Let’s begin at the beginning.

Lately I wrote about my anxiety issues and how I got help for that.

Unfortunately, that did not end there.

The very next day I went to work for the first time in two years. So yes, of course I was a little bit anxious. But this weird tingling sensation in my hand started the night before and by the morning it graduated to half my body, my left half including my face. It was seriously unpleasant and scary.

Obviously, I did not want to start my very first day back at work at A&E so I kind of tried to ignore it. I told some of my nurse friends about it (may God bless you, Sharon and Denise) and they were a bit worried that I didn’t run to casualty immediately. But I’m very stubborn and I waited for my shift to be over.

I go to triage, the nurse is surprised to see me because on the outside I’m the pinnacle of health. She asks usual, standard questions and checks my blood pressure. I told her I was on anti-anxiety meds, had just started them and maybe this was a side effect? She thought it was unlikely. I was very calm while in casualty so I got a little shocked when my blood pressure was dangerously high. She checked again. The second time was even worse.

By then one of my nurse friends came to join me, because due to COVID, I was all alone. I was given a cubicle and the doctor came and I explained how I had a 4 day headache prior to this tingling episode (which by then had subsided). She drew some blood and told me that I would need a head CT.

Oh my goodness. I was terrified. Suddenly I started talking gibberish and I was incomprehensible with fear. I had to wait a while for the results. I got so sweaty with the worry. By then, my blood pressure had gone down considerably, still high but not the shocking number it was in triage.

The results came back, nothing remarkable. I was told this was anxiety, I was advised to see a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a neurologist regarding my migraines.

And that was that.

However after a very short while, the tingling came back, sometimes in one hand, sometimes my feet. It was annoying and worrying.

So on the advice of a trusted doctor, I saw a neurologist. He examined me thoroughly and said very surely: this is not anxiety. This is vascular. You need a cardiologist. He advised a brain mri to rule out MS. I did that too, clear.

So I visited a cardiologist. He checked my blood pressure. The norm should be 120/80. Mine was 150/100. Which is really quite bad. I got started on a low dose of ace inhibitors and I will do a 24hr blood pressure monitor to see if we need to fix the dose. After being on treatment for two weeks, I feel so well.

Prior to this tingling episode, I had loads of symptoms which nobody ever linked with high blood pressure, including myself:

Headaches.

Constantly feeling warm, even when everyone else is freezing.

Frequent urination.

Always tired.

Very irritable.

Constant red pallor.

Feeling a little rotten in general, but simply getting used to it.

The anxiety part of this was not entirely wrong. The anxiety was definitely not doing my blood pressure any favors. However, I have been advised to stop my anxiety medication since about ten days ago and I still feel quite alright. So far no tingling, it’s summer and I haven’t needed the AC at night and I have not had a migraine since I started blood pressure treatment.

I’m writing about this because it could happen to anyone. Lately I spoke to a doctor friend of mine and told him of the whole saga and he told me in no uncertain terms that it was very possible that if I hadn’t been on top of things, I could have very easily had a stroke, which could have killed me or else left me with some physical challenges.

So if you are not feeling so great, get checked out because it could be something that is easily solved. And it could save your life. Take it seriously.

Good night all and keep well.