Under pressure

For some months I’ve had a small but persistent cyst on the lower eyelid of my right eye.

It won’t go away so last month I reluctantly rang my local surgery.

I say ‘reluctantly’ because I wasn’t sure I should bother them with such a minor ailment at this particular time.

Nevertheless I was told to email a photo of said ailment and a doctor would speak to me by phone.

The subsequent conversation was notable for the fact that we barely discussed the cyst at all.

I was merely told to apply a hot compress several times a day (which I had been doing already without success) and that would probably do the trick. (In fact, it made no difference.)

Instead, the doctor had looked at my medical notes and wanted to talk about my general health.

To put this in perspective, three years ago I was told I had a BMI of 32. (30+ counts as obese and triggers alarm bells.)

I was given a 24-hour blood pressure monitor that confirmed it was too high.

A rather keen junior doctor then prescribed a course of statins and when I expressed mild resistance to the idea an older nurse informed me, quite sternly, that if I didn’t take them it would significantly increase the risk of having a stroke within ten years.

“It’s your choice,” she said, but the tone of her voice suggested otherwise.

My reluctance to take statins daily was due to a number of things including bloody-mindedness and the possible side affects.

I was warned, for example, that my ankles might swell up. Lo and behold, within a few days of beginning my new regime, I could barely walk.

The problem, though, was not my ankles but the rest of my left foot - my big toe in particular - which was swollen and inflamed and incredibly painful.

I stopped taking the statins, my foot recovered, and I left it at that.

The truth is, I wasn’t certain that the two things were related. The swelling in my foot was more like gout and when I had a confirmed attack of gout last year it made me think I may have jumped to conclusions about the statins.

At the time however it was enough to convince me to stop taking them, not that I needed much encouragement.

Now, three years on, my doctor decided to revisit the issue and I was invited to take another 24-hour blood pressure test.

Yesterday, via another phone call, I got the result. My blood pressure is even higher than it was three years ago and - exciting news - my BMI is up to 36!

So it’s back to statins for me. A pill a day for three months after which they will test my blood pressure again and check to see whether they are damaging my liver!!!

In the meantime I shall watch for any other side effects - an inability to walk, for example.

PS. Whenever a medical professional asks me what my job is, I tell them. Usually this is greeted with a raised eyebrow or a wry smile.

Occasionally there is a flicker of interest and we may have a short chat about it.

Yesterday my response to the question was greeted with complete silence, an awkward pause, followed by an immediate change of subject.

Was it something I said?

Comments

[Moshe]

During the weekdays eat simply and less, scrambled eggs for supper for instance, take a brisk walk every other day, you'll lose weight and your blood pressure will go down. Should you feel miserable during the week, plan and cook some nice recipes for the weekend to compensate. Experiment with flavoured butters for steaks, cut down eating bread, buy a rotisserie chicken and wolf it down by the sink if you're peckish, make a broth from leftovers (onion, carrot, herbs). Continue with ale and ciggies as usual.

[Pat Nurse]

Thank you for all you do. It is courageous to go against the tide and if not for you and Forest, I think the authoritarian anti smoker industry would be advocating for smokers to be beaten in the street.

[Vlad]

Simon, a BMI of 36 is no joke...and statins won't do you any good and probably will do harm. My advice is to start eating real food with a focus on low carb/highly nutritive and satiating foods (meats, eggs, dairy) and limit eating window step by step to 8 hours a day. This on its own will start the weight-loss process and you'll find yourself having more energy and you'll want to do some physical activity (brisk walking is very good) which will further speed up the process.The power is in your hands, don't rely on the so-called health system which has lost the plot...it's treating symptoms while the underlying issue gets worse and then you get more pills for more symptoms.