How should wide blood pressure be treated?
Hi. I am a 74 year old woman. I weigh 117 lb and am 5'5. I work out most days for about an hour and walk regularly. Over the past year, I have had 'wide' blood pressure readings. Systolic BP usually usually between 140 and 155 and diastolic pressure in the 60s. The doctors I have seen (in Toronto) seem to be unconcerned about the high systolic given the low diastolic readings. Currently I am taking ramipril and amlodipine to get to these BP levels. I am wondering if the status quo is the best approach. I've recently read an articles that suggest that wide BP increases risk substantially for cardiovascular disease and a diuretic like hydrochlorothiazide is recommended. Can you recommend any recent articles on this topic ? Is there a doctor in Toronto that is particularly knowledgeable about this area?
Electrolytes during fasting
I know that this has been mentioned in the past but can you talk about electrolytes during fasting? I find that I can usually tolerate a fast but I tend to get pretty bad muscle cramps which I believe is due to a lack of electrolytes as I drink quite a bit of water during these fast. And what is considered "breaking a fast"in terms of electrolytes? Electrolyte pills tend to give me pretty bad GI upset so it's just looking for what you recommend or what has worked for you. Thanks
Continuous glucose monitoring
Hello, Using your advice, I got a CGM to try to sort out my unexpectedly high HgB A1C (5.9). Could you please elaborate sometime on what continuous glucose monitoring should look like in someone with normal glucose processing? How high, how low, how it should respond to carb intake, and where it is expected to range the majority of the time? Thank you. I have not found information of this type on the internet. The information out there is mostly for people with abnormal glucose processing.
Does adding exogenous testosterone basically eliminate endogenous testosterone production?
I take a low dose of testosterone 60mg/week. The idea is that it would boost my low normal T. However, I am concerned that any exogenous T will basically shut off my endogenous production, which will leave me with low T anyway (because 60mg/week is subphysiologic). Basically, I'm wondering if the body falls to the level of the exogenous dose because the body shuts off natural production (i.e. it's not additive, it's replacement).