high blood pressure?

[felly]

what are the symptoms/signs of high blood pressure? i'm afraid my pilot may have it. i've been trying to get him to exercise more, but he's unmotivated. i also recognize that he seems a lot more blah and lethargic than he normally does. his resting heartbeat is a lot faster than i think it should be and his core body temperature feels high, though i've not checked it. he also has really bad issues with allergies and his stomach. i can't convince him to make a doctor's appointment! high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes runs in his family.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by felly

what are the symptoms/signs of high blood pressure? i'm afraid my pilot may have it. i've been trying to get him to exercise more, but he's unmotivated. i also recognize that he seems a lot more blah and lethargic than he normally does. his resting heartbeat is a lot faster than i think it should be and his core body temperature feels high, though i've not checked it. he also has really bad issues with allergies and his stomach. i can't convince him to make a doctor's appointment! high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes runs in his family.

Some signs of high blood pressure are head aches, blurry vision, shortness of breath, chest pressure, ringing in the ears. You can have one, all or none of these. Sometimes nosebleeds will occur also.
The blah's and lethargy can be due to inactivity, hypothyroid, depression, diabetes, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
Core body temp really has nothing to do with blood pressure in most cases.
Severe allergies can make people fatigued as well....
Sounds like he needs a check up. Why is it..... guys like to stick their heads in the sand until there is a BIG issue that could have been taken care of when it was a baby issue??

[spotty4]

Originally Posted by Dana

Some signs of high blood pressure are head aches, blurry vision, shortness of breath, chest pressure, ringing in the ears. You can have one, all or none of these. Sometimes nosebleeds will occur also.

Fiance has high blood pressure ... sort of. He suffers from white coat fever. I know when its time for his medical renewal b/c about a month prior to the appointment, he starts using his home bp cuff. He tries to psyche himself up to not be nervous. But it never fails ... first time the doctor slaps on the cuff, his reading is beyond what is acceptable for renewal. Fortunately his doctor is understanding, so mid-way through the check-up he'll slap on the cuff unannounced, so Fiance has no chance to be nervous. And then he gets his normal reading.

Fiance is hyper aware of his bp since its high on both sides of his family. He watches his sodium intake and exercises. But as Dana mentioned, he does get nosebleeds. They come in spells. He can go a year w/o a nosebleed, and then once one starts, he gets at least one daily for a few weeks. I'd always wondered if this was related to high bp. It makes sense. It also seems to coincide w/ high stress. Any thoughts/suggestions so he can better address the nosebleeds?

[Dana]

Originally Posted by spotty4

Fiance has high blood pressure ... sort of. He suffers from white coat fever. I know when its time for his medical renewal b/c about a month prior to the appointment, he starts using his home bp cuff. He tries to psyche himself up to not be nervous. But it never fails ... first time the doctor slaps on the cuff, his reading is beyond what is acceptable for renewal. Fortunately his doctor is understanding, so mid-way through the check-up he'll slap on the cuff unannounced, so Fiance has no chance to be nervous. And then he gets his normal reading.

Fiance is hyper aware of his bp since its high on both sides of his family. He watches his sodium intake and exercises. But as Dana mentioned, he does get nosebleeds. They come in spells. He can go a year w/o a nosebleed, and then once one starts, he gets at least one daily for a few weeks. I'd always wondered if this was related to high bp. It makes sense. It also seems to coincide w/ high stress. Any thoughts/suggestions so he can better address the nosebleeds?

Next time he gets a nosebleed. Check his BP. Is it up? If so, that very well may be the cause. If it is normal, he could just have a dry nose. If the nose bleeds occur several times in one week, you can try bactracin ointment, a small amount on a Q-tip, apply it in the nose canal ( very small amount) sometimes people get a little bacteria in the nose and this takes care of those frequent nose bleeds. Do this twice a day for 4-5 days and it usually works well. If his BP is up, he needs to see a provider.

If the nose bleeds are frequent, he should be seen as well. It may be something as simple as a small blood vessel lying close to the surface and it needs a little cautery to seal it over. No big deal.

[felly]

i do think the inactivity has a lot to do with it. i am a mental health professional so i keep looking for signs of depression or SAD. nothing really stands out other than the blah's every now and again. i've been paying attention to our eating patterns and trying to introduce lower fat items as substitutes for our normal foods (cheese, sour cream, chips, etc.). we both need to exercise but the weather here goes from nice and warm to freezing over night.

thanks for the symptoms of high blood pressure. fortunately, that doesn't sound like anything he has! that doesn't mean i'm not going to make sure we count sodium in our food either or use less salt on the side. at any rate, as soon as i get my health insurance from my new job i'm setting up a doctor's appointment. i'm going to threaten him until he makes an appointment to get checked out!

sadly, i recently found out that my biological father died of a diabetic stroke so i have to get tested for diabetes. my grandmother died of lupus on his side too and my mother wants me to get tested (thoug i have no signs). not really looking forward to any of that.

any suggestions to help motivate the boy? he's okay with me buying lower fat subsitutes for our food, but we need to do a major rehaul on our eating out and exercise habits (which don't exist!).

[Dana]

Originally Posted by felly

i do think the inactivity has a lot to do with it. i am a mental health professional so i keep looking for signs of depression or SAD. nothing really stands out other than the blah's every now and again. i've been paying attention to our eating patterns and trying to introduce lower fat items as substitutes for our normal foods (cheese, sour cream, chips, etc.). we both need to exercise but the weather here goes from nice and warm to freezing over night.

thanks for the symptoms of high blood pressure. fortunately, that doesn't sound like anything he has! that doesn't mean i'm not going to make sure we count sodium in our food either or use less salt on the side. at any rate, as soon as i get my health insurance from my new job i'm setting up a doctor's appointment. i'm going to threaten him until he makes an appointment to get checked out!

sadly, i recently found out that my biological father died of a diabetic stroke so i have to get tested for diabetes. my grandmother died of lupus on his side too and my mother wants me to get tested (thoug i have no signs). not really looking forward to any of that.

any suggestions to help motivate the boy? he's okay with me buying lower fat subsitutes for our food, but we need to do a major rehaul on our eating out and exercise habits (which don't exist!).

Lead by example is my best advice. Try new healthy dishes and don't try and totally overhaul his diet all in one day or one week....Can you join a gym together or go out for walks or ride bikes together?

Just thoughts. Best of luck to you on your health lifestyle!