In the Worst of Health

So, last time I was wittering on about having my life turned upside down.  Well, the disruptions continued today.  The long and the short of it is that I finally saw my doctor last week with, what I thought, were work stress-related symptoms and the related mild depression.  In the course of the check up, she took my blood pressure and found that it was twice what it should be - extreme hypertension is the medical term, I believe.  It was so high that I was running the risk of suffering a stroke.  Consequently, I was prescribed medication and packed off for a series of blood tests and an ECG (all of which seemed to take up most of Thursday and Friday).  Anyway, I was back at the doctor's late this morning to discuss the results and review the situation.  Well, the good news is that according to the tests my kidney and liver are functioning as normal, as is my heart and my red and white blood cell counts are normal.  Moreover, the capsules I'm taking for the blood pressure seem to be working: my blood pressure has fallen since I started taking them.  It is still far, far too high, but it is now moving in the right direction.

The bad news was that my cholesterol level was higher than it should be, not spectacularly high, though, and that I have mild type two diabetes.  Neither of these would usually merit treatment at their current levels, but because of the high blood pressure, I've been prescribed more pills to bring the cholesterol and diabetes under control.  I've also been told to avoid unduly stressful situations - so I've been signed off work for the next week, until I see the doctor again next Monday, when the situation will be reviewed.  In the meantime, I'm trying to avoid stress and get more exercise (it's good for the blood pressure).  I have to admit that I've found the whole business both scary, disorienting and worrying.  In the short term, having to manage three sets of medication is challenging enough, but in the longer term, I have the even greater challenge of making significant changes to my lifestyle if I'm to get all of my ailments under control on a permanent basis.  Inevitably, it means that my plans to leave my crappy job will move forward - while the work related stress which sparked all of this off doesn't account for just how high my blood pressure has become, it certainly hasn't helped.  It has definitely exacerbated the problem.  I really need to take some time out to relax and plan my next move.