I Have What???!!!

Okay, so I am going to write about something else that has recently developed in my life. (Well I say "recently," but I think it has been silently lurking for for about a year or so)

I was just diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension as it is officially called, but all I hear is stroke, heart attack, diseased arteries etc....... I suspected that I may be having trouble, because over the past year, whenever I went to donate blood, my diastolic pressure (bottom number and the force on the arteries when the heart is at rest) has been in the 90's. And I have always been a 100/60 girl...even during my terrible pregnancies.

Now, I assumed that it was on the higher side due to the chronic stress of being in school, the fact that I had put on around 25 pounds while I was in school, and the fact that I wasn't able to work out as hard as I normally did, prior to being a mommy in college (due to homework).
Uhhhhhh....think again. Since school has been out, my stress level has reduced as much as 90%, I have lost 12 pounds, I have been really working out hard, and I have had the time to actually cook dinner, rather than feed myself and my family fast food.

So, imagine my surprise when my blood pressure was 140/100 the other day at the doctors office. 100!!!!!! And I can't even blame it on white coat syndrome, because it was at the office that I worked at for years and with people that I know. After being a nurse for years, I don't get nervous at the doctors office.....

Okay, okay, maybe it is due to genetics???? Maybe. However, hypertension does not run on either side. Oh there are aunts here or uncles there, but they are also smokers, which as you know can significantly increase your risk for developing high blood pressure.

Who knows???? All I know, is that I left the doctors office with a prescription in hand, had it filled and have been taking it ever since. I will continue to exercise and loose weight, and hopefully I can go off of the med once I loose some more weight.

We shall see, but I am not taking this lightly. I am too young to have high blood pressure!!!!
In other news, Amber and I have been riding lately. Waska appears to be fully recovered form his bout with laminitis, and is responding well to his new diet. The verdict is still out on him though.............

Oh, and can you tell I have been playing with my photos???? LOL

I have Picasa and edited some of these pictures, which, incidentally, were taken on my hike this morning. My climb-1000 ft-in-one-mile-hike that is getting my hiney in shape and hopefully reducing my blood pressure hike. I have been doing it five days a week for the past month......

Well, I hope that everyone has a great weekend. Happy trails to you!