More walks with the bassets!!! Tell them to hurry up!!!

Oh boy, I’m so glad you’re on meds. Huge sigh of relief.

Gee, Tbogg, I only averaged 158/95 over a 24-hour period (note to self, next time, reschedule the client meetings). Doctor said no amount of diet and exercise would bring it down to a safe level, so I went to pharma city and that brought it right down to 120/75. Everyone happy. Thank god at least a tiny bit for the devious minds of our bloated pharmaceutical industry.

Did they prescribe any red wine? Or has BIG PHARMA gotten to them too?

Yeah, I’m a pod person, too. I’m 56, eat what I want, don’t exercise, and I smoke (bad CatStaff!!), and I still come in with 110/70 BP and 180 cholesterol, and am still a size 6. My name is a hissing and a byword with my sisters, I assure you. Mr. CatStaff, on the other hand, is almost 7 years younger than me, thin as a rail, very active, and two years ago he had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. It’s a crap shoot, I tells ya.

But I’m still glad you’re taking your meds. I love San Diego, but I don’t want to have to go there for your damn funeral, OK?

I hereby ORDER you to start eating more arugula. You heard me. Stevia, agave nectar (raw), and dates are great sugar substitutes in recipes/juices etc. Get refined flour out of your diet. Sprouted whole grain breads are best.

Get the best blender in the world and start juicing. Soak nuts and seeds before you eat them to get their full nutritional value.

This lovely lady has wonderful heart healthy recipes; as does Dr. Gabe Mirkin (his wife is a nutritionist).

We want the right wing’s arteries exploding, not yours.

Bummed for you, Tbogg. The selfish part of me will also miss your writing. And if I had to do the deed, I’d switch your browser to hardcore pr0n instead of Redstate – more proper.

Low salt, high fiber, meds, exercise…sounds like a good plan. I know you don’t drink but it’s never too late to start.

Welcome to the club. Personally I prefer long hikes in the mountains to treadmills, but that may be a tad easier here in western Montana.

I’ll get you in contact with my cardiologist. He’s full-blooded Mayan (don’t let the body paint and head ornaments put you off). Can do a bypass in under 30 seconds – it’s outpatient stuff. Minimal scarring due to the obsidian knives.

Let that be a lesson to you teetotalers.

I hesitate to say this, even though I say it all the time (I always hesitate though). I’m gonna die someday and well, that’s what’s gonna happen. Pfft that’s it. So yeah, I have astronomical cholesterol, high blood pressure, I’m overwieght, I drink too much, I’m 47 and I’m a criminal defense attorney so I have a ton of stress. You know what I avoid?….Doctors.

and I can’t spell

The truth is that most new studies consistently show that lifestyle has considerably less impact than previously thought, and that you’re unlikely to move your endgame forward or back by more than a year or two unless you’re incredibly abusive with highly damaging drugs like heroin, speed or meth and, of course, alcohol.

Being incredibly careful does not seem to have the same positive impact as abuse has negative impact.

Pharmaceutical intervention also seems to be less than effective than convention would suggest, with the exception of blood pressure (gotta get that BP down, big fella!). Cholesterol meds have been shown to be largely ineffective at reducing rates of heart attack and stroke even though they reduce serum cholesterol to below levels considered safe.

Turns out it’s all about the inflammation, not the level of serum cholesterol. You could pass deep-fried chicken skin through an uninflamed coronary artery and not have a bit of it stick, while an inflamed artery will pick up bits of celery.

Cardiovascular inflammation is best controlled through regular exercise, lots and lots of fiber in your diet and an 81 mg aspirin a day (as always, consult your physician before beginning any daily aspirin regimen).

”Modern” epidemiology is one of the slowest moving areas of medicine. 20-year-old trials limited to small numbers of exclusively white males between 25-49 are still widely regarded as gold standards for the entire population. Only now with the massive, multifaceted trials of the last 10 or so years are we getting a better read on the effects of environmental factors on long-term health.

It’s one of the few good things that outrageous drug prices and Big Pharma consolidation have been responsible for.

No one’s going to mistake me for Twiggy, but at 5’10,” 250 lbs my RASBP is 110/65, my heart rate is 60 CPM and my body fat is 19%, which is healthy for my age.

My doctor (me) says I’m doing OK, and if you get those three numbers down to within normal limits, you’ll be doing the best you can with the cards you’ve been dealt.

Alistair Cooke once mentioned a friend of his, of Greek origin, who was constantly berated by his doctor about his blood pressure. The complaints stopped when he outlived said doctor.

