Raised Blood Glucose

Thanks for the reply. It is the GP who wants to double the 2.5 Ramapril. He hadn't taken my blood pressure since July and at that time it was within acceptable limits. So not sure why he is doubling the tablets without first having checked my BP!

Regards.

heather72097..you have every right to ask "why" are you doubling the dose..especially if the readings are within acceptable limits. Ask him to check your bp BEFORE he goes head-long into doubling the medication.

If you're within the limits, challenge the doubling. I don't know about where you live, but here in Canada doctors don't like to increase the medication unless it's completely necessary, i.e. the readings aren't improving or have increased. Doubling the medication poses the higher risk of side effects. Sometimes doubling doesn't work at all...a different medication along with say the Rampiril may work, or simply changing medications might work. 

If it were me, & we all must do what's best for ouselves, I'd be asking why are we doubling the medication when the readings are fine. 

I'm on 10 mg Ramapril, to me,,, it's the least bothersom drug.

Hi I'm not diabetic. Had bloods taken and BP in July and my glucose level was 6.9. Had it taken again last week (no BP taken this time). Glucose was 6.6 and my cholesterol had come down too. GP said he would double the Ramapril - dont know why. Back again tomorrow as they want to repeat the bloods - feel like a pincushion!!! I will keep you informed.

heather72097...I'm curious about something. You wrote "had bloods taken & BP in July. Are you saying July was when you had your bp taken? That's quite a while ago. If this is the case, by rights you should be monitoring your bp much more often than a few months apart. If you don't have one, I would suggest you buy a blood pressure monitor & take the readings a few times/week, or whatever. Some machines are better than others, & if you'd like a recommendation, please private message me. Once again, I'd be questioning the doctor as to 'why' he/she wants to increase the medication especially if the bp readings are ok. I don't see how the bp meds will control the glucose levels.I CAN see that if the glucose is a problem, it COULD affect bp. Remember, blood pressure elevation is a symptom of something going on in the body. It's the body's way of sending a message that something's not right..but today's medicine seems to treat the symptoms, not the cause.

Getting back to the glucose level...was this done through blood test only? Did you have a glucose tolerance test? A simple blood test may not give the true picture for glucose in the blood, but a glucose tolerance test will certainly cast a strong light on things.

Please let me know how things go., & private message me if you're interested in a recommendation for a reputable blood pressure monitor.

Well best of luck - if it were me i would be interrogating the GP, no way would I allow a GP to raise medication without a full explanation.  Some of them are so arrogant.  I'm with Mike, buy a BP monitor and do it yourself. That useful firm with the name  of a  Brazillian river is a good place to look.How high is your BP and if it's not too rude a question how old are you? It's relevant because the older one is the more the Qrisk rises and the more likely they will put you on statins - or worse. 

I believe some drs think that they haven't done their job if they send a patient away without pills of some sort!!

Just another question.  When they discovered your glucose levels were high did you have a fasting test, random test or HbA1c.  The latter is often used these days to diagnose diabetes.  I'm assuming you didn't have a glucose tolerance test as I think you've mentioned it somewhere in the thread.  If you look on websites it says a result of 6 to 6.4 is prediabetic and 6.6 is considered to be T2. But actually all the figures seem a bit confusing to me. Is that what is making the GP act as he is doing I wonder?

I do so agree that some drs today like to treat the symptoms and not the cause. You seem pretty informed on hypertension - do you know why once you take medication you are on it for life? If one improves one's lifestyle as I did why does that not sort the problem? My dr told me 3 years ago when diagnosing me that I would never be able to sort the problem without medication. At the time this was on the phone and I'd never even met him face to face. I take a small dose of Losartan and keep the BP to an average of 120<> over 80<>. and would dearly love to stop all medication

jan243..I would guess 'med for life' because the body has become accustomed to the meds...so when the meds are taken away, the body reacts to it. I have heard of people losing weight, following the Dash diet..& either the meds were reduced or stopped because they were no longer necessary. In my opinion, high bp is a symptom..there's something going on in the body which is causing the elevation. I fail to understand why doctors don't try to discover the cause rather than just treat the symptom. 

