DIS doctors ... what should we do?

[DMickey28]

I know how annoying these threads are but I am really bad at these decision on when to go to the hospital and when not to.

Before anyone asks or anything ... we are calling the doctor this AM and follow their advice.

As some of you may know DH was in the ICU with Myocarditis in May of this year. We were told at that time if his BP ever got to be 140/90 or higher and did not recover within a few hours we were to take him to the hospital. We don't know if that is a standing order or just at that point while his heart healed.

He has been under some stress in the last 12 hours and I am trying to get him to rest but it's been hard. We have not been able to get it down. While the bottom number is not above 100, we can't get it to stay below 90, even just after waking up this AM.

He feels ok ... has had a headache for the last 12 hours or so and felt nausous last night but that's it. His chest feels fine he said ... It's so scary. I guess we will wait to see what the doctor says.

 

[nexttrip4us]

I'm glad you're going to call your drs and obviously follow their advice...I know when my DH gets headaches it is often related to his blood pressure and some changes are needed....most often a change in meds helps, but a headache is often our clue that something is up.

i hope he's feeling better soon!

 

[suzannen]

Honestly, I would go to the ER now. Until both of my parents had heart attacks, I did not know that being nauseous is one of the main signs of a heart attack. Do not wait until chest pains occur. Even if he's checked out and found to be fine, his stress level and blood pressure will probably go down just by the reassurance that he's okay.

 

[DMickey28]

We just called the doctor and they aren't in. We left a message but are thinking they aren't even in this week.

He says he has some tightness in his back, but not pain like he did back in May. He still has his headache but no nausea anymore.

I hate these situations ... where things 'seem' fine but you just don't know what to do.

 

[golfgal]

Take him into the ER now. Better safe than sorry and also keep in mind that not every heart attack will have the exact same symptoms.

 

[Magic Mom]

Go to the hospital. They gave you instructions to go in if the BP wouldn't go down. Well, it won't go down so go in. Why take a chance?

 

[happygirl]

I say load him up and take him. Hope he gets it under control

 

[*BTMRR*]

Since you can't get in touch with his doctor right away, I think you should take him to the ER. With his history, they'll take this situation seriously and get him checked out quickly.

 

[nmmom95]

If you can't reach an on-call doctor, I would take him to the ER. They can get the pressure down quickly. I have problems with my pressure, as well, and 140/90 is usually as high as they are comfortable with. I would consider that a "standing order."

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd take the middle road, and take him to urgent care. I'm prone to panic attacks, and my bp usually gets to 140/110, and they do an EKG. I've also been told that the lower number getting higher is much more of a concern than the higher number (I was also prone to higher b/p during pregnancies, and ended up with an emergency c/s for this with my twins).

 

[JC2]

I am a nurse and have a lot of experience on a cardio-vascular floor with heart patients. Please take him to the ER now if you haven't already.

I'm hoping the best for him. Please let us know.

 

[MineMail]

I'm not a fan of clinics where no one knows your medical history. If it were a virus or sniffles, okay, but for known heart conditions, I wouldn't do it. Just mho.

If there's no covering physician for your doctor, go to the ER, preferably at a hospital with a cardiac care unit.

 

[DMickey28]

His Cardiologist called us back about an hour ago. They made an appointment for him in a few weeks for a follow up, he was there in September, and will call with any cancellations.

They said to rest and take it easy but that they didn't feel that this was an emergency situation. I was listening to DH's end of the call and made sure he told them all the "symptoms" he was feeling the last 24 hours. They said that the holiday foods and the amount of salt could cause these feelings as well. Given his BP history, while the number is high, it's not crazy high for him. If the bottom number gets above 100 they want him to go in if he can't get it down within a reasonable amount of time.

They also called in a RX for Xanax since we have apparently lost ours since we moved. He is very prone to anxiety attacks when this happens and his stress level in the last 24 hours explains a lot. I'll keep an eye on him, keep him relaxed and if it crawls up we will go in. We are going to take DS to a movie this afternoon ... his first movie and DH is so excited about it. I think that will take his mind off of what is bugging him right now too.

Thanks everyone ... I hate these situations where you just don't know what to do. The last time this happened it was with DS at 11PM and we did go to te ER. We are happy we did and it was nothing!

BP is a scary thing to me ... my BP is very low and never even crossed my mind until past November. Both my parents now have borderline high blood pressure in their 60's but it's controlled with meds. My last dr. appointment last week my BP was 104/62 @ 26 weeks pregnant!

 

[Christine]

Glad you heard from the doctor. I hope the Xanax works. I will tell you that I don't have an issue with BP either but lately (over the holidays and with the food), I've actually been having a lot of anxiety and I know my BP is elevated (but in the normal range). Sounds like he's just so stressed. I hope the Xanax and the movie make it all okay!

 

[suzannen]

So glad you were able to talk with his doctor. I also hope the movie will be fun and entertain him enough to take his mind off of stress and lower his BP.