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Hypertension Enters Stage Left...
God has thrown me a curve ball. A big one. I strolled into my diabetologist’s office for my latest check-up, only to be told that I have hypertension!!
Say, what?! I was a little shocked to say the least! My blood pressure has been somewhere between 117/78 and 120/80 FOREVER! It was so predictable that I gave up asking what it was when I went for check-ups. There was no point. I took my eye off the ball and this is what happened…
I got a reading of 139/72. My doctor told me to lose weight and wrote me a prescription for high-dose vitamin D (I guess he’s in the clear, then… He prescribed me something so has been a hugely effective doctor. Yeah, right.)
Searching for Answers
Now, the thing is… I’m a bit stumped where this has come from. I know that I have gained some weight but I have been this weight at other points in my life without an impact on my blood pressure. In terms of stress, it’s probably the lowest it’s ever been in my life. In fact, my husband jokingly said that maybe it’s my body’s rebellion against the lack of stress… It’s created a way to give me more stress and therefore get me back into my ‘normal range’!!
But I’m not going to choose to understand it that way. For me, this is a gift from God. This is God directing me to my next level of healing. He’s asking me to step up and make the next level of change. And I’m taking the challenge on!
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Since I found out. I have committed to walking for 30 minutes every morning. I haven’t missed a single one. And I won’t. I have already pictured myself turning around to my diabetologist at my next check-up and telling him that I’ve walked every day since I last saw him. it’s written in stone. It’s done.
I’ve also invested in a blood pressure monitor (the same one that my doctor uses… I’m a nerd like that!). I am monitoring it twice a day. After all, data is key! Interestingly, nearly all of o my readings are normal so I’m looking forward to seeing what it is at my next check-up!
For now, contrary to my doctor’s advice, I’ve decided not to focus on losing weight. I outlined in my three posts on ‘Food, Food Everywhere’ (here, here and here) why I feel that health and healing for me doesn’t lie at the end of a diet and I still stick with that. It just doesn’t feel right to be messing around with that right now and I’m going to trust my intuition on that.
Instead, I am implementing rest with a vengeance!! Every day, I am now getting my hyperactive bum to stay put on a chair or other suitably relaxing piece of furniture (bed, sofa or – my favourite – the sun lounger!) for a minimum of 30 minutes. My body needs to relax and I’m showing it the way.
To be truthful, I am scared. I am scared that my heart might explode whilst I’m exercising or that the damage being done to my body during every day of hypertension will be catastrophic or irreparable. So I’m relying on my faith. God has a plan that I can only see one step of right now.
Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
This Post Has One Comment
Natalie, I’m enjoying your perspective here: finding natural ways of healing. High blood pressure seems to rise in response to something – and I’m glad you’ve found that maybe sleep could be a factor in your recent increase.
Dr. Bergman, a popular chiropractor, has a great video on Youtube covering high blood pressure. He explains that one should not freak out when a higher than average number appears, as the body is adapting to something – such as exercise, stress, higher carbs, etc. By not freaking, he means allowing it to happen and not suppressing the high pressure by medication. Instead, one would find the cause and address that, if needed. But many times, an aberrant high pressure may just be ignored.
Thanks for your blog on healing T1D – I am with you in this journey! 35 years since dx, healthy and working hard to reduce its impact in my life.