It was the mid 90’s in South Dakota. Gateway Computers was booming and so was my career. I had just recently made vice president at the most happening computer company of the 90’s. After a hard night of drinking, I went to the doctor for a physical. The doctor frowned and informed me that I had high blood pressure. The doctor speculated that it might be the boozing, but not in a school teacher kind of way. The good news was no medication was required, but from that day forward until I left the company, someone took my blood pressure weekly. Even when I was managing director of Gateway Europe, the weekly blood pressure checks continued. During that crazy period of my life, my blood pressure was high, but never over the top and no drugs required.
Once I left Gateway, my life changed considerably. The weather in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was certainly more pleasant than South Dakota. I was 39, single, a millionaire and I drank too much. In a fit of inspiration, I decided to have a full medical physical. Guess what? My blood pressure was normal. 120 / 80. I had no idea what made it go down. I still was drinking a six pack daily. I speculated with Ted that it was the stress of being in upper management at a Fortune 200 company. I had a new lease on life. A cloud had been lifted. My blood pressure was normal.
I founded my company, moved to Brazil, married, had two kids, and started running daily. I even ran 1/2 marathons. And my blood pressure was normal. In 2013, we moved back to the United States, and urgent cares had sprouted like weeds in Myrtle Beach. They aggressively monitor blood pressure. Even if I had ear wax, they were going to check my blood pressure. Fortunately, my blood pressure was still normal.
Then sometime around the pandemic, I returned to an urgent care clinic, and lo and behold, my blood pressure was, ahem, elevated. Worse yet, was the attitude. One would have thought I was a public health menace, the way they looked at me. And of course, I was not on any of their fancy drugs. The marketing of these drugs is too much. Their marketing departments call hypertension, the “silent killer”. They want you to believe that there is no early warning. No symptoms and then bang, you are dead. Unless you take their wonder pills. So instead, I exercised like a maniac. In addition to running, I went on long bike rides, and swam in the ocean while in Rio de Janeiro. It was so enjoyable to exercise earnestly every day, like my life depended on it.
Then in October 2023, I had a stroke which, they say, is a potential outcome of high blood pressure. My wife, 25 years my junior, was freaking out, and she convinced me that I should take some blood pressure drugs. At the time, the blood pressure was 140/100, give or take. I bought a little blood pressure machine and religiously took their pills every day. At one point, I was in Brazil and ran out of my blood pressure medicine. My doctor confirmed it was OK to purchase at a local pharmacy. The drug was called Olmesartin, and in Brazil, no prescription is required. You are in the pharmacy less than 5 minutes. Here is the catch. Olmesartin costs less than $5, which is less than my health plan’s copay. Process that, the drug companies are making money off the copay. Your premiums are gravy. What a business model. I lost confidence in this life saving drug. My confidence in my health care plan plummeted.
In April 2024, it had been six months since the stroke, and I visited my doctor. She took my “vitals”. You got to love the marketing. My blood pressure was still elevated. After six months of dedicated pill popping, nothing nada. I told her that I did not want to take this drug because it was not working. She of course offered alternative medicinals. I politely declined, and she was cool with that. I was worried that might be the end of our relationship.
I was nervous about quitting Olmesartan. After all, their message is that I am going to keel over dead, if I stop. I compensated by changing my life in other ways. I finally stopped drinking alcohol. I wasn’t an alcoholic but it is more difficult than one would think to stop. Alcohol is intertwined in how we live our lives. All the time I saved not drinking, I began daily anaerobic workouts. I was never much for sweets when I was younger, but after marrying, my wife turned me on to chocolates and ice cream. I was never over weight or out of shape, but it was a habit. I quit that too.
In August 2024, I nervously returned to my doctor. She yanked out the blood pressure machine, and after the reading, she did not say a word. After an awkward pause, I asked, “What is it?” “124 / 82”, she smiled. I honestly couldn’t believe it. I was normal without any medications. You can accomplish anything if you take the time to do it. Most people don’t have the time. The American medical system is a religion, and I am an atheist in this regard.
April 4, 2024 was my wife, Solange’s, 39th birthday, and we had a little celebration at a local restaurant. This year, I had tapered my alcohol intake substantially. However, with any excuse, me and Solange’s friends began pouring elixirs down our throats. I had three craft beers, nothing extreme, but I began to feel the profound pull that booze had on my life.
