I think I feel more restricted, well I definitely do at the moment. I feel restricted from the point of view of what I can do as far as exercise is concerned, and I’m only doing temporary work. I am unsure what would be a good idea in terms of hours of work and the sort of level of work from the point of view of coping with stress and so on. The GP did say that once it’s stabilised then exercise is a good thing which is fine by me because I quite enjoy exercise. I like aerobic exercise but I don’t know how much one can return to real aerobic exercise.

I was on the point of joining a gym but it probably wasn’t a good idea and the GP said ‘Give that a miss.We are
keen walkers and I said ‘What about walking?’ and he actually said ‘We normally put people like you on bed rest’, which was a bit of a downer. But he went on to say ‘Just don’t do anything that makes you huff and puff.

There was something, an incident, a little while ago which upset me and made me quite cross, if not slightly angry. This was going on for about 3 days and I did think ‘ I wonder what this is doing to my blood pressure?’ And it had put it up. So I think realised ‘this is just not worth it, I mustn’t get upset about this’ and just to let it go really.

I think part of my problem is actually I do feel very well, so I can very easily start racing around and then realise I shouldn’t be. I’m not sure if I may get slightly more tired, slightly less energy than a lot of people of my age, but I think there are no obvious symptoms.

I think my main concern is the hospital only do a kidney function test 2 weeks after you start on ACE inhibitors. I asked my doctor how often it’s checked and I think she said once a year. The concern is whether that is enough, because ACE inhibitors can have a slightly more serious side effects in that they can affect the kidneys.

The main side effect – I think the only side effect I’ve noticed – is that it gives me a ticklish throat particularly at night when I’m lying down, but to a certain extent, sometimes during the day as well.

It was the registrar who changed me from beta-blockers to ACE inhibitors when I went for my hospital check and tests. The GP didn’t explain why he was doing this, but he had said that I might well be put onto a different drug – the reason that the ECG was showing a few blips might be because of hardening of the arteries – and that I might need a medication that would cause the arteries to relax. From information I was given I knew that it was the ACE inhibitor that did that job.

I might mention it to one or two friends as something that’s happened to me recently, but I don’t really talk about it much because they see a perfectly fit, healthy person in front of them and I think if I talked about it too much they would just think I was making a fuss about nothing.

We do have quite a strong family history of high blood pressure but I’d never thought of it as something that I might inherit. My father had his first stroke when he was 56 and I’ve subsequently found out that my grandfather had a stroke when he was 53. But I think we all thought that my father had a stroke at 56 because of pressure of work and stress and so on. And although my mother did vaguely mention that my grandfather had had a stroke at the same age, it never occurred to me that this could be a hereditary problem that I might get. Although as soon as my doctor said ‘Your blood pressure is up’, I said ‘Well I think we do have a family history of this.

I went through all these various blood pressure tests to find out whether it was a problem that I need medication for. During that time, I was having about 2 months off work, so when I went to see the GP and she said ‘There is a problem and you’re going to be on medication for the rest of your life,’ it did come as a real shock. I thought, and actually said to her, ‘I have absolutely no reason to have high blood pressure. I have no stress or worry in my life, I’m not even working, I’m having a lovely time at home,’ and she just said ‘I’m afraid it’s your genetics.

When I went for a check up for HRT, you have your blood pressure taken, and that’s when the doctor realised that it was up. I then went back to the GP for a second reading and then I actually did two 24 hour blood pressure tests at home. So the whole process probably took a couple of months to decide whether this was a problem and I needed to go on medication.

I don’t like having uncontrolled hypertension, I probably will feel a lot happier about it when it is- and hopefully it will be- stabilised. I know from my father’s experience what the result of hypertension can be; he was disabled by his stroke and lived with far less quality of life for 10 years and so obviously I’m aware of the dangers.

I’ve been given a booklet from the British Heart Foundation which has been quite helpful. It tells you about the drugs, it tells you about what exactly is being measured when you have your blood pressure done and explains about the systolic and diastolic rates, and so on. It tells you what is average and it tells what you what you can do in the way of changing lifestyle to help your problem.

I am aware that there are web sites and we do have the Internet. In fact, our GP in our local parish bulletin has given the names of various web sites and the British Heart Foundation one was one of them.

The first time I was told my blood pressure was up I thought ‘I’ve been rushing around and doing an awful lot this summer but it will sort itself out. I think I thought that it would be stabilised quite easily which hasn’t turned out to be the case, so that’s been a bit of a blow.

Although I’m not sure what ones expectations should be, as far as how quickly it should be to work out what medication you need to stabilise it, but it’s a bit of a frustration to know 8 months on it’s still not stabilised.

One of the things I was a bit miffed about was I’d done all the right things’ I’ve never smoked, I’ve kept my weight down, I take regular exercise, I eat a low fat diet and I have hypertension!