Posted by jsarirose on July 17, 2002, at 1:02:18
In reply to Re: hypertensive experiences? , posted by Bobbiedobbs on July 16, 2002, at 23:00:35
I have had two "accidents" as well with similar results. Once I ate a seafood stew which had smoked clams in it (everything else was fresh so I assumed the clams were too). And another time I had Vietnamese Pho which has anchovy paste in it. (Took a while to figure that one out!)
Both times I got a pounding, sudden migraine about an hour after eating. It hurt horribly. The first time I called and my doctor was out. The doctor on call wanted me to take my blood pressure which, of course, I couldn't at home. He wouldn't let me take my "emergency" pill and suggested I take some Advil and lie down. Well, the last thing you can do when you have a migraine is lie down. I took to pain pills I had left over from surgery and eventually it faded.
The second time I called my doctor. She said to take the "emergency" pill. If my blood pressure was high it would bring it down and if not it wouldn't hurt me. I took it and one pain pill. I started to feel better very soon. Both times I had residual headaches (not migraines) for a couple days after and slept a lot.
RE: the emergency pill. My doctor prescribed Chlorpromazine (thorazine). It doesn't give you the famous drooling side effects if you only take it very occasionally. It's also safe to take even if you aren't technically in hypertensive crisis.
I also bought a home electronic blood pressure kit. I didn't think I'd be able to take my blood pressure manually in a crisis, but the automatic one is easy. I take it periodically to maintain a diary of my regular blood pressure too.
-Jessica
poster:jsarirose
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020709/msgs/112615.html