Sunshine after the rain

So many things happened to me this year and I don't know where and how to begin my tale, but let me just say that my life turned upside down when my father had a stroke in March that paralyzed half of his body and when my dearest auntie had a stroke in April that led to her death. I was devastated.

It was a very difficult time for me. I tried very hard to be strong for my family but deep inside me my controls were slowly ebbing away from my grasp and I became very anxious, I got sick, my blood pressure rose, I palpitated, I went back and forth to the doctor. Hey, I am very slim and I eat healthy so even I could hardly believe I have blood pressure problem. My doctor in Davao calls it essential hypertension, and this treacherous illness runs in the family. He advised my to take a maintenance medicine (losartan 50mg). One doctor in Batangas, however, advised me to go easy on the hypertension med because he, too, doesn't think I have hypertension issues. He said the rise in my BP could have been triggered by an illness or a difficult situation. Hypertension became a dark shadow that loomed in my horizon, it consumed me, had it on my head all the time. Blood pressure monitoring became a daily exercise, I checked my BP everyday, morning and evening, and I took my BP pill religiously for fear of stroke.

Last month, I went through a company-required annual executive medical check up that included the following tests: Blood chemistry (CBC, FBS, Creatinine, Uric acid, Lipid profile,  SGPT/ALT), Urinalysis, Stool exam, Chest x-ray, Ultrasound of the bladder, kidneys, liver and pancreas, ECG, Stress echo-Cardiogram test. GUESS WHAT? My results were all normal as normal as can be! The doctor who attended to me, a cardiologist, prescribed me medicine for anxiety (Xanor 250mg) instead of hypertension. He told me to take the medicine for 5 days before bedtime and take only half a tablet when anxiety attacks or when I palpitate. He  told me to discontinue my hypertension maintenance medicine after two weeks. I had fears that if I stopped taking losartan my blood pressure would rise again but I took the doctor's advice and stopped taking losartan after 2 weeks.

I feel better now, I stopped palpitating, my blood pressure is normal but I still continue to monitor my BP. I also exercise daily. My morning ritual includes saying my morning thanksgiving prayer, taking my blood pressure, drinking a glass of water with kalamansi, walking/jogging/stretching for 20-30 minutes, and drinking fresh juice, most of the time carrot juice with a little milk and lots of ice.

So in a capsule, I could say that, yes, there's always sunshine after the rain. I have never felt better, my financial woes are being solved and I am happy, but that is another story :)