Poor Tbogg! Poor us if we lose your commentary. You won’t give up the Thurs. nite basset blogging will you?

I’m sure you knew you’d get lots of conflicting advice, didn’t you?

I’m a bit of an oddity in my family, too, on my mom’s side – I’m no longer a size 6 (menopause did me in on that), but nonetheless, my BP remains 110/70, my cholesterol numbers are good (forget the digits), etc. My poor mom has sky-high cholesterol and high BP, has had 2 strokes and a TIA, even though she’s also a sylph. Doctors tell her it’s probably genetic.
But, whew, I got my dad’s genes instead.

However, married to two guys (no,not at the same time) with either weight or heart problems, high risk fr diabetes, etc. I’m on board with the high fiber low-carb diet – it really seems to work, especially for men. Well, it works very fast for men, it seems. And one reason it works is that you are never hungry following something like the South Beach Diet.
More exercise, also good.
Hey, maybe you could dictate your post while running!

Ah jeez, buck up there little cowboy! Follow the Jonah DoughyPantLoad approach: 4 extra sessions of dolphin waxing in between Cheetos breaks

Jonah is living proof that excessive dolphin waxing doesn’t make you go blind (but becoming the stooopid may be a side affect)

More walks with the bassets!!! Tell them to hurry up!!!

Why do you think TBogg’s BP is through the roof?

Just read your post, — well, just b efore picking myself off floor laughing out loud.

ORMark – sigh. Do I need to look that up in Urban Dictionary? (I never ever read Jonah – rely on poor folks like TBogg to do it for me).

Perhaps Rev. Aldredge was exploring a form of faith healing, in which wearing two wetsuits with a dildo up your ass can lower blood pressure.

Best wishes with the drugs, but watch out for overmedication – when you swing into hypotension, you get to spend time in the ER. Been there, done that.

Dammit, Tbogg, don’t do that! The title of this nearly gave me a heart attack.

You realize that novacaine or similar Rx meds will make your blood pressure spike, right? And everyone has triggers for stress that will also temporarily increase b.p. Forget the diet. Avoid dentists unless absolutely necessary. And driving. Driving is the most overrated “privilege” in Christendom.

Ruthie’s right – doctors’ offices will spike your BP like nothing else will!!

take up yoga (the missus will thank you, too!), eliminate caffeine and take your meds. we need you and TNBB and tales of the lovely and talented Casey, and the something- and something-else Mrs. Bogg, so take care of your bad self!

For the latest and greatest research, google “epigenome”. The scientists are now discovering that “methylation” of DNA (caused by diet, exercise, pollution, etc.) can activate or deactivate genes, so you can change the cards you are dealt, for good or ill.

Now that the extreme right wing is out of power, you don’t need to martyr yourself by reading their nonsense in order to generate snark. Stick with the bassets.

The truth is that most new studies consistently show that lifestyle has considerably less impact than previously thought, and that you’re unlikely to move your endgame forward or back by more than a year or two unless you’re incredibly abusive with highly damaging drugs like heroin, speed or meth and, of course, alcohol.

Oh cosmy, this is utter nonsense. Lifestyle – and our environment – has an enormous impact on our health. America isn’t obese with type two diabetes and dying of colon cancer in overwhelming numbers for lack of trying.

Btw, I wonder what impact reading wingnuts has on heart health. I’m thinking it can’t be very good.

According to Dr. Nathan Bryan of the University of Texas at the Houston Biomedical Research Center, bacon can save your life during a heart attack. No, really (pdf). Nitrates and Lisinopril are the foundations of a healthy lifestyle…

I had this statistics prof who was often got gigs as a statistical consultant in medical research. In theory, that can mean either: a) help the clinicians set up a trial so you can readily interpret the results, or b) get called in after a trail that was started without consulting statisticians, and be told “man, we didn’t expect *that*. What the hell can we infer from this mess?” He never got a call for a type (a) job. They were always a mess, where any inference was dubious at best.

After enabling too many of those poorly-conceived trials and helping them make the “gone off the rails” bit look like a feature-not-a-bug, he is now firmly convinced that the phrases “clinically proven” and “untrue” are interchangeable.

Good luck with the health. Don’t take your doc too seriously.

suck it up, will ya ! Jesus christ what a baby …

What I find is that when you wrap it in bacon and chase it with a vodka and beer, it doesn’t lower the blood pressure, but you don’t give a shit. And I figure that’s worth a few points off the stress meter!

