Monday, December 14, 2015

Passed Out, stopped Lisinopril

We had some drama in the early hours of November 28. I awoke to a noise, and found Doug on the floor! He had passed out in the hallway. By the time I got to him he was awake but couldn't get up. While trying to get up, with my help, he passed out again! He wasn't responsive for a short while - scared me. I called 911 but by the time the squad got to us, Doug seemed okay. I had left him on the floor until they arrived. The squad took him to the ER to get checked out. The ER doc thought it may have been a TIA or dehydration. Doug got a tetanus shot for a small forehead abrasion; fortunately there were no other injuries, thank God.
A few days later our NP ordered an ultrasound of Doug's carotid arteries just to be sure he has adequate blood flow; that turned out normal.

Today we had an appointment with Doug's nephrologist/internal medicine guy, Dr. K.  Doug's membranous glomerulonephritis (kidney disease) is in remission!
Doug's blood pressure has been on the low side for quite some time. No one worried about it as he was not dizzy - until recently. Dr. K says if Doug is passing out, his blood pressure is too low! So he stopped the lisinopril. He also feels Doug is still dehydrated, although he really has been drinking more water. Dr. K also stressed that Doug needs to exercise as much as possible. I'm so glad that a good friend gave us her elliptical machine a few months ago. That's a huge blessing especially in the winter.

Doug is on metformin for his secondary diabetes, plus he is counting carbs. I have discovered that a lot of low carb recipes are high fat! We're not doing that. We're doing common sense eating, limiting starchy foods, and no sugary stuff. And Doug tests his glucose twice a day.

God bless you all. 

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