Reply To: DW Community Catch-up Thread

Ange, can/is your husband taking medication for the blood pressure and cholesterol? I had high blood pressure beginning eight years ago when I was pregnant with Joanie. I put off medication for about four years even though it was really unsafe. My dr finally convinced me to go on it and that helped bring my stroke-level numbers BP down. But then I developed high-ish cholesterol last year and knew I needed to change my lifestyle.

For me, my stressor was parenting, and now that my kids are older, it’s way less stressful, and that’s been huge for my health. But in addition to that, I’ve made lifestyle changes that I have control over: I walk a super ton (14k+ steps a day); do 4-5 days of stength-training; limit alcohol to 4 drinks a week (um, except last week when I was on vacation and had two drinks a day…). Anyway, these changes helped lower my blood pressure so much that over a month ago, I went off my blood pressure medication. I still need to monitor it regularly and if it goes up and stays up consistently, I’ll need to consider medication again. but for now, I’m doing really well.

All this to say, it’s not a lost cause! getting health and managing stress is a commitment, but it’s super doable. And really worth it. I hope your husband is able to find the peace he needs to manage his health.