Oh, that sucks.

But hey — Ben Shapiro just went to see a Zac Efron movie! With his wife.

I’m just going to stop and let you take it from here….

Jeez, I figured that since Obama is in office now your blood pressure would have gone DOWN. Mine certainly has.

Everything in moderation, except exercise and sex! Oh, and eat more veggies and fish.

Learn from the example of your bassets, TBogg. Spend 23 hours a day flopped in a wrinkly heap, in a nice patch of sunshine if available. Take a nice walk now and then. Chew up the occasional bottle of hair conditioner or valuable objet d’art. Limit high calorie snacks to what you can steal from the desktop when nobody’s looking. Run around barking insanely at invisible beings from other dimensions a couple of times a day. Pretty soon your blood pressure will be at a bassetine 2/1. It’s the basset plan for a long and happy life.

All I can say is to be careful. My Dad has been managing his cholesterol for 15 years and it has become one of the things you instinctively do to make space for your real life.

Many good lucks to you, TBogg.

My own BP went kablooey about eight years ago, and I’ve been on Metoprolol 100mg daily ever since… it works to the extent that I’m pretty constant at 120/80 (not bad for a fat boy), but if I miss just two days, I’m fucked up for a week.

I’m also on a pharmacopia of other meds, so YMMV. :o)

Tbogg,

I am so sorry to hear this. I have recently crossed over from “non cancerous” to “pre cancerous” and its quite the blow to one’s belief in singular immortality. I agree with all the conflicting advice up above–especially the advice to “learn from the bassetts.” There really is nothing much else to do in this life but enjoy it to the hilt.

aimai

I was referring mainly to the on-topic topic of cardiac health (I never mentioned cancer or diabetes), but colorectal and other cancers are even more unpredictable.

In fact, quite the contrary to your assertion, colorectal cancer rates show a remarkable rate of decline between 1985 and 2006 (http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/colorect.html) and the median age of onset is 71 years.

Again, high fiber and aspirin can play a role in reducing the inflammatory effects that are caused by environmental factors, but if it’s in the code you’re just stalling the inevitable, and not by very long.

You are clearly not in possession of the facts, yet you speak with such condescending authority. I stand in awe of your pretension.

Of course, you’re absolutely right about NIDDM (that’s what we’re calling it these days. Please try and keep up if you’re going to get all preachy) being caused by environment, but I certainly never asserted anything to the contrary.

Oh, and by the way…it would be comsy, not cosmy, and that’s Dr. comsy to you.

High BP issues myself, but well controlled on meds. Salt is not your friend.

Hitting 40 was like starting down a slow decline. Hitting 50 was like falling of a cliff. It’s still several years away, but I’m not looking forward to 60.

I had a very similar experience. Years ago, I went for oral surgery and the machine spit me out, the doc would not perform until I had BP under control. Now with moderate enjoyable exercise and a fistful of daily meds, I can get all my teeth pulled if I want…

To be found dead, slumped in my chair, with RedState on the screen would be pretty embarrassing.

This line alone defines the difference between right and left on teh intertubes. This is actually the DREAM death of Jonah, Eric, et. al. dying on the front lines for the the 101st Fighting Keyboarders. I’m suprised Red State Strike Force hasn’t come up with a medal for this yet, something along the lines of a Purple Heart in the least. A Purple Mouse?
Purple Silly Putty? The Silver Tea Bag?

Have a glass of wine, kiss your wife and daughter, pet your dogs, and smile as you look out over the ocean. In the immortal words of Biggie Smalls,
It’s all good, baby, baby.

I believe that death medal would be called the Cross Of Common Sense, with oak leaves if awarded for action against the Trike Force or World Nut Daily.

Added more- Mrs tbogg will find nothing funny about this post and she’ll probably force me to read that damned Omnivore’s Dilemma book which is the worst thing I ever bought her.

Just wait until the L&T Casey backs up Mrs Tbogg. Face it — they’ve got you outnumbered.

Hey, i found a source that says you’re ‘moderate.’
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.co…..essure.htm

I had a mini-stroke a few years back. “Mini” in that I am obviously able to type this here thing, so I didn’t get incapacitated. Anyway, laying in the emergency room, after the initial fear wore off, just pissed me off. Big time, for you Cheney fans. Take your meds, get more active, improve your diet, but you may want to consider smoking and drinking (to a degree). I’d feel stupid dying with zero bad habits.

