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I also have a habit of holding my breath on heavy lifts. I know squats can momentarily drive BP up to the 300/200 range or greater... and with inflammation and plaques that can break off, and stiff arteries, that's not great. This is why I try to follow the Esselstyn diet on top of everything...

If it were me I'd start with 5mg, wait a week or two, go up to 10, then 20 as soon as possible, and I'd be real careful with my diet and keep my hematocrit and BP down. I've been on beta blockers for 20 years or so, and my sister (67) has been on statins off and on. She thinks she got shingles...

I don't disagree. I read the Ornish book and followed that diet from 2002-2004. A low calorie diet is probably the thing. Following the Esselstyn diet and many others, I always found my stomach empty because it all tastes like crap. Sometimes surgery or drugs is the right fix, in addition to a...

They're all still alive as far as I know, and old AF. Dr Esselstyn celebrated his 91st birthday last month. His wife must be even older, and they still produce content on Youtube about every week along with their kids: Plant-Based with Jane Esselstyn and Ann Esselstyn I've been trying to do...

Was your blood pressure or hematocrit high? That alone shouldn't be a huge problem, but with clogged arteries, perhaps? Also, have you heard about the Dr Esselstyn diet? Worked for me. Also worked for Bill Clinton. It's a nasty diet, very difficult to follow. If you start eating kale like a...

That's interesting. I'm going to have to read about how that works. Might be a clue as to what was going wrong.

My labile hypertension started the very moment I started taking cortisone. I don't know why or how, but it did. But by that point my HPA axis was already messed up and my adrenals were shot. My AM and PM cortisol were extremely low, and so we thought a little hydrocortisone would help. Nope.

Cortisone made me worse, a lot worse. Your adrenals will heal if you let them. Liposomal vitamin C. Lots of sleep. Don't overdo it with exercising. Unless you have Addison's disease, then that's a different story.

I built lots of muscle with TT under 250 years ago. But my DHEAs and IGF-1 were high. I actually built less muscle once my TT got up to 1800 or so, but I got bloated, acne, etc. YMMV. I'm a weirdo.

I tried thiamine and mega doses of B vitamins in 2007 but for some reason actually made me worse. Maybe I was using expired stuff or it had something else in it. I can't remember.

I just sent you a DM about the doctor who I saw there.

TLDR; Stop panicking. Stop reading. Get a beta blocker (use Metoporol XL, name brand - generics suck). Get a good doctor to help you eventually get off the benzos later. Stay hydrated. Rest. Reduce stress. Stop working out for weeks/months. Slowly re-introduce exercise with a recumbent bike and...

I was reading that article last night. Yeah, it seems this is more common than reported. Here's some other random facts, in case anyone else is dealing with this: 1. I noticed this flared up again after I overdosed on vitamin B3 (niacin) last year (which normally causes flushing). I guess that...

not in my case, no pain. just the outer, upper ear. Sometimes both ears, but more often than not, just my left one.

We're lopsided!