So – I finally got to see my GP this evening. I’ll admit, I was feeling a bit down in the dumps after those recent fainting spells, but it turns out the news is actually all good!
I’ve mentioned before that a major clinical target for diabetics is to lose 10% of their body weight. I thought I was sitting around the 7% mark – not to be sneezed at, but still not quite there yet. However, I was only counting the weight loss from December. If I use my original diagnosis date as the ‘baseline,’ I’ve actually lost over 25lbs. That means I have officially hit 9.64% of my starting weight!
Losing 10% is the magic threshold where the ‘Machine’ starts to rewire itself—and that includes blood pressure.
Think of it as a calibration issue: the ‘triple-whammy’ of medication that was prescribed for 265lb (121kg) me is simply too powerful for the fitter, healthier, 240lb one.
My meds have become ‘too good’ at their job, lowering my pressure to the point where I’m prone to light-headedness and blackouts – especially when my system is stressed, as by these recent coughing fits!
The doctor caught the ‘glitch’ pretty readily. My seated blood pressure was a normal 129/80, but when he took a standing measurement, it plummeted to 106/76. This is Orthostatic Hypotension – a fancy way of saying my body can’t move blood ‘uphill’ fast enough. Essentially, my medication has made my arteries ‘too relaxed.’ They’re just chillin’ – completely uninterested in doing the extra work required to keep me conscious when I stand up!
The fix should be simple: my GP immediately halved the dosage of my primary blood pressure medication. I should see the ‘system update’ take effect over the next few days.
My cold and flu symptoms are finally retreating, so a day or two more of taking it easy – while the new prescription settles in – should be all I need. I’ve gone from feeling frustrated by an ‘enforced break’ to feeling absolutely over the moon. This isn’t a setback after all, it’s the first real, undeniable proof that my hard work is literally changing my biology!
This has turned my frown of frustration upside down into a smile of elation! 😁
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