Hah! Yeah, my wife is on the Michael Pollan/Omnivore’s Dilemma thing. We’re now eating grass-fed meat from a local patchouli-based farm. It’s delicious stuff, but every bite I take I think “There’s $1.00″.

Via Cryptogon, the stuff of Michael Pollan’s nightmares: the Ten Worst Meals in America.

You know, crap like this really isn’t fair. You take fairly good of yourself and get stuck with high BP.

While I’m not overweight by any definition (6′ and 145), I do smoke, eat like crap, and don’t get much exercise thanks to two back surgeries.

My BP is 95/60, with a resting heartrate in the high 50s.

Shit ain’t fair, I tells ya!

Take care of yourself, and look at it this way: You live in a place with awesome weather and beaches close by. Enjoy it all, as much as possible.
Every. Single. Day.

Mmmmmmm…unexpected bacon.

exercise is your friend!

Yah, the only thing keeping me from going full metal vegan.

Medical marijuana.

Enjoy.

Oh, you’ll be reading the Pollan, my friend. And doing doubletime on the treadmill. But think of it this way: Jeebus doesn’t want you, but we need you. So leash up those bassets (although I’m thinking that’s more strength-training than cardio) and get to wiggling!

According to “What Would Keith Richards Do?” (”Unauthorized”), the Indestructible One ingests everything except cheese. Doesn’t think fermented milk is good for you.

So there’s some alternative medicine for you: Shepherd Pie, alcohol, cigarettes, no cheese.

salt.
get really, really aggressive on limiting your salt intake.
stagedad’s BP went way down after i did.
plus, evening exercise. we went swimming (slow side-stroke laps) for a half hour to 45 mins at 8:30-9:15 pm.
it really works.

and
no microwave popcorn every night!!!

Yikes. Good thing you checked.

The beleaguered husband tends to high blood pressure and bad cholesterol and a wholly incomprehensible midwestern passion for salted pork products. I got him back to normal range without too much pain with lots of chicken breasts, turkey sausage and smoked salmon. Also, pot roast with a ton of red wine and garlic? Heart healthy.

Be very nice to Mrs. T. It kind of sucks being the person who has to say no.

Please stay healthy, Mr. Tbogg. High blood pressure is nothing to mess around with, and I am you are taking it seriously–albeit with your trademark humor and verve.

I have low blood pressure, so if you want to unload some of yours just let me know. There’s probably a PayPal widget we can use.

On the plus side, this should get you out of some chores and heavy lifting, so run with it.

Longtime reader, first time commenter. Created an account just to comment on this.

Take care of yourself, TBogg.

I feel your pain brother. However, in your time of need, I have the perfect image for you to focus on…

DeepKarmaCanyon

Thank you all for the words of encouragement and the push for exercise. We have been “discussing” the need for Tbogg to move more for several years since he was first diagnosed with these problems. As he said, he does eat pretty well (but there is always room for improvement), doesn’t drink (I do enough of that for both of us) and isn’t overweight, but the genes don’t lie. Again, thanks for helping me get him on the right track. Away to the Treadmill with you Tbogg!!!!! And join me in a glass of wine every once in a while. It would do you good!

Whip him into shape, girl. I know it’s selfish, but we NEED him around.

We do too!!!!

So because you helped keep me sane during the eight years of the Bush admin. , I want to give a little unasked for advice to you from a primary care physician. Might save you some money and help a bit.

1. Diagnosing a person with hypertension because of a reading at a dentist’s office is kind of like diagnosing anorexia nervosa because a person complained of loss of appitite while watching Ann Coulter kissing Sean Hannity. Buy an Omron BP cuff and take it twice a day at home and see where you stand.

2. Many Doctors reach for samples from drug reps for bp and the only samples we seem to get are ARBs ( Benicar, Avalide, Cozaar, etc.)
Great drugs but very expensive. The ace inhibitors lisinopril, vasotec, etc. work just as well ( will give you the journal study on this if you would like ) and cost 5 bucks at costco or wall mart. A few people get a mild cough from ace Inhibitors and have to go the the ARBs but only about 15%.

3. In your 50s ? Male ? High Blood Pressure? If yes then you should have gotten a Heart Saver CT . It is one of the cheapest and earlist ways to check for early signs of coronary artery disease way before a stress test becomes positive and if the CT is anything other than zero you also need to be on a lipid drug.

Take this advise for what it cost you and let me know if you have any other questions. And thanks for keeping me laughing during the “dark ages”

Look on the bright side, Tbogg. If you don’t stroke out, you may develop the ability to squirt blood from the corners of your eyes to ward off predators, a la the horned toad. Practice on the bassets, post video, etc.

