High Blood Pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease

knewlove · Last edited by knewlove on Mon May 12, 2008 10:56 pm; edited 1 time in total

Heart disease runs in my family. For the last few years I have been taking medication for both high bp and high cholesterol. (I take the Ace-inhibitor drug Altace which has reduced my bp from 150/100 to 135/90) and Lipitor which has lowered my bad LDL cholesterol from 7.4 to 4.3. I'll prob have to take the meds for the rest of my life. Anyone else in the same boat?

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Skippy X · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 5:49 pm Post subject:

i don't know if it helps heart disease or not, but i recently learnt that asprin can be used as an anti-contalgilant (spelling?), which can reduce the chance of heart attack as makes blood thinner or something so that the heart doesn't have to pump so hard to get the blood around the body & to the brain.

though should be careful with asprin if the persons asthmatic as could kick start an asthma attack.

i've also heart that chillis thin the blood, so would probably have same affect.

i know i've gone off the subject a little, but thought it was a connected topic

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Sadie · Member User Online: Joined: 15 Dec 2007 Posts: 28

*Wave* me too....me too.
Yep I have been on BP med for about 7 or 8 years now - still not right. I take 2 lots of tabs. Noten and coversyl plus. The plus has a fluid tab in it too which helps, I know it makes me run faster LOL.
I'm meant to be on Lipitor as well for cholesterol but so far I haven't gotten them, they are so expensive!!
I have to go for a sugar test too - I hit 50 and fell apart! LOL

knewlove · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:37 pm Post subject:

ooh ooh me too Sadie! I just found out after my last blood sugar test I'm 1 point away from being diagnosed with Diabetes!! Noooooooooooooo! I refuse so I'm watching what I eat a bit better now. My mom has Type 2 diabetes and my grandmother has Type 1. My dad also has Type 1 so It may be in the cards for me yet but I don't want it...have enuff on my plate with the high bp and cholesterol!

Yup you're right Skips ASA or Aspirin helps with preventative therapy I forgot to mention that I am also taking one a day too. It is an
anti-coagulant(sp!) think I'm closer tho

) Not familiar with chillis tho....

The Noten and coversyl plus pills you're taking sound like bp water pills/diuretics...they work well too. Mine are the ace-inhibitors. There are so many different types!! Who knows how they all work just as long as they work lol

And don't get me started about the cost of the meds! Because of my hubby's teaching benefits we get 80% coverage (but we have to pay for it first then we get reimbursed). It is sooo expensive too several hundred dollars a month!
I was lucky last week my doctor gave me a whole bunch of free samples she had at the clinic so I am set for 3 months free - woohooo! If your cholesterol is high I defintely recommend Lipitor it works soooo well. (see if your doctor will give you a few months free too

). My uncle was on Lipitor and was doing great then decided to go off it and had a heartattack. So I'll never go off it if I can help it.!

Yup for life...too bad we didn't have free health care coverage. How is your health care in Europe? - I have heard it is better and more advanced than in NA.

Let me know how you make on..

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Sadie · Member User Online: Joined: 15 Dec 2007 Posts: 28

I'm in Australia Knewlove and no, our healthcare is definately not free! I am lucky with my GP because she has opted to "bulk bill". That means I don't pay her. The govt pay a portion and we pay the gap but because she bulk bills means that she accepts what the govt give and thats it.
We have several companies here all begging for us to be members of their organisation for medical insurance. We have chosen one called Health Partners because it is cheaper. We are only insured for extras though, no hospital so if we go to the hospital we have to go as a public patient so we don't have to pay as they bulk bill but we don't get the same benefits as private patients.
Out insurance covers some medicines. Our of 4 lots of tablets hubby and i have, Health partners covers only 1, that is my Noten, which are beta blockers by the way. So we get them for $14.50 instead of the normal $30 odd a pop.
We are also covered for ambulance, optical, dental, physio and other stuff so that's good.
I do believe we are in a better position here with our health care than you are in USA though.

Dreama · CC&S User Online: Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 349

that sounds pretty much like the UK. We have national health, which sounds like your 'public patient', but we could go private which is far quicker, and far better but like you we have to pay for that, or get medical insurance. We also have to pay for our medicines so its not 'free' as some countries think. We also pay national insurance every week/month from our wages, thats a portion of our wages, and compulsory not voluntary and is totally seperate from tax so in a way we pay for our 'free health service' anyway.
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Serenity · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:45 am Post subject:

Paul has hi BP and is on ramipril, has been for a couple of years now and has regular check ups every 6 months to ensure its doing its job, so far so good!

My dad had high choles' and was always watching what he ate, I keepa check on mine and its quite low thankfully. Diabetes runs in our family too but so far I've been spared that.

I think prescription charges here are around the £7 mark per item, and works out expensive if youre on several diff meds. And like Shell said, we pay NHS through wages so its all paid upfront and you don't notice it so much.

When Scott needed grommits when he was about 4 there was a year waiting list, and he was almost deaf and falling behind at school, so we paid to go private, it cost about £1,500 for the 20 minute operation to fit them and a couple of hours in recovery! Extortionate but well worth it for his education

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Skippy X · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 10:53 pm Post subject:

not sure if it's since he officially became an O.A.P. or since he was diagnosed asthmatic, but my father no longer has to pay for his prescriptions!!
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Sadie · Member User Online: Joined: 15 Dec 2007 Posts: 28

We have a "Medicare Levy" here which is paid with tax from wages too. If we have private insurance we get a rebate at the end of the fin. year.
Here, anyone on a pension of any kind usually hold a "concession card" and that entitles them to cheaper medicines, I think about $5 a script or something. But they also get cheaper everything. I don't mind with the aged but when you get silly little girls getting pregnant while still at school so they can go directly on a single parent benefit, get a pension PLUS a "baby bonus" of $4000. That's a bit rude!
And we, the taxpayers, have to pay for everything including theirs!
(Oops finding myself whinging here LOL)