Any Problems With Xanax?

[Sherrielee]

I was wondering about Xanax...since I take one almost every night. I have had a couple of high readings...140's - 150's in the morning. Then, it levels out to the 120's after breakfast and lunch.

I am keeping a food and BG reading diary for my visit to the Dr in 3 weeks. I have been tracking all this for almost 3 weeks now and have adhered strictly to Dr B's guidelines. Just wishing my BG would go under 110....on average. How long does that usually take without drugs?

Actually, I am more worried about my blood pressure. It was 180/115 today at the grocery store. Are those machines reliable? Isn't that really high?

Hard to sleep with all these health issues. I have Inderal here...for the blood pressure, but am afraid to take it because of the BG.

I bought Vanadryl Sulfate today and Gymnema...will report any effects!

Sweet dreams everyone! :)

[nawchem]

You do have a complicated life eh? Have you tried taking the inderal? I test my blood pressure every week, at the drug store, usually I do it a couple times because it decreases the longer I'm sitting still. The values I get are close to the dr. office.

I have seen inderal prescribed for anxiety also, it does kind of calm me down, so maybe you can kill 2 birds with one stone if you take it. Hopefully as you lose weight and exercise your blood pressure will go down and you can get off the meds.

I so admire all the effort your putting into being healthy. Keep going!

[doreen T]

hi Sherrielee,

I'm concerned about your blood pressure too. 180/115 is seriously high, and if you've been prescribed medication for it, then you should be taking it. Yes, inderal is a beta blocker, and beta blockers can raise b/g's. It can also save your life. If you absolutely don't want to take it, that's valid, but you must not wait 3 weeks to see your dr. Get an appt. as soon as you can to get another type of medication ordered that will help get your bld pressure under control. Even if the drugstore machine was out by 5% .. the numbers would still be too high.

Stress can cause your sugars to be elevated ... and the high blood pressure sure is stressful. I'd say that right now, getting your blood pressure under control is a priority.


Doreen

[c6h6o3]

My physician has cautioned me that blood pressure medication is something which must be taken religiously every day. The dosage takes into account the body's adjustment to it and the buildup of effect over a number of days. You must take it as prescribed and if you want to try to get off of it, work with your doctor on it. 180 / 115 is really dangerous. Don't worry about the sugar now. Get the BP down first.

As I mentioned in another post, ACE inhibitors are often a good alternative to beta blockers, and in my case actually lowered the glucose. But you must work with your doctor.

[Sherrielee]

I took my 20 mg of Inderal this morning and evening and the BG stayed in the 130's all day. Bp went down to 170/100. Guess this is the best I can do til I can get ACE.

Thanks for all you help...I feel so "out there"....with all this. Will be happy to see my doctor. BTW...my family doctor retired last year...just in time for mwe to need him the most!

[Lisa N]

Hi Sherrielee!

170/100 is still very high for blood pressure. If it doesn't start coming down, you need to call your doctor right away.
I agree with everyone else. A slightly elevated blood sugar is less worrisome than the high blood pressure right now. Maybe your doctor would be willing to call in a prescription for something else for a few days until you can get in to see him?

[Sherrielee]

Thanks for all the concern. I do feel that high BP is a greater issue than my glucose at this time. Several things could be happening right now.

For starters: last night I went to bed and read for an hour or so...tested my BG .. 120...then my BP 134/80. I tested it 3 times because I wanted to make sure it was okay. I am thinking...

I had surgery in January on my knee. I was in bed pretty much for 2 months. When I started exercising and getting around again...I noticed that I was breathless and basically out-of-shape. I am still not quite back to normal. This morning I jumped out of bed because someone was at the door. Came back and tested BG and BP. BP was 181/100. So I layed there and watched the News for about 30 mins...tested again and it was 151/97.

I have never tested BP before at home....or BG for that matter until 3 weeks agao. Could it be that I am testing BP at the wrong time? When I tested at the store...I had be running all over town...lots of stress because the in-laws are coming for their 1st visit in 17 years...I know my husband wants everything perfect. Is it possible that BP flucuates during the day? That much? It seems when I am resting it is normal/near normal. BTW, I am going to continue to take that low dose of Inderal until I see my doctor. Boy....is here ever going to get an earfull!

Thanks for all your support!

[Lisa N]

Is it possible that BP flucuates during the day? That much?

Yes, it is normal for blood pressure to fluctuate throughout the day, but it shouldn't be going that high even if you are excercising or under stress. With your blood pressure running as high as it is when you are up and moving around, I still think it would be a good idea to give your doctor a call as soon as possible to let them know what is going on. I think that they will likely want to see you sooner than 3 weeks from now. With things like this, it's always best to play it safe.

[c6h6o3]

You might Dr. Bernstein's technique for measuring blood pressure if you have time. Sit in a quiet room with no distractions and take a reading every five minutes. Each successive reading should be lower until it bottoms and then begins to go back up. The bottom one is the one to use.

I took my blood pressure this way last night while watching TV. The first reading was 134/79. The bottom one was 119/83. The diastolic could be considered a little high, but I forgot to take my medication yesterday so I'm not too worried about it.

Some people get nervous just due to the very act of taking it and that alone makes it go up. This method tends to counteract those artifacts.

[Lisa N]

Some people get nervous just due to the very act of taking it and that alone makes it go up.

Yup...I'm one of those. My blood pressure is always perfectly normal when I check it on the machine at work (120's over low 80's), but the second I step in the doctor's office, up it goes.
I keep record of when I check it and when I visit the doctor, I show it to him so that he can see it's just him that makes it go up. (JK) :D
I've also read somewhere (but can't remember where) that if you use those drug store blood pressure machines, you should wait a minute or so in between, but check it 3 times and use the last reading which should also be the lowest. Those machines are typically calibrated for people with higher than average blood pressure.

[c6h6o3]

You might want to show this to your doctor. It's an excellent article on ACE inhibitors.

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/rosen/i141.shtml

[Sherrielee]

c6h6o3 - Thank you for that article. I have printed it out for him. I am taking a world of worries to him, but he is a nice guy, althrough quite young. He is not against LC...just red meat, cheese and nitrates.

He looks at BG & BP problems through his pregnant patients, so I am guessing that he is pretty up on the stuff that "first does no harm". Should be an interesting little office visit....PLUS I finally get to see what my BG REALLY is. I've about worn out this little glucometer!

Thank you all for all your support during these stressful days! :)