Mais ouis! My “we” wasn’t clear enough, but it was inclusive of you and the lovely and talented Casey!

Dude, as I recall, you were recently bitching about stacks of books you couldn’t seem to put a dent in. Separate the wheat from the chaff by reading the first 100 pages on the treadmill- then do a few reps with the tomes that don’t make the cut. Also, you’ll be surprised by how much salt you can lose and not miss just by paying a little attention. Yea, in the scheme of things the world may not need us, but the dogs do.

My husband’s BP is scary as well. When I yowl about it, he blames it on White Coat Syndrome. Try that.

“I find the pills go down easier if you wrap them in bacon.”
So you and the Bassets do agree on somethings.

And the mutts!

huh..huh..huh…soak your nuts.

As others have noted, one thing to keep in mind is that the dentist induces quite a rise in BP. Plus, instead of giving novocaine, many doctors have switched to a novocaine w/an adrenaline-like additive. During my most recent dental trip they injected me with that stuff and I thought I was going to explode… My BP is normally low and that stuff sent me through the roof.

That said, I hope the meds are kind to you, Tbogg. If you don’t like them, you might want to consider switching to an old-fashioned diuretic, which may be as effective as any of the new drugs (plus, they’re cheap). Also, it limits the problems with maintaining cabin pressure on Air Tbogg, if you know what I mean…

Oh, and you might want to cut down on the Red State. That’s not good for anyone. Take care!

170/105 is nothing. i’ve been 175/110 for years and — urrk!

Away to the Treadmill with you Tbogg!!!!!

The heck with the treadmill.

You live in San Diego where you can ride 12 months a year.
Get on your damn bike.

Mrs tbogg will find nothing funny about this post…

Yup, I know that sort of reaction all too well… In any case, good luck with all health-related matters.

I find the pills go down easier if you wrap them in bacon.

before you dip them in Ranch dressing

oh hell with my anemic attempts at humor TBogg – you do ‘zactly what Mrs TBogg says period

Of course the deleterious synergistic effect of all of the chemicals in our environment with all of the crap we ingest is not to be underestimated.

dude, you live in San Diego… start surfing (like everyone else has it seems)

I know, you’re recoiling in horror right now, but don’t knock it until you try it.

The beach is close and surfing is an excellent aerobic exercise and resistance activity. Plus, lots of negative ions floating around down there and the salt water has amazing effects on your general health.

I’ve been on BP meds for 10 years and I’m still young – HBP runs in my family. The drug of choice is called Lotrel. It’s a Amlodipine/benazepril combo drug that just came out in generic form.

Lotrel is a calcium channel blocker (amlodipine besylate) with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (benazepril).

I tried a lot of meds, and that one worked the best by far. YMMV

I was going to suggest you spend more time with your bassets, but from the stories you’ve told, that may raise your blood pressure.

Take care of yourself, fella! I know there are so many RW loons to mock but throw a small bit out and posters can take care of a lot. Not so many with your beanball wit, but ..you know, we can try.

Welcome to my world. Yep, once I hit 45 (which was like 20 years ago but who’s counting) my consistently low blood pressure got its groove on and my first official BP hypertension measurement clocked in at, guess what, 175/105. Twenty years later I’m hanging on by my fingernails to an average BP of 140/80. Take your meds. We’ll all feel better.

Uh, dental person here. We in the dental biz haven’t used Novacaine in years since as an esther local anesthetic it had some cases of allergic reaction. We now use amides like Lidocaine, Septocaine, etc. The only reason why there is epinephrine in dental anesthetics is the localized vasoconstriction it causes keeps you numb longer since locally constricted blood vessels keeps the anesthetic in place longer. We also have local anesthetics that have no epinephrine for people like Tbogg or others who get jittery from epi. If epi made you jumpy at your last dental visit, tell them about it next time and they will use the non-epi stuff.

As far as avoiding dentists goes, I like to refer back to comsympinko’s explanation about arterial inflammation. Periodontal disease has been directly linked to increased arterial inflammation and increased risk of heart attack and stroke (amongst other things); the bacteria that cause PD have been found inside the clots from stroke victims because the evil little bastards penetrate the infected gums and get into the blood stream. TO avoid PD you need to see your dental hygienist regularly (that’s me). As far as decayed teeth go, letting them go to hell has similar risks; a kid who couldn’t get Medicaid in time for his aching tooth in his upper jaw died when the infection from the tooth spread to his brain.

