Fighting My Way Through The Covids
I owe it to the memory of my great-great-great-grandfather; Robert, who arrived in this country around 1800, from Konigsberg in East Prussia, that I fight my way through the covids.
He had to leave Konigsberg because he was eighteen, male and Jewish! Unless, you were a member of a privileged family, you had to leave. As he had just finished his apprenticeship to be a tailor, he at least had a trade and could carry the tools he needed in a small case.
He became a tailor in Bexley and lived to a good age. I am also sure, that he contributed coeliac disease to the family’s gene pool.
In this post, I will talk about various topics, as I fight my way through to normality.
On the mother’s side of the family, the male line in Huguenot, who probably arrived about 1750.
Did I Fall Because Of A Blood Pressure Problem?
I had a fall in my bedroom, a couple of months ago, as I wrote about in An Accident In My Bedroom.
My GP thinks I might have a blood pressure problem, so I’m now taking my blood pressure sitting down and then standing up for five minutes before taking it again.
These are my readings.
- September 1st – 132/74/182 – 123/102/79
- September 2nd – 145/75/85 – 138/51/82
- September 3rd – 102/77/69 – 123/64/87
- September 3rd – 143/74/75 – 150/64/74
- September 4th – 140/54/64 – 139/64/73
- September 4th – 124/62/92 – 120/51/79
- September 5th – 106/67/51 – 138/52/64
- September 5th – 127/78/67 – 136/62/73
- September 6th – 10:45 – 138/104/76 – 116/53/55
- September 6th – 16:00 – 138/63/54 – 137/88/74
- September 6th – 22:00 – 136/71/59 – 131/77/61
- September 7th – 09:30 – 147/98/76 – 152/82/75
- September 7th – 22:30 – 164/80/74 – 145/61/77
- September 8th – 09:15 – 121/77/66 – 119/71/66
- September 8th – 11:45 – 109/47/70 – 119/48/78
- September 9th – 08:45 – 114/70/73 – 137/51/73 – 129/64/92
- December 9th – 11:00 – 107/146/73 – 143/43/83 – 116/49/87
- September 9th – 20:00 – 131/54/84 – 140/53/78
- September 9th – 21:30 – 131/78/80 – 156/64/81
- September 10th – 10:00 – 148/77/74 – 141/78/63
- September 10th – 13:00 – 106/61/82 – 122/60/81
- September 11th – 09:15 – 137/44/71 – 135/80/66
- September 11th – 10:00 – 126/72/72 – 116/58/70
- September 12th – 10:30 – 119/69/78 – 117/66/70
- September 12th – 20:00 – 111/68/75 – 140/78/69
- September 13th – 10:45 – 112/73/61 – 109/57/69
- September 13th – 15:30 – 106/59/62 – 110/43/65
- September 14th – 09:30 – 116/63/91 – 109/61/85
- September 14th – 17:15 – 117/59/97 – 126/57/79
- September 15th – 08:30 – 134/78/54 – 107/75/76
- September 16th – 06:00 – 113/79/77 – 130/66/80
- September 17th – 09:00 – 117/69/91 – 113/50/63
- September 17th – 22:00 – 118/54/85 – 146/76/86
- September 18th – 09:00 – 147/81/69 – 139/71/67
- September 18th – 21:00 – 124/109/69 – 113/60/83
- September 19th – 10:00 – 143/57/66 – 152/83/75
- September 19th – 19:00 – 118/57/55 – 121/74/81
- September 20th – 09:50 – 143/69/52 – 135/67/66
- September 21st – 09:30 – 158/72/73 – 150/73/66
- September 22nd – 09:15 – 147/49/77 – 149/59/73
- September 22nd – 20:22 – 108/65/82 – 141/66/73
- September 23rd – 08:10 – 140/63/70 – 109/73/60
- September 23rd – 15:00 – 97/65/83 – 109/61/68
- September 24th – 09:00 – 134/52/74 – 143/62/62
- September 25th – 09:00 – 149/70/69 – 130/92/77
- September 25th – 13:00 – 108/75/78 – 135/68/73
- September 26th – 17:30 – 120/62/77 – 124/63/68
- September 27th – 10:00 – 139/64/74 – 132/70/74
- September 28th – 08:00 – 140/73/77 – 140/73/60
Note.
- The first reading is sitting down and the second is after standing up for five minutes.
- My blood pressure meter isn’t the best.
- I didn’t note the times, when I started.
- The third reading is taken about four minutes later.
I don’t know anything about understanding these readings.
Managing My INR
My GP and I have agreed that I should be on 3.5 mg. of Warfarin a day to control my INR.
- So I alternate between 3 and 4 mg.
- I also test my INR every two days.
These are my figures for the last few days, with my Warfarin dose.
- September 1st – 4 mg – N/R
- September 2nd – 3 mg – 2.5
- September 3rd – 4 mg – N/R
- September 4th – 3 mg – 2.7
- September 5th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 6th – 3 mg – 2.8
- September 7th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 8th – 4 mg – 2.4
- September 9th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 10th – 4 mg – 2.3
- September 11th – 3 mg – 2.7
- September 12th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 13th – 3 mg – 2.5
- September 14th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 15th – 4 mg – 2.2
- September 16th – 3 mg – N/R
- September 17th – 5 mg – 2.2
- September 18th – 3 mg – 2.8
- September 19th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 20th – 4 mg. – 2.5
- September 21st – 3 mg – N/R
- September 22nd – 4 mg – 2.2
- September 23rd – 3 mg – 2.3
- September 24th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 25th – 3 mg – 2.4
- September 26th – 4 mg – N/R
- September 27th – 4 mg – 2.1
- September 28th – 3 mg – 2.4
Note.
- If the INR is 2.5 or greater, I take 3 mg that day and 4, the next.
- If it’s less than 2.5, I take 4 mg that day and 3 the next,
- I also check the 30 day average of my Warfarin dose and currently it is 3.6.
One advantage about Warfarin, is the degree of control, you have of your INR.
A couple of years ago, I needed to have a small operation on my mouth.
The surgeon wanted to use an anaesthetist to boost the bill.
- So I said, what INR would be safe and he said 2.1!
- In the end I reduced it, by not taking four mg of the drug.
- After the successful operation, I brought it back up to 2.5, by taking an extra four mg.
- I suspect it cost me a tenner for the extra strips!
Good value and I avoided the lottery of anaesthesia.
I’m Drinking A Lot
In a four-hour period a few days ago, I drank two litres. Is that excessive?
It did include half a unit of alcohol, but was mainly mugs of tea.
And I still felt the need to drink more.
General Health
Like most coeliacs, I know on a gluten-free diet, I’m doing fairly well in the pandemic.
Not one of us has had a severe dose of the covids. But then I’ve never had flu since I went gluten-free and I’ve only had a flu jab since 2005.
Could this be related to the fact, that the gluten-free diet gives us a strong immune system and seems to protect us from cancer, according to research by Joe West at Nottingham University?
[…] But it seems to be behaving itself. If you want to look the figures are in Fighting My Way Through The Covids. […]
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