That first part of your reply is what I've been told before; once you take the things the body only recognises them and the BP will rise sharply if you stop them. Have never got my head round that one.Makes me think I should have waited longer before starting meds.  I was found to have hypertension almost 4 years ago after an NHS health check [ie. MOT].  It was 163/90 so they gave me a 24 hr monitor and it was much the same.  At the time I understood little about the problem but set about finding out. All I really found out is 'Essential Hypertension' doesn't seem to have an obvious cause.  I had numerous routine tests [kidneys, liver, ECG etc] and nothing was found. All I can say is for over 40 years I followed a low fat [and high carb] diet as per WeightWatchers and my weight would yo-yo. Eventually the scales fell off my eyes and I ditched Weight watchers and all their rubbish and started eating high fat, low carb and the weight fell off and I've never felt hungry since. It suited me anyway and is totally sustainable.

Then there is the cholesterol thing: that's what started it all really - a lot of talk in the press about having it tested back in 2009 so I went along with it and it was borderline high, so they said.  [said to repeat in 3 years, hence the subsequent invitation for another test and the health check]. The cholesterol was 5.9 [it was 6.4 mmol  3 years earlier]. What was worse I also found out that my blood glucose was borderline pre diabetic and they hadn't told me. That I could do something about so set about a life style improvement, if not a total change. I already ate well, didn't smoke etc. but was just in the overweight bracket. So i did sort that along with more exercise. I say 'more' as i was already no couch potato.  

It is the cholesterol thing that bugs me though. In the UK they have unrealistic figures to adhere to and shove you on statins if the Qrisk is over 10%. And of course it is if you are 74 years young!! My dr suggested I take them [they have to ask if you are at risk] so i asked her if, given my good state of health, she would take them and she said no.  So good enough for me. ihate taking medication for anything really,even a headache!

Sorry to have prattled on for so long!!

Hi jane243...You did not rattle on...so no need to apologise. I too do not believe in taking any sort of medication that's not necessary. If your doctor said she wouldn't take the meds, having the state of good health as you do, then I wouldn't be taking them either. It makes no sense. I've been listening to the news & reading a lot about statins. While some are helpful, some are not. There is a huge class action going on against one of the manufacturers of a statin. Many many women have become diabetic brought on by the statin, yet the manufacturer failed to warn the public that there was a risk of the onset of diabetes, particularly in females. Well, it all happened. Imagine..taking a med to help improve one's health, only to find the med caused a life long disease. I also don't believe in 'just in case' medication. It's either needed or it's not. To me, it's that simple.

When having a headache, I persevere as long as I can, then resort to taking a Tylenol..& most times 1/2 tab at 500 mg (250 at 1/2) does the trick. After an hour or so, if the headache persists, I'll take the other half tablet. 

My hypertension was discovered quite by accident. This one day I suddenly got some weird lines going through my eye..this gave me the signal that of course something was going on in my eye, the same symptom as what happened years ago, when I had 2 tears in the retina. Not wasting time, I went to the ER. At the admission desk, the girl took my bp..this is when it was discovered. The Opthalmologist thoroughly checked my eyes, & said things were fine..very likely the problem was that the gel in the eye may have broken a little, but to see him again in about 2 months, which I did...all was fine. I was at my GP telling him what happened, & to try to make this story a little shorter, I wound up on meds. 4 years later, I'm still on meds of course...4 to control the BP. 

We all can do things to help ourselves...& if we strongly disagree with what our doctor's tell us, especially when it comes to unnecessary medication, then we owe it to ourselves to tell them...why would I take meds that aren't necessary, especially if you won't take them yourself!

The doctor I have now (I went back to him 6 months ago) is more/less the old style doctor. He doesn't push meds...easy to talk with., & I trust him implicitly.The one I had for 4 years here in this city was a young doctor, nice fellow though, but a know-it-all attitude who spent more time on the computer than listening to me. There were many times I didn't think he heard what I had to say. Forgive the expression, but he was as cocky as hell! I was so very uncomfortable with him that I made enquiries about going back to my former doctor. End result was that he looked in my file & said he'd take me back! At least I'm very comfortable on the journey to see him, comfortable in his presence, & very comfortable with what he tells me, etc.etc.etc. I can't say that about the other doctor at all. A lot of times, our 'gut' will tells us what to do. If it doesn't feel right, quite likely, it isn't.