Long story short, studies show time and again that a healthy mouth is directly involved in being healthy in body as a whole. That’s not so amazing considering that they are attached to each other. Oh, and everybody here is right about the salt thing.

Yes, and here’s why. An added benefit to converting them to living foods is they’re easier to chew.

As for cosmy or comsy (I’m dyslexic sometimes), [in Jon Stewart’s Italiano from the ‘hood voice] I don’t mean no disrespect but I’ve yet to meet a traditional GP who knows or cares much about nutrition and isn’t spending most of his or her time peddling the latest pharmaceuticals. I am thankful that I have no prescription medications in my cupboard and haven’t for several years. But then I’m venturing into raw foods territory and that’s still considered way out there, radical, crazy, hippy, and other balderdash by people who still eat factory farmed dairy and meat, packaged transfatty crap, a ton of sugar and refined flour, and maybe a dreary old side salad once a week.

Eating raw doesn’t mean eating salads all day. There’s plenty of variety, and you can even indulge your sweet tooth every day without using sugar. (Raw cacao, agave nectar, dates and nuts can make a sweet “cheese” cake.)

As a dental hygenist, what’s your take on electric toothbrushes? Good for the teeth and gums? Too rough?

I notice since I started using electric that in a couple of areas, the gums seem to be receding. But the regular toothbrush doesn’t do as good a job of cleaning IMO.

Treadmills suck! Get a bike.

TBogg, in a former incarnation, when you applied for life insurance I read your medical records, decided how long you were likely to live, and put a price on it.

That’s a no-nonsense blood pressure reading. Stroke/MI (that’s medical speak for “heart attack”) City.

Take care of yourself. I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs you, and I’m not even counting Mrs. Bogg and LTC, the former of whom could obviously get remarried in 15 seconds or so should anything unfortunate happen to you.

(Hmm…You had better check your life insurance, just in case she’s getting any weird ideas.)

Also, sorry about the boners. Free advice: Keep searching for a BP drug that doesn’t ruin them, at least as much as your advancing age does. Big Pharma has cranked out a million of ‘em, and electric arcs connecting your nipples as a side effect are at least no worse than no boners. Read the labels.

Sincerely, you are a daily delight, and I wish you well. I’m gonna have to take Mrs. Bogg’s side on this should you be what we call, “non-compliant.”

J

P.S. 30 minutes a day of cardio is no excuse for a reduction in wingnut humiliation. Sorry about your genes. They have a lot to do with it.

I went back and read some of the comments, and just have to add if you want to go all “natural,” well fuck that. You’re congenitally diseased {plus old, mostly). Which is not to say any of those ideas won’t help, but so does prayer, I’ve heard.

You’re not fat, your diet isn’t horrible, you don’t smoke or drink (nobody’s perfect) and blah blah blah, blahBLAHblah. Doesn’t matter. You got a bad hand, genetically speaking.

If you combine all these excellent ideas you’ll be feeling great. Almost naturally. But so listen to your doctor.

No, don’t listen to the doctor, at least, not yet. Get off the meds until you’ve tried a month of real exercise, like 30-45 minutes of at least modestly hard-breathing, heart-pumping every day. If that doesn’t work, OK, think about the meds.

The deal is, the meds are the first step on a long road of drug use: side effects, drugs to counter same, then dosage increases due to lessening effectiveness, and so on.

The routine I described above (now down to every other day) knocked me right down from 155/105 to 95/80; I’m late ’50’s, proper weight, slightly excessive alcohol use, great diet otherwise…

As “the brother” I find that I have been unfairly attacked regarding my lifestyle. For the record I DO NOT DRINK!. Everything else is true. Also, being 5″ taller than anyone else in our family of gnomes does not make me “adopted” or “an alien”, just genetically superior. And yes I did play golf today. So yes tbogg is dying… dying to be ME!

Jesus.

If my mom shows up there is going to be such a family dysfunction of display.

LOL, FBog. (What’s with the missing “g?”)

As for the drinking denial, well, it’s never too late to start.

Most of all, any golfer who plays with integrity can’t be all bad. Hit ‘em straight. And as I like to say to my otherwise perfect vertically-challenged pals, I’d rather be bald than short. So I’m all down with that. I didn’t know TBogg was shrimpy. Enlightening.

To all the Bogg’s, man, do I hope Mom joins the discussion.

The missing “G” is in deference to TBoggs uniqueness and elitism. Momma can you hear me? Momma can you see me?

