I had perfect health until one day someone decided to run their car into mine....while I was still in it. I had to have life-saving brain surgery, suffered minor but permenant damage to some regions of the brain while others were unaffected. While these devestated my life as I knew it, the worse was the damage to the Hypothalamus & Pituatry. These are known as the "master" gland for a reason. They help regulate hormone levels in one's bloodstream.
The first proof I had, for docs, that something was wrong w/ me was by BP of 172/160. I was given Lisinopril but eventually suffered moderate dizzines so we changed to Micardis. That did the trick & made my BP controllable.
Something chaged within a year or so that made my jaw just drop. I had forgotten to take my BP medicine due to memory problems from the brain injury, but my BP was within normal ranges(120/80). What changed? I finally found an endocronologist that knew what he was doing & wasn't a diabetes doctor first & then an endo. I was prescribed thyroid medicine that contained both T4 & T3. Most thyroid medicine contains T4 only & does not address the T3 deficiencies some patients have because most doctors don't test for it. T4 works for most, but not all. That is documented in the New England Journal of Medicine. I went from taking 20mg of Micardis a day everyday of the year to taking 30 doses of Micardis a year under management of my T3 deficiency.
T3 was the key for me & I know this because I once had to go to an alternate thyroid medicine that didn't have T3 & my BP shot up to 150/110. Once back on a T4/T3 combo my BP was normal again.
In addition to a thyroid deficiency, I also suffered from Growth Hormone deficiency. When I finally was able to get help for this, many hormones were normalized. While my next endo refused to test my blood levels, I knew there was a change as I sensed it. Sure enough one of the changes was that I had too much thyroid now due to my current thryoid dose plus the GH changes so I then was able to get off of another medicine while resolving other health issues. One of the other issues that was resolved, to my surprise, was that my male infertilty was now reversed. Yay! I have my first child & my first son.
The bottom line is you need a complete hormone panel by someone who actually has experience with hormones aside from what they once read in a book while at medical school. The best ones, in my experience, usually call themselves or are associated w/ "Age Management" practices. The current practioner is a F.N.P & has done more for me & my family in 4 weeks than my last doctor did in 3 years.
I had to move 3 years ago & lost my good doc. I found one that wasn't too bad, but he had to return to his country of origin. My next doc was a good listener, was probably good in diabetes management, but had no idea what I was talking about when I talked about hormones. My current practioner(FNP) is very experienced.
I have found the cause of my blood pressure spikes. I had a sinus infection that got through my sinus cavities into my brain. Symtoms: Total fatigue, uncontrolable Blood Pressure spikes as high as 200 + over 100 + and headaches. Blood pressure surges usualy around 5 AM. Dr. treating me for possible listeria bacteria knocked out the high blood pressure problems with an antibotic. Bactrim Ds 800-160 Tab Pres . Other doctors had been trying to fight blood pressure with blood pressure medication for 9 months. The blood press problem, which caused other problems was caused by the brain infection, not the heart or corronary system. It feels great not to be so tired and have high blood pressure anymore.