Hi Harriet--ah, I'm glad you remember. I would definitely suggest getting seen soon, although it's not an emergency situation (or even urgent care). But I would make clear at the earliest possible opportunity that you want meds to get your bp down to 120/80. Every day that it's high does permanent damage to your organs :(. If you exercise and get it lower, and you find you can go off the meds, that's great. But IMO (and of course this isn't official medical advice, just my experience and what I've read, so do more research--I'm just a lonely data point : )), getting it down as early as possible is what's important. The meds may very well knock you for a loop until you adjust to them, too. The docs said no driving for a month but I was back behind the wheel of a car, no problems, in a week and a few days. terri, that was another odd thing - my cholesterol is beautiful. I'm not the highest in HDL, but my LDL was *quite low* (blanking on the #s) at the time of the heart attack. As much as I believe in taking bp meds (within reason), I was *staunchly* against statins, and got out of it only by digging my heels into the ground and saying I'd take red yeast rice. I took that for a while and then stopped. My LDL isn't bad enough for me to worry about. There's also debate over what numbers are o.k. and what are worrisome wrt cholesterol anyway. But this little lonely data point would encourage you to take action on the bp as soon as you can (non-rush).

I had a sleep study last May, which showed I had various sleep problems (apnea, alpha wave intrusion, no REM sleep). It makes me wonder if lots of women going through menopause begin to have these kinds of problems. I guess I'm finally going to think about trying a cpap machine, but I think it will be a challenge. In retrospect, I really think its been my sleep problems that have made the past 10 years pretty much a constant struggle. I think sleep deprivation can cause all sorts of craziness. Even if you think you've had a good night's sleep, it doesn't mean you have.

Oilpainter,I sincerely appreciate your response. I did a little bit of research this evening, and I found a list of symptoms that could be caused by menopause. Hopefully, this will help others, too. Some of them are not the "normal" symptoms that our doctors or others tell us about and can be obscure,so it makes me feel a little bit better. Some Typical Perimenopausal Symptoms *Changes in bleeding (heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, missed cycles, light bleeding, clotting) *Anxiety, fear, depression, irritability, rebellion, crying jags, panic attacks *Fatigue, loss of energy *Low self-esteem *Suicidal thinking * Inability to tolerate tension *Inappropriate emotional responses *Low noise tolerance *Sleep disturbances, insomnia, sleepiness *Inability to concentrate, short-term memory loss *Drying and thinning of the gastrointestinal tract (causing constipation, ulceration, stomach pain, colitis, diarrhea, gas) *Bladder infections, frequency and urgency of urination, burning, incontinence *Vaginal dryness *Low sex drive, painful intercourse, reduction of fantasy, lack of lubrication during sex, diminished orgasms, lessened skin and nipple response *Hot flashes, night sweats, chills *Dizziness *Low blood sugar, trembling *Numbness, tingling, crawling feelings on skin *Dry, wrinkling skin; loss of collagen, sagging breasts *Dry, thinning hair; growth of facial hair, male pattern of hair on body *Brittle, slow-growing, and grooved nails *Osteoarthritis, bone thinning and loss, loss of height, shifting joint pains, joint degeneration, backache, mid-bone pains, muscle cramps and spasm, muscle weakness, and loss of strength *Rapid heart rate, palpitations, heart pain, increased cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, shortness of breath *Headaches, migraines, nausea *Dark gloomy circles under eyes *Weight loss or gain

How old is your cat? Most cats under the age of 12, with the exception of diabetics, RARELY have urinary tract infections. Blood in the urine, or excessive attempts to urinate are not necessarily signs of urinary tract infection, as they usually are in dogs or people. Cats develop cystitis (which is an irritated bladder) often, but rarely due to infection. Treating with antibiotics is rarely recommended and can actually cause more problems than solve. Most cats with cystitis get better and worse at intervals, often making it LOOK like they are responding to antibiotics, but unless a culture is done on the urine and actual bacteria found, do NOT assume it is an infection (statistically only 3% of all young cats with signs of cystitis have an infection... so your odds are definitely that your cat does not (unless your cat is old... you never say if its a boy or a girl, or how old he/she is)). The suggestion of canned food is definitely a good one. Lots of water in canned food... but more importantly, there is far less carbohydrates in canned food. I would, in general, avoid fish, just because it can have a lot of the building blocks that sometimes irritate bladders. Acid urine does NOT mean your cat is not getting enough water, but that the diet is acidic. Normally that is OK. What was the pH? Do you have that information? The only sign that your cat does not drink enough is the Specific Gravity (shows how concentrated the urine is) though cat's often have very high specific gravity on dry food. So if blood in urine or straining is NOT due to infection, what causes it? We are not 100% sure, but stress, carbohydrates, idiopathic pain, obesity, etc. are some of the causes. Pain meds are always indicated and can help immensely get rid of the problem (still, a good canned food is the main 'cure'). There are a lot of other options, but this is getting lengthy, so if you are interested, I will add more later.