shed about 10 lbs over the next 2-3 months. My BP and cholesterol tend to move in lockstep with my weight, which has crept back up to nearly the level of a year ago. Fewer lunches out -- I need to do that anyway for financial reasons, it has become a budget strain.
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 12:46 am (UTC)my BP is up to 120/70. I don't miss the dizzy spells.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 08:43 am (UTC)What you've been given sounds like an Electrocardiogram, what we call an ECG. Is this what EKG means or am I getting things wrong?
Teutonisms... ;)
Date: 2005-03-05 05:19 pm (UTC)