I Admitted Myself To The A&E (Accident & Emergency) At The General Hospital

Early today morning, around 2.30am when I was getting ready to sleep, I felt a bit of discomfort on my chest and back. I have this worrying "deja vu" kind of feeling because the first time I felt like this was back in December 2007 when I first discovered my HPT (hypertension - high blood pressure) problem. I tried to ignore it as I was confident that since I am taking much better care of myself by watching my diet very carefully and cutting down my work, and on top of that, I have been on medication the last 9 months.

For almost 45 minutes, from 2.30 am - 3.15am I tried to get myself to sleep. But other than the discomfort I mentioned, I have started coughing and felt a bit tight around my chest and also a slight difficulty in breathing. I immediately got up and measure my blood pressure and was shocked that it was unusually high 161/104. Yep, the same problem again.

At 4.00am, since it is already middle of the night (early morning), I have no choice but to immediately admit myself to the A&E (Accident & Emergency) department of the General Hospital.

After checking my blood pressure and realised that it has become higher (204/130), the doctor admitted me to the observation ward and another doctor took over. Immediately he asked the nurses around to carry out some tests (ECG, blood tests, etc.) and sent me to have my x-ray taken too. Around 4.30am, my blood pressure was still very high, so the doctor gave me a tablet to take while he observed me further and waiting for my tests results.

Finally, around 6.00 am, my blood pressure was around 160/100, and the doctor sent me to a temporary ward to rest while he studied my case. I could not sleep even after tossing and turning around.

Around 7.15 am, a nurse came and took my blood pressure and we were relieved that it has gone down to 136/94. The nurse asked me to rest further.

Around 7.45 am, the doctor came and tell me that I may go home. He has decided to make some adjustments to my medication. With immediate effect, my PERINDOPRIL dosage will be doubled. Instead of taking 1 tablet daily (4MG), I will now take 2 tablets daily (8MG).

So, after today's latest adjustment, here's my medications:

• ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID SOLUBLE 300 MG TABLET -
  
• 0.25 TABLET DAILY (TTL: 75MG DAILY)

• PERINDOPRIL 4MG TABLE -
  
• 2.00 TABLETS DAILY (TTL: 8MG DAILY)

• BISOPROLOL 5MG TABLET -
  
• 0.50 TABLET DAILY (TTL: 2.5MG DAILY)

• LOVASTATIN 20MG TABLET -
  
• 1.00 TABLET DAILY (TTL: 20MG DAILY)

• METFORMIN 0.5G TABLET -
  
• 2.00 TABLETS DAILY (TTL: 1G DAILY)

• ALLOPURINOL 150MG TABLET -
  
• 0.50 TABLET 2 TIMES DAILY (TTL: 300MG DAILY)

He asked me to take the adjusted dosage for my medications for the next one week, and then go to a nearby polyclinic to have my blood pressure measured by a doctor. He also reminded me that I should measure my blood pressure myself everyday and keep a record (I have actually been doing that since I discovered my HPT).

It seems that the doctor's diagnosis of my situation for what happened this morning is "HPT uncontrolled". Yep, somehow, some adjustments needed for my medications because I am still not doing much better than before.

I slept much of the morning. In the afternoon, I took some time off from work and slept better around 5.00 pm - 8.00pm. Felt much better now.

brb