HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE again

September 2023.  At 2 teaspoons of salt daily, trance-and-spasm issue resolved, lost six pounds in seven months, ALT and AST showed liver doing well, and LDL substantially decreased.  Intravenous magnesium resolved skin issues, migraines, and muscle cramping from latest oxalate release.

But a reading taken manually showed blood pressure in left arm 191/105, right arm 192/112.  And my home monitors showed similarly high levels every morning.

October 2023.  Visited a nurse practitioner (whose services are covered by my insurance!) and that office had the old-fashioned weight scale with the moving plate.  It triggered my trance/spasm reaction.

I spasmed as the electronic blood pressure monitor cuff inflated.  BUT THIS MONITOR SHOWED A NORMAL LEVEL!

So much for my idea that readings taken manually would consistently be lower than readings from electronic monitors.

I'd made the same mistake with potassium that I'd made with sodium!   I'd measured potassium chloride as if it were 100% potassium.   And I'd used salt substitutes sold at supermarkets and online, which can contain a lot of potassium or very little potassium.  Dr. Treanor reminded me that both too much and too little can cause problems for the heart.

Even though I overate, without plant-based foods there still wasn't enough potassium in my diet to meet the daily requirement.  The nurse practitioner prescribed potassium chloride tablets.

I'm happy about not having to overeat just for the potassium, and thrilled about the prospect that I might actually have normal blood pressure.  How can we tell which reading is the true one?  That remains a puzzle that's now even more mysterious than before.

SALT revisited

The ABC's of ASC