Monday, September 29, 2008

Too much of a good thing?

Today I listened to a discussion among people who are all taking medication for high blood pressure. One of them had done such a good job that when he went to the emergency room a couple nights ago, he had almost no blood pressure! Then another mentioned having frighteningly low readings.

The reason he went was a nose bleed that wouldn't stop, so the doctors there told him to quit taking his blood thinners until he went back to his regular doctor. Seems he was taking both a prescription blood thinner and an aspirin every day.

As he related his troubles, others chimed in with their own stories. And all of them had experienced trouble because of too much aspirin. They had all suffered from excessive bleeding any time they got the slightest scratch.

To give the benefit of the doubt, I think that none of them had actually told their doctors they were having that problem. Perhaps if they had, they'd have been advised to stop sooner. However, one woman said she took an adult aspirin every day - and after a year a nurse told her it should have been baby aspirin. The doctor hadn't mentioned that.

Hopefully, if you're on blood pressure medication you're checking it regularly. But keep an eye on that blood thinner and aspirin usage too. If you bleed profusely when you get a scratch, do tell your doctor! Maybe you can avoid going to the emergency room in the middle of the night because you got a nose bleed that wouldn't stop.

Yours for good health,
Marte

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