Health

Angry Blood Pressure

By on • ( 76 Comments )

I don’t have anger issues. No, I’m not an angry old man. But I do worry a lot.

I’ve been worried about my blood pressure. It’s been too damn low. Not so low that I have to see a doctor, but pretty close. Maybe I’m prehypotensive, if there is such a thing.

I damn sure don’t want to see a doctor. Those quack bastards would run all kinds of expensive and time-consuming tests, and then tell me that either there’s nothing wrong with me, or that I’ve gotta have a heart transplant. I know their game. They’re in it for laughs and money.

The laughs come when they tell a sniveling, worried hypochondriac like me that, hey, after all those tests and all that anxiety, you little crying snot-faced pussy, there’s really nothing wrong with you. Now go home and drink a glass of warm milk, you fucking wimp, and let me tend to the patients who really need my help.

The money comes when they do find one little thing wrong. They can use this as an excuse for any ol’ open-heart surgery they might dream of. Consumer Reports once did some research on this, and found out that many of the procedures recommended by heart clinics and cardiologists are unnecessary, dangerous, and a waste of money.

So I’m doing my very best to avoid seeing a heart quack, by exercising regularly (lots of walks and hikes), and eating right (lots of sugar on that bland-tasting fibrous cereal).

The sleek and sable Omron 10 Series Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor, with 2-User mode, 200-Reading Memory, Backlit Display, TruRead Technology, and BP Indicator LEDs. It’s a hypochondriac’s dream.

I have one of those Omron blood pressure cuffs. It’s one of the more expensive types that goes around the arm, rather than the wrist, because I’ve read that they’re more accurate. How in the hell can a little cuff around the wrist give an accurate reading? But an anaconda-sized arm cuff? Yeah! That squeezing fucker really means business.

One recent morning I tested my blood pressure, and nearly fell out of my chair. Not from alarm, but from weakness. I was feeling wan, under the weather, and thought that maybe my feeble-fucking heart was finally giving out on me. So I strapped on the Omron. And my suspicions were confirmed. It read 93/70.

This was it, I shuddered. This was the big one. I damn near called 911, until I remembered how much I hate doctors. So I did a little Googling first, and found that blood pressure isn’t abnormally low until the top number drops below 90.

So I set up the Omron next to the phone, and kept monitoring throughout the day. Finally, later in the day, it barely peaked above a hundred. Dr. Google says it’s normal for blood pressure to be lower in the morning, and to rise over the course of the day. But I suspect it was really all my anxiety that raised that top number up. It’s a good thing I’m a hypochondriac and can worry about these things, or I’d be dead by now.

I felt relieved, but kept the Omron set up and handy.

Then the other day, my wife came home from the auto dealer, after having routine warranty-required service on her new car, including an oil change. They gave her a big-long, bullshit report on all the things they claim to have inspected and supposedly did. I noticed on this report that it said oil change intervals are “recommended at 10,000 miles or eight months, whichever comes first.”

My heart exploded. Those lying, mutherfucking cocksuckers! I raged (to myself). The warranty manual that came with the car clearly recommends oil changes at 10,000 miles or twelve months, whichever comes first, and not eight months. Those bullshit bolt-twisters are trying to take advantage of our ignorance, and get us to come in more often for their mutherfucking expensive oil changes!

All kinds of expletives, imprecations, and invectives inveighed across my brain. And all over this teeny-tiny pathetic little attempt at fraud that I detected. Boy was I pissed. And all over nothing, really.

And that’s when I remembered that people who get pissed off real easy over little things, tend to be prone to heart attacks. Yeah, that’s true. Just ask Dr. Google.

Well, fuck.

And then I remembered my Omron. So I strapped it on, while ranting and railing in my head about those mutherfucking, con-artist car mechanics. I wanted to see how high I could push the systolic.

Wouldn’t you know, I popped it up to 124/69. Not bad, eh? Not bad for me, at least. That’s prehypertension territory. I felt kind of proud.

So maybe I just need to have more anger in my life.

But then I remembered that high blood pressure is bad for you, too. So I killed my inner rant. 20 minutes later I checked the bp again. Now the top number was down to 112, but the bottom number was up to 77. Could it be that repressing anger lowers the systolic, but raises the diastolic?

Who the hell knows? I really don’t know what the answers are to this heart thing. I guess I’ll just keep on with my exhausting exercise program and eating my fucking fiber, and staying as calm as possible in this fucked-up world.

I’m hoping to get a few more decades out of this beating bastard, until I’m some dried-up dotard who can barely stand and walk. And then I won’t give a damn about my heart. In fact, I’ll probably be cheering for it to give out.

So perhaps that’s when I’ll become an angry old man.

Categories: Health

76 replies »

  3. Hmm . . . perhaps you should worry less about your periodically low blood pressure and more about your obsessive-compulsive need to check your blood pressure.

    Right now, it’s just a harmless habit. But it could turn into a full blown addiction! 😛

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh I’m not that bad. But it would be less distracting if they’d only invent something that could monitor bp continuously. Checking it every 10 to 15 minutes can be pretty annoying. And it’s wearing my arm out.

      Like

      Reply

  4. With the internet, I worry sometimes that we are overloaded with tons of information and we have a difficult time telling what is important and urgent and what is trivia.

    I kind of have the same concern about all of the health monitors that seem to be getting so popular. “Oh no, my poop output was lower than average last week and my toenail growth rate has increased dramatically. I must be about to die!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. My husband’s like you – he obsesses over every little health issue (both his and mine). Drives me crazy. Me, I follow my mother’s theory – if something is really bad, you’ll know soon enough. My blood pressure has been rising lately, but some of that is simply from crazy traffic, loony neighbors, and stressed out relatives. I won’t even tell you what it was in the ER after my accident – I thought it was at stroke level, but the ER staff didn’t seem overly concerned. They said high blood pressure can be a result of pain, as well as stress. It did go back down a bit before I left the ER that evening.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Wow, your top number is about what my bottom number usually is. Maybe you’re just exceptionally calm. I wish you were a little closer–I’m leaving for what should be a terrific hiking trip on Friday, and I’m going alone. It should be good for the blood pressure.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. So glad that I was bored enough to read Kieran’s Bullshit the other day. I decided (after reading your brief introduction) to follow. Thank holy fuck I found someone that’s angrier than I am & swears a fuckton more, too! Let’s hope your heart holds out long enough to entertain my similarly hypochondriatic ass with at least a few more posts; I want to get the most out of this follow. Thanks for the laughs!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Tippy ~

    I thought this might interest you:

    Thanks to Satellite Internet, an online resource that helps people compare internet providers in their area, someone who’s willing to go off the grid for two days can get paid $1,000 in cash for merely foregoing all technology and social media.

    The company will pay for one chosen applicant to stay in Joshua Tree National Park, where they’ll spend their digital detox time in a retro Airbnb in the desert, complete with air conditioning, a hot tub, a pool, and a clubhouse — perfect for offline activities like reading books, meditating and relaxing. The company will also pay up to $1,000 for food and travel expenses.

    Those who are interested will have to act soon; applications can be submitted until August 26, 2019.

    https://click.newsletters.time.com/?qs=755628ef931ed65d56d0e42c9254715f8e933882f1ffdc766fd10a8f31688b3e8ace3c14ce435f9dbb915996127437f3c666b149e6a8b987

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Okay number one. Get your stubborn ass to a doctor!
    Number two my Hubby is a Mechanic and an honest one. They’re not all corrupt.
    And number three, now I’d better check my blood pressure. Arghhh..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Go ahead, blurt it out:

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.