So my brothers fucking...

[one_voice]

blood pressure was/is 175/125 and he won't go to the goddamn hospital.

[sakabatou]

1. How is he still alive?

[eugene jones]

2. Don't panic, but...

He should be ok at that level....mine gets up near there sometimes. But, see if you can convince him to go...that is not good for a sustained time, as you know. Good luck.

[one_voice]

4. He's so frickin' hard headed! thanks!

[RebelOne]

10. Mine gets up there sometimes when I don't take my blood pressure pills.

I walked around with it at 170 for a long time before I had my blood pressure read. At that time I was in my 50s. I am now 73 and still alive and kicking. Your brother should be OK until he gets to his doctor. A prescription for blood pressure pills should take care of it.

[one_voice]

21. thanks!...

that's reassuring.

[HipChick]

3. Umm...I have a cousin sitting in long-term nursing care because of untreated BP

she's not even 50...left it untreated and a blood vessel burst in her brain..

she cannot look after herself, no long-term memory..the other residents in the nursing care facility are much older than her


they don't call it the silent killer for nothing...

[one_voice]

5. I know that's what we're concerned with...

my mom is a nurse. He had a physical for a job today; that's when he first found out how high it was. He goes straight to moms who tried unsuccessfully to convince him to go to the ER or at least the urgent care place.

He's going to wait to see the family doctor tomorrow. He's already had one heart attack. He's 44.

[hedgehog]

30. Who did the physical and what did they have to say?

[one_voice]

31. The physical was done by a doctor..

for a job he was hired for. He told my brother he couldn't clear him for the job then told him to go to the ER, urgent care facility or his family doc asap. Of course the hard head didn't he went straight to my moms.

[eugene jones]

6. Is he with you now?

Either way, if he smokes, don't let him have a cig.

Try to get him to relax.

If he refuses to go, either call a nurse help line or tell him you are calling an ambulance if he doesn't go.

[one_voice]

7. No..

the shit fuck went home! Probably smoked the whole way. God he's an asshole. My mom's in tears worried--she's a nurse. He's all I'll be fine...

Mind you he's had one heart attack already.

So completely selfish...I'd kick his ass if I didn't think I'd hurt him. I swear I would..

[eugene jones]

8. Send an ambulance to his house

Better safe than sorry.

[eugene jones]

9. do it.

[one_voice]

13. I will call my parents and tell them to do that...

my brother can be so hard headed. If he doesn't want to do something he's not going to do it.

[TheMadMonk]

15. You cannot help those who WILL NOT help themselves.

That's stupid advice. He will turn the ambulance away, and One Voice is left with a huge bill at a minimum, and potentially could be criminally prosecuted for missuse of emergency services into the bargain.

[eugene jones]

16. OK

Just trying to help.

[one_voice]

20. thank you..

it's appreciated!

[eugene jones]

22. More I think about it...

call the ambulance. It is not stupid advice. Call them, tell them what the situation is, and let them take it from there. You won't get sued for god's sake.

Good luck.

[rug]

11. Does he have health insurance?

[one_voice]

17. Yes. He does...

that's what's so frustrating. My mom is a nurse so he knows when she says lets go she knows what she's talking about. He's that mule you have to hit with a two by four, seriously. I know my parents will worry until he's seen.

They were with him when he had his heart attack, they drove him to the hospital cuz he wouldn't get in an ambulance. The whole time my mom thought he was gonna die in the back seat. It was awful for them.

[rug]

18. Yeah, he's run out of reasons not to go.

If he doesn't care about himself I hope he cares about the people who love him.

[Aristus]

12. The systolic pressure - 175 is high enough, but it's the diastolic - 125

that is cause for concern. He ought to go to the ED. He's at risk for what's called hypertensive crisis.

If his b/p approaches something like 220/160, stage an intervention.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. +1

[one_voice]

19. Ok, thank you.

My mom is a nurse, she worked ICU, so she's tried to explain all this to him. He knows he just won't do it.

Hopefully he'll get to see the doctor.

I don't understand what makes some people so hard headed when it comes to their own health. I admit, I'll wait until I can't wait anymore to go to the docs, but I would never do this. It's just dumb.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

23. I did 240 over 130 in the Dr.'s office when my HBP was discovered.

They let me go home with some initial meds to try and we played with the mix for months before it got down to the truly safe range. As someone said upthread, it's the 125 diastolic that's the bigger problem.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. The lower number...the diastolic number, is critical.

That's when the heart gets its blood. When the pressure is too high, the blood has trouble getting into the heart muscle.

It can seriously kill you.

His stubbornness could very well kill him.

I'm really sorry he's causing you this much grief, and your mom too. I used to work critical care, and I understand exactly where she is.

[one_voice]

29. It's hard when you know...

what it means.

[eugene jones]

25. How is everything, one voice? nt

[one_voice]

26. Mom talked to him...

he's not budging on going anywhere tonight. My dad is going down and getting him first thing in the morning to be at the docs when they open. Best we can do. Thanks for your concern, it truly is appreciated.

[eugene jones]

27. Well, I know how

that can be....him being so stubborn.

Try not to worry....you do what you can do.

I'm trusting that he will be fine.

[one_voice]

28. I hope so...

we have a good family doc, who will yell at him, then give him what he needs. Well, not the kick in the ass, I'll have to do that.

[MiddleFingerMom]

32. Within a year or so after moving to Tucson (in 1998), I finally landed a good fulltime job.

.
.
.
Within a day or two, I went in for a routine check in the company nurse's office (I already
HAD the job -- this wouldn't have resulted in my losing it... just a safety check.
.
.
My B/P was probably in between your brother's and Aristus' level for an intervention -- I
seem to remember about 180/130.
.
.
I had JUST dodged the bullet of homelessness -- I was on the last coupla hundred dollars
of my savings and, if I hadn't landed the job, would've lost my apartment the following
month.
.
.
So, dangerous though I knew it was... I told the nurse that I couldn't AFFORD to go to
the ER or Urgent Care until my health insurance from that job kicked in in another month.
.
.
She still encouraged me to go, but I was adamant in taking my chances.
.
.
She educated me in the signs of heart attack and especially stroke and relaxation methods.
.
She came by my desk daily to repeat that education.
.
The MOMENT I was eligible for health insurance, I went to the doctor and he prescribed
a water pill -- a 10-cent-a-day pill that immediately brought my B/P down into a healthy
and normal range.
.
.
But who knows whether that delay had anything to do with the problems that I'm dealing
with now (it almost certainly contributed to my enlarged heart).
.
You're right. If he's got insurance, he's just being a stubborn old dumbhead idiot.
.
.
I've found out through intimate experience over the last 5 years or so that death doesn't
frighten me.
.
.
Strokes scare the SHIT out of me -- ESPECIALLY the scenario described by HipChick in
Post #3 -- being in long term nursing care unable to care for myself at my age. It was
bad enough being one of the youngest people at Inpatient Cardiac Rehab following my
surgery and subsequent complications.
.
.
.