Still sewing binding

Still sewing away on the binding of the big quilt. This one is going to be close to queen-sized, so it takes a long time to stitch the binding down. I had forgotten how long; most of the recent quilts I've made have been twin sized or even smaller. I do want to get this done by the end of the week; it's supposed to turn cold again, good time to have a new, full-sized quilt to put on the bed.

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The new med is metaprolol. (Is it bad that I'm amused that it ends in LOL*?). It's a beta blocker, which I think makes more sense for me than a diuretic would. (I know they sometimes use diuretics as a first line of attack in hypertension - but the doctor felt of my ankles and calves, and I'm guessing she was determining there was no water retention there - I never really retain water, not even really at the "time" when women can expect to).

(*"Oh, hai, I blocked ur betas.")

It's five bucks a month with my co-pay. Which is good.

I've pretty much accepted that this is what I have to do now. When I called my mom to let her know, she reminded me that practically everyone on my dad's side of the family has or has had high blood pressure. So I guess it's genetic. (I think her mother also had it - or maybe she had congestive heart failure, I forget. Sometimes the medications are similar.)

Also, beta blockers have some potentially interesting side effects. (for some values of "interesting.") Apparently some musicians and actors take it to combat stage fright. (Heh. I joked, several weeks back, that I'd have to start taking beta blockers if I ever wanted to try performing publicly again because I shake so badly when I try to - even when it's a "friendly" audience - at the last round of mandatory meetings, when we had breakout groups, my group was sent to a room that had a piano. One of my colleagues pounded on it a bit, and I decided, what the heck, I'd try playing "Raindrop Prelude." I probably got about 1/3 of the way through before I decided I was shaking too badly to keep going, and I claimed that I couldn't remember any more of it.) So if the main side effect is that it makes me a bit less tightly wound, that's probably not a bad thing. I may be over-diligent at the expense of my well-being.

Also, this particular one is sometimes used in people with migraines, to prevent them. So if it works on my (increasingly infrequent, thank goodness) headaches, that's another plus.

I also now own a blood pressure monitor. The dubious joys of aging. (though the alternative is even less attractive.).

I've paid closer attention to the sodium in what I eat this past day or so. As long as I avoid crunchy snack foods and don't eat pre-made canned soups, I can do pretty well. (As I said: it may be back to frozen vegetables and cooking my own beans from dry beans. I need to look into slow cooker ways to do that). I can definitely stick to the "2000 mg or less a day" (that is less than a teaspoon, but a lot of the things I eat regularly have very low or no sodium.) Meals at restaurants will have to be even more limited than they were in the past, restaurant food tends to have lots of salt. If I can keep up with the big-salad-for-dinner routine and not get too sick of it, that will be a good thing. Spinach is supposed to be one of the best things you can eat, for a lot of reasons.