Hi highly recommend this http://www.resperate.com/us/welcome/index.aspx

Don’t work for them or anything, just loves me some Tbogg and this works for me.

Best to you.

Everbody’s got a story. “It really works” should be taken with a grain of salt (and not more if you have high BP) unless the words are followed by “for me (or someone else).” What works for one person, doesn’t do anything for another. People who already limit their salt intake, eat a healthy diet, exercise, and avoid caffeine and alcohol simply aren’t going to be helped by limiting salt and exercising, since they already do that. There are foods that may help lower BP, but again, what works for one person may not help another.

The same thing goes for blood pressure medication and side effects. Two people can take lisinopril (an ace inhibitor) — one will develop an intolerable dry cough; the other will not. The landmark Allhat blood pressure study concluded that dirt cheap generic diuretics worked as well or better than expensive brand name drugs (some of which are now dirt cheap generics). In most cases, a newly hypertensive patient should probably start with a diuretic — hydrochlorothiazide is a good place to start. In the case of someone who has already had a heart attack, a diuretic is probably not the best choice.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t suggest that you simply trust your physician, at least not until after you have read up on blood pressure medications. Information is readily available on the Intertubes. Lots of medications lower blood pressure, but the side effects one experiences can vary from non-existent to debilitating.

Note: The NIH Medline Plus website has excellent information about drugs and supplements. I also check there before taking a medication. Just google “Medline Plus.”

Just had to delurk to say: please, please take care of yourself.

everyone needs you, including yourself.

that is all.

An endodontist? Does that mean the problem resides in your, um, end-o?

Lesley, I absolutely love electric toothbrushes simply because it is a rare person, including myself, who can do as good a job with a manual toothbrush as an electric one. That said, I much prefer the sonic one (you know the brand name) since if you press too hard, it will bind up and stop so you are much less likely to be over aggressive and start scrubbing your gums away.

As far as your recession goes, when you get see your dental hygienist, does she measure your probing depths? This is the depth from the top of the gum to where it attaches to each tooth, sort of like measuring how tall the turtleneck sweater is around each tooth. If it is 3mm or less, everything is great, 4mm is transitional, and 5mm or deeper means periodontal disease and a chronic infection that can not be cured, only maintained. That chronic infection causes gum recession because in fighting the infection, the stuff released by your white blood cells to kill bacteria also destroys gums, bone, etc, and if your body isn’t rebuilding at a rate equal to the tear down rate, then recession occurs. Recession also occurs when people scrub too hard, use a brush harder than a “soft”, toothpick themselves excessively, etc., but the main cause is periodontal disease.

Yeesh. I have been coming back to this thread to see all the supportive and helpful stuff people are posting to TBogg about his BP problem. Now I’m wondering if my gums are rotting away. . .

Thanks for the information and Sonic is duly noted. I’m using an Oral B by Braun and it doesn’t bind up, only has speed control. Dental hygenists here don’t measure gum pockets so I guess I should make an appointment to see a periodentist.

If I can trouble you further, do antibiotics work? And are there decent mouthwashes that have antibiotics? The idea of a chronic incurable infection is alarming.

I Googled “Sonic” and could only find “Sonicare” by Phillips and other manufacturers that use Sonic in their product names. I can’t find a company called Sonic. This page has info about Sonic technology in toothbrushes.

Me here again. I think I’ve found what might be a good buy for a Sonic toothbrush. It’s a Philips Sonicare that also comes with a UV sanitizing chamber for the heads.
http://www.sonicare.com/Sanitizer/c_uv_t1.asp

Expensive though! @ nearly $200 CAD.

Sonicare is the one, and that UV option is quite nice, especially if you have periodontal disease since the UV chamber kills more than 99% of the microbes that get on your toothbrush. If you have a cold or something you should throw away your toothbrush so you don’t reinfect yourself, but the UV option solves that (or the top rack of your dishwasher as a 2nd best choice).

Your dental hygienist is probably taking those measurements but not telling you the readings if she/he isn’t much into patient education; call up the dental office and ask. My friends in Calgary know what their probing depths are so I know they collect this data in the GWN (great white north). Personally I educate the hell out of my patients; a bit of knowledge goes a long, long way for patient compliance issues.

