Please diagnose me. Yeah internet diagnoses blah blah.

[Wiseoldminerva]

I know, I know.

Just a steer please so I can ask my medics with proper degrees…

53, on mirena and evoral patches of 75mg

Had private MOT via work in January and they identified slightly raised systolic BP but very very high HDL. (That’s the good one) Total cholesterol and ratio was fine. Normal CA125, everything else with the exception of calcium (slightly low) was normal. Normal iron study, normal creatinine etc.

About a stone overweight, otherwise fit and healthy.

And my blood pressure is suddenly ginormous. Highest has been 168/122 and I’m averaging around 145/100. Got a constant dull ache on left side below ribs, on a scale of 1-10 it’s about a 4. I have no notion where this has come from. I’m exhausted, I can hear whooshing in my ears, throbbing under my chin and I feel like I might be sick although I’ve only vomited once. Constant headache, like a tiredness one but it never goes.

WtF? Ideas welcome.

Are these private tests?

Very thorough, good on your GP if they're doing tests like that

So nagging pain (bearing in mind the pain isnt always necessarily at the site of the problem and can move about), could be...

Kidney stone/infection
Gall stones
Anything fibroidy going on/cysts etc
Hernia?
Diverticulitis

Your ferritin IS low. It is 22.9 for a range of 13 to 150. You need ferritin to be around 70 for healthy hair growth. No wonder you feel shit.

Quite high protein and high BP could indicate minor kidney injury. (Consistent with flank pain you have mentioned) Have they done a urine dip test? Also have they checked parathyroid hormone? Changes here can affect BP and calcium levels.

The grey ones are via a private MOT through work, they do it via Nuffield. They also looked at QRisk, flexibility, resting fitness etc. The white ones are from haematology. My GP is sending me for more, I think for kidney but they can’t fit me in for a test for 2 weeks.

Had my gallbladder out 15 years ago.

Had a fibroid trimmed before Christmas and they fitted the mirena, all by urogynacogist, who also prescribes my HRT. Saw him initially suspecting a kidney stone and there was a shadow but that has since disappeared.

No one has mentioned diverticulitis or hernia. Am waiting for some occult bloods to come back (all done via the MOT) but nothing remarkable there as far as I know.

Liver could be a thing though. But the pain is on the wrong side.

Haematologist said he won’t infuse unless it’s below 9 and I’m symptomatic. I said “I’m symptomatic now” and he said well that’s not cos of your ferritin.

Yes urine dip test, results ^^

I'm not saying it IS health anxiety (I'm not a medical professional) but, given that you say all your stats and bloods are all normal then stress and anxiety might be the cause of your high BP.

Are you taking 3 readings and 5 big deep breaths to relax each time you measure your BP? That's what I was told to do. Invariably, the first reading was always sky high. The second two were lower.

Sorry - posted too soon. I would request an ultrasound of both parathyroid and kidneys. It’s not invasive and an easy way to see if there’s anything suspicious there.

Re BP meds. You are just on the start of the journey. They will start you on an initial dose. Then after you have been on this for 4 weeks will want you to take BP readings (twice daily for a week). Likely the dose will be adjusted or another medication added....and take the readings 4 weeks later....adjust medication & continue...

I started this a year ago and it has taken until now to get normal readings. I have never had any symptoms - this is why high BP goes undetected so easily.

I would review the medications your on a lot of them can raise bp.. make sure your eating lots of fruit and vegetables 🙏

Yes - sitting quietly before each test, leaving one minute between, testing morning and evening. All high.

Im honestly not given to health anxiety. I had the MOT through work cos it was free and included a mammogram too.

God that is ages! I feel rotten and tired!

Where do you get it tested?

I always found it was lower when I popped into the chemist to get the pharmasist to do it, I would just turn up randomly and see if he had space

Mine didnt come down that well on meds but then I was about 10 stone overweight at the time!! Its now normal, low normal, but they wont take me off the meds.

I’ll go back to my uruogynae then. He’s lovely and responds to email.

Surgery - in a little machine around the corner and new home BP machine.

Have you had your hba1c tested? Could be an indication of a fatty liver if high.

My GP told me not to bother with a home manchine, said they were unreliable

BP tends to rise as we age, especially post menopause. A glass of wine every evening may contribute to increasing BP, if you have a predisposition. Do you a family history of high BP?

I hope that you get some concrete answers soon OP.

I have had it tested, fasting, but I can’t find the actual result, but I remember it was around 4, and not diabetic.

You have high blood pressure.

Your overweight, you drink alcohol daily, you are also on medications that can increase your blood pressure. You had high blood pressure in January. It's not unlikely you would develop high blood pressure in your 50s. Half of Britain has high blood pressure and most of the time there's no cause

I was hoping red wine reduced it a bit, especially when taken with the ramipril! Appropriate medicinal use etc!

Ok so it’s related solely to weight and a glass of red? I’ve been much heavier in the past. Just feels like it is out of nowhere - or there’s some cause I haven’t found, rather than “one of those things.”

Will lose weight and knock off the Merlot for a start.

Don’t want to stop HRT. That’s for everyone’s benefit.

@Wiseoldminerva Im not sure what you mean by “what is causing my hypertension”. You’ll find on the internet that many factors contribute including age (your age that means, you don’t need to be elderly), menopause without hrt, diet, exercise, genetics, cholesterol, weight, smoking. It can creep up very gradually, but it will eventually cross a threshold where it should be treated.

Sadly, what we can get away with in our youth we cannot get away with post menopause.

I commiserate, I have had to be much more stringent now I am in my late 50s. Every mouthful has a consequence.