Unexpected huge jump in BP (now in A&E)

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Proud to be erratic

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Very early this morning I was already awake and experienced an intense severe pain in my arm tops and shoulders, with a severe headache after 15 mins. Normally my BP is very good and headaches are extremely rare for me. I endured this (badly) for an hour then called for an ambulance; by 0330 I was in A&E having registered a BP of 217/75 with the paramedic 30 mins earlier. Once in the Emergeny bay a follow up BP check showed a series of BPs c.185/70 and now 0730 it's dropped again slightly to 174/74.

I was awake because my BG had over-responded to a modest correction at c.11 pm and my G7 alert told me I was 5.8 and falling. I took 12 gms of medium carbs, expecting to nudge my BG up, but that failed and I reached 2.9 on the sensor, but actually 4.0 on a FP. I had no hypo symptoms and things became messy because my sensor was in it's own panic mode and I was dealing with monitoring a potentially bad low by FPs while enduring the outrageous pain in my shoulders; my panic mode was not much better than the sensor.
 
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I wonder if anyone has any understanding of possible connection between critically high BP and diabetes (it seems possible, according to the junior doctor who's just seen me). The unbearable pain across the shoulders is, apparently, a recognised signal by one's body to hypertensive crisis state. Why this leapt up at me I don't know, other than the stress of the arrival of our stuff from storage is today and I've been busy! But I've been this busy before, in recent months.
 
Robin said:
Eek! I hope they can get you sorted out, @Proud to be erratic
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Thanks, my post got split by "finger trouble" on my keypad. I'm waiting to hear if a CT scan will be done and whether on my chest or head (or both?).

I had a TIA in April this year and the possibility of that being in the mix is high.
 
Goodness @Proud to be erratic that sounds absolutely horrendous!

Glad that you were able to be seen promptly.

Hope your BPs behave themselves for a good long while. Do you think a low dose med might be a helpful precaution?
 
Clearly I'm in the right place right now. Medical decisions are probably stalled by shift change and breakfast for the other overnighters here.

Ironically, my man-bag was not well prepared and that's a mistake I won't repeat once I get out of here. I've got limited survival stuff and no phone charger. Meanwhile the removals people have not been stood down; a call for help by my daughter on WhatsApp to our Street last night at 4am has brought offers of help from neighbours and some 8 cum of stored stuff, mainly in boxes, should still arrive.
 
So far I've been given codeine and just now an Ibroprufen equivalent, while those in charge decide the next steps.

Luckily my insulin has not been seized or locked away! Thanks to that earlier thread about T1 in Hospital, I did a pre-empt and told the Staff Nurse I was well able to look after my D myself and save them from getting bogged down in helping me manage my own D. That seems to be working.
 
Sorry to read this. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.
 
<3 <3 <3
 
Hope that you get some answers soon and that someone can bring you more survival stuff. Good that your neighbours are stepping up for your storage stuff!
 
Goodness Roland! Hope it is nothing too serious and that they find a simple and treatable cause for it.
Great to hear that neighbours are rallying round to help out at home. I hope that alleviates some of the stress for you and you are soon fixed up and back home.
 
Good to here that you have had such good care and hope its not too long before you are on your way back home. Its great that you were able to detail your trauma in such detail. I've also been very remiss and will now be going off to throw a sensor, pump supplies, and creon in to a bag.
Cheers
 
Thanks, @martindt1606. I managed to grab enough D medical stuff for at least 3 days, but don't have my other meds; yes the hospital can supply it, but the Nurse's need an authorisation for the script and the person who has to sign that is the same Dr I'm under, but who has briefly seen me once and now effectively disappeared.

Consider a few extras like a phone charger, a good selection of eat options (breakfast wasn't offered until it had finished (!)), wet wipes, that book you've been meaning to read, a note pad and pen, spare underwear,
a jumper/fleece , toothbrush, etc. Staff here look busy and you get a bit isolated in an A&E bay. I'm not complaining ,- just reflecting reality when the unforeseen leaps out.

Slightly interestingly, there seem to be no pillows in this zone of A&E. 8 hrs on a cot bed without a pillow has its challenges. My arrival clothes include a padded gilet, so that is zipped and carefully filled with other clothes to make my improvised pillow. I can see some logic for having no pillows: the turn over of patients is pretty steady and incentive to get patients to not get too settled could be part of that thinking. But I'm still in some pain, have no diagnosis yet and thus no treatment path yet. A proper pillow would be a good thing, right now.

Thanks also to all the other folk who've picked up this thread.
 
Urrgghh Roland. :care: Hope they get you sorted asap.

When you said 'pain in arms' I immediately thought Oh sheet - heart! that's more than difficult to cope with especially right now. They have hooked you up to an ECG I hope?
 
Sorry to hear this @Proud to be erratic I hope your blood pressure gets under control soon. I don’t know about any diabetes connection but a family friend had similar - sudden very high BP and feeling ill. Theirs came down in hospital and after various tests they now take medication and have regular checks. I hope yours is sorted easily. Look after yourself.
 
Thanks Jenny. Yes I wondered about heart early this morning, not least because on 10 October I was signed off by the Head of Cardio in an Oxford Hospital (I'm in the Royal Berks right now). He'd been investigating the palpitations and giddy spells I'd been having for well over 12 months. His conclusion was from the series of ECGs and 5 day monitor showed nothing cardio related and my TIA in April had been confirmed by the Stroke Unit from their fortunate response inside 48 hrs from the TIA.

Currently not plugged in to anything, but I'm relaxed about that. They are waiting for an ESR blood test result, whatever that is, to hopefully rule out the most serious question (whatever that is!). You might detect I'm bouncing between outright boredom and a beige of HCPs needing to do their mandatory stuff, some of which is also necessary. I had a finger pricked this morning, despite having just done one for myself; they insisted theirs was an independent datum, of verified source. And their hole puncher was painful, set to maximum depth!
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Thanks Jenny. Yes I wondered about heart early this morning, not least because on 10 October I was signed off by the Head of Cardio in an Oxford Hospital (I'm in the Royal Berks right now). He'd been investigating the palpitations and giddy spells I'd been having for well over 12 months. His conclusion was from the series of ECGs and 5 day monitor showed nothing cardio related and my TIA in April had been confirmed by the Stroke Unit from their fortunate response inside 48 hrs from the TIA.

Currently not plugged in to anything, but I'm relaxed about that. They are waiting for an ESR blood test result, whatever that is, to hopefully rule out the most serious question (whatever that is!). You might detect I'm bouncing between outright boredom and a beige of HCPs needing to do their mandatory stuff, some of which is also necessary. I had a finger pricked this morning, despite having just done one for myself; they insisted theirs was an independent datum, of verified source. And their hole puncher was painful, set to maximum depth!
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ESR is erythrocyte sedimentary rate which basically tells them how thick your blood is as if too thick them the heart has difficulty in pumping round your body.
But following a TIA you would normally be on some sort of anti coagulant or anti platelet meds like clopidigrel or apixaban
 
Sorry to hear this news proud hope you get diagnosed and they sort you out and get you on best treatment luck and stay calm if you can
 
Wow, hope they sort you out and you get a full and speedy recovery soon mate.
 
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