As far as antibiotics go, sorry, but enough anitbiotic to kill this chronic infection would kill you first more than 100 times over. The nasty bastards that cause perio disease are not directly killed by antibiotics because they have a very effective protective coating. I work for a DDS who uses a periodontal laser to treat PD (it is the only one that is FDA approved to do this); it is fairly cutting edge and quite resisted by most periodontists who still prefer the old cut-their-gums-off-to-get-back-to-3mm approach (I guess they like doing surgery or they are just plain sadistic because it is about as much fun as it sounds like).
We give our laser patients what is called a sub-microbial dose of Doxycycline (20mg) for daily use; it isn’t enough to kill the bad guys but it does interfere with the enzyme that breaks down the collagen fibers in your gums. Some periodontists prescribe this too as part of their therapy. If you have PD, you need to have a hygienist work you over every 3 months since the bad bacteria get fully re-established in 4 months.

There are no mouthwashes with antibiotics, and it wouldn’t work anyway because a mouthwash can’t get down into a pocket that is 5mm or more deep. Plus antibiotics taste horrible. If you have a few isolated deep pockets there are slow-release antibiotics (Arestin or Periostat) that can be placed there by the hygienist and they do their thing for 10 to 14 days before they totally dissolve away. I’ve seen good results with this for people who are in the 5 to 7mm category.

Periodontal disease is no joke and has a serious impact on general health. Thanks for allowing me to post my public service announcement, now all you concerned people go make that appointment with your dental hygienist, and I will return to my off-duty wise-assness.

Thanks mightily for this information. I’ve copied it for personal use and will try and find a dentist that uses the laser you mention. There are quite a few cutting edge periodentists in Vancouver, from my search on the intertubes, so some of them must be investing in non surgical methods. Like this guy http://drtimgould.com/

I like what I see on his website; we use the Periolase, he uses the Periowave laser – both are based on the same theory of treating periodontal disease. I wish the US periodontists were more open-minded about using laser therapy instead of gingivectomy (cutting off the gums as I mentioned before); I have seen some stunning results with reattachment and reduction in pocket depths, especially in patients who don’t smoke. The laser we use is a shockingly expensive investment (5 figures) but the results don’t lie. I still see it pooh-poohed by the periodontists or just plain ignored, but I think it is an issue of parochialism more than anything else.

Say you suffer a debilitating stroke. God forbid. Say Ms. T Bogg turns for comfort to the high school soccer coach of the lovely Casey. Then imagine things get way out of hand between those two, and, later, instead of using you as a door stop, they choose to use you as a plug for a bathtub drain. Except the tub doesn’t drain.

Question: If they didn’t report your “accident”, and the bassets thereafter ate your corpse, upon discovery by the police would you (hypothetically, of course) counsel Johnny Law that the dogs not be euthanized?

Sonicare rocks. I have the gums of an 80-year old smoker, and I am neither of those things. I’ve had 3 gum surgeries (the first at 26), dire recession, deep pockets, and I’ve shelled out for deep scaling and root planing an several occasions (and if you don’t know about those procedures–keep flossing and count your blessings!). After I eat, I have to use a proxabrush to plunge leftover food out the big holes the last gum surgery left. Nothing makes me feel more rickety and ready for retirement.

I bought my sonicare after a dire visit to a new dentist who prescribed another round of root scaling. By the time I got in for the treatment a couple months later, my deep pockets of 6 and 7 and converted to 2, 3, and 4–all thanks to sonic cleaning. So buy one and use it.

Annnnnndddddd, another happy customer! I love my Sonicare, and I loved it long before I became a dental hygienist. The water-spitting buzzing thing we RDH’s use to “clean” your teeth is an ultrasonic cleaner; same idea, much higher frequency, and both are hell on bacteria. (the word “clean” is in quotes because I do a hell of a lot more than just being an oral cleaning lady, but people get all sketched about the official term of “prophylaxis” – sounds like a condom).

See, you are doing what most patients won’t do, which is the much more extensive self care that every meal requires. Also, from your description of how early you’ve had chronic PD, you are very likely someone from the Interleukin 1 positive genotype, which puts you a super high risk for PD. Stick with your hygiene appts every 3 months; in your case is it critical. And congratulations for taking such good care of yourself!

More measurement! You’ve probably had the chance to do just that since, but a lot of us ring the bell higher in the doctor’s (or dentist’s, I guess) office, so it’s a good idea to get a cuff for home use if possible. I’ve got one that hooks up to my PC and my HealthVault account (http://www.healthvault.com/personal/scenario/high-blood-pressure.html) so I don’t have to keep a written record. If your doc is up for it, you can share the data with them online, which makes life a lot easier. Good luck with the BP!