REMINDER ABOUT THE SILENT KILLER...HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Deb and I check ours at least once a week, and since we have a house guest for the next month, invited him to check his......he admitted he hadn't checked his in nearly 3 years. The first reading was 205 over 105...the following 3 were similar in results.

I immediately contacted Dr. Sam Thelin @ Cruz Roja, and found that they did EKG's and had a newer machine....got my friend down there this morning, BP was 190 over 100, all is good, prescription for HBP received, no apparent damage.

Cruz Roja charged 300 pesos, and the entire proceedure took less than 30 minutes, on a Sunday morning.

Thanks again Dr. Sam!

Jim W wrote:Deb and I check ours at least once a week, and since we have a house guest for the next month, invited him to check his......he admitted he hadn't checked his in nearly 3 years. The first reading was 205 over 105...the following 3 were similar in results.

I immediately contacted Dr. Sam Thelin @ Cruz Roja, and found that they did EKG's and had a newer machine....got my friend down there this morning, BP was 190 over 100, all is good, prescription for HBP received, no apparent damage.

Cruz Roja charged 300 pesos, and the entire proceedure took less than 30 minutes, on a Sunday morning.

Thanks again Dr. Sam!

My Doctor gave me a scrip and Recommended Mota.... works great on Blood Pressure

I Love My Doctor!!

Jesus Hocks, everytime ya post sumthin I gotta "Google">>>>>Mota? LMAO, Why didn't ya just say Mary Jane, Hemp, pot? Canabis. BTW, does your Doctor write prescriptions in both Canada and US?

Jim, your buddy wasn't hitting that tequila barrel before you took his BP was he?

CanuckBob wrote:Jim, your buddy wasn't hitting that tequila barrel before you took his BP was he?

Bob, there hasn't been tequila in that barrel since I quit.....June 8th, 2012! If anyone wants an empty, 10 ltr tequila barrel, please PM! Cost a couple cervesas........LMAO......I don't deliver! In all honesty, regarding blood pressure......My buddy was shocked, I freaked....thinkin stroke or worse.....Happy all turned out well, and a warning to all.....CHECK IT!

Now he should go to an Opthamologist and have his retinas checked to make sure that no damage was done.

ferret wrote:Now he should go to an Opthamologist and have his retinas checked to make sure that no damage was done.

Ferret, me or Hocks?

Your House Guest...he's the one who didn't know he had high blood pressure. And, for sure, he doesn't know how long it's been high if he hasn't had it checked in three years. That can do damage to the retinas of the eyes. He should go have it checked...and be thankful that he has friends as caring as you.

ferret wrote:Your House Guest...he's the one who didn't know he had high blood pressure. And, for sure, he doesn't know how long it's been high if he hasn't had it checked in three years. That can do damage to the retinas of the eyes. He should go have it checked...and be thankful that he has friends as caring as you.

Thank You Ferret, night has been hell, my wife had another stroke, fortunately, we know symtoms, took her to cruz roja, got injection, all is good. We are so lucky to have cruz roja! All is good!

OMG! Jim, is she going to be OK? Send me a PM if you don't want to discuss here. She's looks so young to be having strokes.

hockables wrote:

Jim W wrote:Deb and I check ours at least once a week, and since we have a house guest for the next month, invited him to check his......he admitted he hadn't checked his in nearly 3 years. The first reading was 205 over 105...the following 3 were similar in results.

I immediately contacted Dr. Sam Thelin @ Cruz Roja, and found that they did EKG's and had a newer machine....got my friend down there this morning, BP was 190 over 100, all is good, prescription for HBP received, no apparent damage.

Cruz Roja charged 300 pesos, and the entire proceedure took less than 30 minutes, on a Sunday morning.

Thanks again Dr. Sam!

My Doctor gave me a scrip and Recommended Mota.... works great on Blood Pressure



I Love My Doctor!!

Name of doctor please, you can send a P.M. Sounds like my kinda guy.

ferret wrote:OMG! Jim, is she going to be OK? Send me a PM if you don't want to discuss here. She's looks so young to be having strokes.

Thanks again Ferret. Deb called Dr. Leon immediately, he had her go to farmacia christina all completed within an hour. Within hours the 1st sign for her...numb lips....disappeared.
Everyone should take a few minutes and google stroke symptoms. Getting treatment....sooner the better, can reverse stroke damage......OFF MY SOAP BOX now

Sorry to hear this, JimW, hope your wife does well and has no more problems.

