's Blood Pressue

[Guest guest]

and Roma,

Thanks to you both. It is kind of daunting researching a new medical

problem, thanks for getting me started.

I don't have anaemia now, just the significantly elevated blood pressure.

My internist told me this two years ago, but I kind of ignored it, because

I know I have " white coat syndrome " . This isn't a joke it is a well-known

phenomenon, i.e. whenever I see a doctor, my blood pressure increases. This

is not surprising after all my experiences with doctors over the last 20

years (first told I should get a hyst at age 25, told I was imagining huge

loss of blood, told to get rid of my diseased organ with only two small

fibroids etc, fighting to get an embolisation).

Basically I think the blood pressure is due to

- having a stressful full time job

- spending another 10-20 hours a week on fibroids and regularly getting

angry at how women are treated by the medical profession

- Not getting enough exercise

- Not being careful about how much salt I consume (we all need some, but

not too much)

- Not eating enough salads and vegetables

I am lucky it has been identified, lucky it is something I can monitor

myself (I now measure every morning and evening) and lucky that if I can't

get it under control with lifestyle measures that there are medications. It

could be a whole lot worse. One of my friends has cancer, another has HIV.

Another woman I know has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Anyway, I have cut down the amount of time I spend on the PC at home, I

only check my mails about 3 times a week. I will try and be more

streamlined and effective in my fibroid activities, and try not to take

everyone's stories too much to heart, although that will be hard as I can

identify with them too much. I have signed up at a local women's fitness

center and have found some good classes for after work, one of which is

" salsa aerobic " which involves a lot of wiggling (I haven't got much to

wiggle, but it is still fun), I have started walking to work. I have even

got my husband being more careful about using salt when cooking.

Basically, the message for me is that not only doctors can get fixated on

one aspect of a patients health. It is easy for us to do too. We do need to

be aware of the fact that whilst fibroids might be our overriding concern,

the body is a complex system. We need to be aware of our overall health.

The blood pressure is a blessing in a way, because it has made me wake up

to that fact.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic. But I think the message it that it easy

to think once our fibroid problems are sorted out that that's it. We still

need to be aware of our overall health.

Thanks again,

At 12:38 11.04.04 +0000, you wrote:

>It's easy sometimes to see relationships with health disorders even though

>there may not be one in reality. I appreciate your post explaining a more

>scientific reason for 's blood pressure change. I hope she is able

>to read your post so that she can be better informed about this blood

>pressure problem when she sees her doctor again.