2 posts tagged “depressing”

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This stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line. ... ..

Feb 9, 2007
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Hay ho and off to the doc again this week. Chest x-ray came back clear and the ECG was OK too, but now we're a couple of weeks into the BP meds it's time to clobber the cholesterol. So as of Monday I've been on statins too. I don't know about you, but I always read the bumf that comes with meds (and user guides for every bit of kit I've ever acquired) and some of the side effects could be interesting. I have to say I do feel somewhat weak this week, so maybe I need a different flavour. We'll draw a veil over the possiblity of impotence, but as Brock says, I should be past all that at my age. Cheeky sod.

I also mentioned this damn cough that I get after every cold and she gave me a quick once-over with the stethosope and prescibed an inhaler to see if it would speed up my recovery. (Two puffs in the morning and too at night - I might not be impotent, but I'm not gay.) Haven't seen any noticable improvement yet, but I'll keep going.

I've been asked what I want for my birthday. This is usual in my family and avoids us getting five of the same thing, or things we really have no use for. It gets more difficult for me to think of things every year, as there isn't much that I need. This year I'll be happy if I get there unscathed and with a few cards seeing as no one seems to be able to fix the lottery for me.

Deterioration progresses

Jan 10, 2007
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Getting old is a pain, sometimes quite literally.

A few years ago I was advised to see my doc because a routine health check at the office revealed that my blood pressure was rather high.

I went to the doc, had some blood tests over a few weeks, and regular blood pressure readings were taken, and I was sent for an ultrasound scan on my kidneys and then .... I got bored with all that and like a lot of of middle-aged men, just ignored the problem while promising myself to change my lifestyle so I wouldn't need to go on medication. Time passed. Several years in fact, and I had no other cause to go to the doc. Lucky me.

A few months ago I started getting pains in my back, right under my shoulder blades. They'd last for a few minutes, then go away, and it might be weeks before it happened again. However, it's started to get more regular over the last few weeks, so I decided to go to the doc to get it looked at.

The back problem seems to be muscular and I'm going to have physio to see if that helps. But I got my blood pressure checked again, and despite any positive lifestyle changes I've adopted, it's still way too high, so as of today, I've started meds which means I'll be taking them for the rest of my life. I know this is sensible, and that because of a history of high blood pressure in my family the lifestyle changes weren't likely to make a significant difference, but I feel like I've reached a significant point in the aging process when I have finally to start taking permanent meds.

I know a lot of people of my age have been on meds for years, for blood pressure, or diabetes or other ailments, and I've always had this slightly superior feeling, knowing that I didn't need any of that. But I have to accept that I'm no longer among the ranks of aging old buggers in horribly rude health. No doubt I'll just accept this once we get the med regime sorted out and my BP is at an acceptable level, but happening at this time, in that depressing period just after Christmas and New Year, does make me feel a little sorry for myself.