JOEL
I APPRECIATE ANY AND ALL THE ARTICLES THAT ARE HERE AT THIS SITE BUT I AM REALLY INTERESTED AND DEEPLY APPRECIATE THE ARTICLES ON CIRCULATION. I FOR MANY YEARS NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT CIGS WERE DOING TO MY HEART(PER SAY) AND BLOOD PRESSURE ALL THESE YEARS. I THINK I JUST THOUGHT IF I WAS ONE OF THE UNLUCKY ONES, I WOULD GET LUNG CANCER OR OTHER LUNG RELATED DISEASE. OF COURSE, I JUST FIGURED I WOULD QUIT BEFORE ANY DAMAGE WOULD HAPPEN TO ME! DID I CARE? ABOUT AS MUCH AS ALL THE OTHER SMOKERS OUT THERE THAT THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN "TO ME" AND THEN DOWN THE ROAD A BIT, JUST COULD NOT MUSTER ENOUGH STRENGTH TO KEEP A QUIT GOING, UNTIL NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS THAT I HAVE FOR THE PAST 9 OR 10 YEARS ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE READINGS BUT WAS NEVER HIGH ENOUGH TO WARRANT MEDICATION. ALL THESE YEARS, I JUST KNEW THAT IF I QUIT SMOKING IT WOULD LEVEL OUT AND BE OK. WELL I'VE BEEN CLEAN FOR 8 WEEKS 17 HOURS AND LAST WEEK HAD MY BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKED AND IT WAS "REALLY" HIGH!! BUT NOT MY NORMAL HIGH. MY DOCTOR DID PRESCRIBE BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE FOR ME AND WANTS TO SEE ME IN ANOTHER MONTH. WELL SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN CHECKING MY READINGS SEVERAL TIMES A DAY AND DON'T THINK IT WARRANTS THE MEDICATION. I HAVE NOT TAKEN THE MEDICINE YET AND PLAN TO CALL AND LET MY DOCTOR KNOW ABOUT MY READINGS AND GO OVER MY READINGS WITH HER. I FEEL LIKE I'M IN ANOTHER DENIAL STAGE BUT AM AFRAID TO START TAKING ANYTHING UNLESS I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. I KNOW THAT YOU FREEDOM PEOPLE ARE NOT DOCTORS AND DON'T EXPECT ANY DIAGNOSIS FROM ANYONE BUT I FEEL BETTER JUST LETTING MY FEELINGS OUT ON THIS. I'M CALLING MY DOCTOR RIGHT NOW. THANKS FOR LISTENING. TREESE