What was the name of the medicine(s) prescribed by Dr. Leon?

That's not a soap box Jim...that's good, caring information to be passed on.
I, too, would like to know the name of the medicine for future reference.

is it 'etanercept'?
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/dec/24/shot-of-hope-injection-shows-promise-for-stroke/

On the receipt from Farmacia Cristina, the descripcion says ALIN AMP 4 MG.
It is injected, the cost was 47 pesos minus discount of 9.4 net 37.60 pesos.

I'm not sure if this is an abbreviation, will update when we talk to MD.

espíritu del lago wrote:is it 'etanercept'?
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/dec/24/shot-of-hope-injection-shows-promise-for-stroke/

I teared up reading this. To be able to reverse some of the effects of a stroke so long after the fact, is miraculous. Thank you so much for posting this link.
Etanercept is the main ingredient in Enbrel (according to the article).

Alin is also a very potent anti-inflammatory. Main ingredient is Dexamethasone. The Amp. , I believe stands for "Ampulla" or "Ampule" in English...meaning that it is in a glass ampule...top snaps off and liquid inside is drawn into a syringe for injection. I found the articles in Spanish, then highlighted the text and right clicked and chose BING to translate.

Now, both of these products would appear to have side effects. IMHO, side effects are nothing compared to getting your life back.

So, Jim, your wife apparently had a neurological event of some kind. Stroke is a cerebral bleed or clot - whether she had a stroke or not would depend on the results of a CAT scan. Was she sent for a CAT scan?

And, this neurological event/stroke was treated with a steroidal (Dexamethasone) anti inflammatory??? Do I have this right???

Were there blood labs requested? Were there blood thinners prescribed? Is there any follow-up being done?

Bells Palsy will present as a stroke. It can be treated with corticosteroid and antiviral meds.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/bells-palsy-topic-overview

One other question, JimW, has your wife been under the care of a neurologist? Is she currently?

Trailrunner wrote:One other question, JimW, has your wife been under the care of a neurologist? Is she currently?

Sorry I don't have all the answers, Trailrunner. She had a cat scan....plus gawd knows what other tests, after her first stroke on Christmas eve, 2010. Approx., 36 hours in the hospital, In Oregon, and $18,000.00 USD later released. They put her on aspirin regimine, BP meds., plus something I am not familiar with, at that time. She has not been under care of neurologist since then. Now we gotta rethink approach, as this second occurance presented it self, much in the way of the first stroke.

Looking at Trailrunners link, Bell's palsy, medical term trigeminal neuralgia could actually be the problem, has Deb had any dental work recently which may have damaged the trigeminal nerve? Or any Dental infections?

Might want to check that out as well.

E-raq wrote:Looking at Trailrunners link, Bell's palsy, medical term trigeminal neuralgia could actually be the problem, has Deb had any dental work recently which may have damaged the trigeminal nerve? Or any Dental infections?

Might want to check that out as well.

Thanks Raq, but none of the above, other than normal cleaning, twice annually over the past 2 years.

Jim W wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:One other question, JimW, has your wife been under the care of a neurologist? Is she currently?

Sorry I don't have all the answers, Trailrunner. She had a cat scan....plus gawd knows what other tests, after her first stroke on Christmas eve, 2010. Approx., 36 hours in the hospital, In Oregon, and $18,000.00 USD later released. They put her on aspirin regimine, BP meds., plus something I am not familiar with, at that time. She has not been under care of neurologist since then. Now we gotta rethink approach, as this second occurance presented it self, much in the way of the first stroke.

One thing I failed to mention, she didn't get the injection the 1st stroke for over 24 hours, and as a result, her right side is numb, has virtually no feeling..(naropathy...sp?)...resulting in many burns etc., fortunately has not lost muscle and appears perfectly normal physically. On the lighter side, I bought her a tatoo for her birthday, both eyes, now she doesn't poke herself trying to put on eye liner....

Aw, Jim, I'm sorry this has happened to your wife. Please don't let it happen again!

Find a reputable, well respected, neurologist in Guad and take her to see that person for a work-up. Bring all old records and medicines. Tell them about the recent episode.

One of you should know the answers to those questions! It's completely different here than in Oregon, you MUST take responsibility for your own health care. Or not. . .or pay the price.

Best not to expect these local clinics to save you either, patient assessment and medical work-up are foreign concepts to them.