Pierre42
05-24-2013, 10:12 PM
Looking back I realised that I can still say there's a silver lining in every cloud.
As a result of Wegener's I have learned many things, for example:
1. Prednisone causes sodium retention and potassium loss (as well as a whole bunch of other effects)
2. Potassium (amongst other things) helps regulate your heartbeat
3. Low Potassium leads to tachycardia
4. High Sodium leads to hypertension
5. (some) Blood Pressure medications can boost Potassium levels (behold the circle of life)
So that explains why I ended up in Hospital christmas 2011 wondering who hit the turbo boost on my heart.
If I had known 1+2+3 I'd have eaten a LOT more potatoes:
6. Potatoes are fairly high in potassium (just avoid frying them, and avoid adding salt - BEST is baked-in-skin)
7. So are Dried Apricots (eat the unsulphured air dried Turkish ones)
And drunk more beetroot juice:
8. Beetroot juice can help lower bloodpressure (http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/04/25/drinking-beetroot-juice-every-day-can-help-lower-blood-pressure-by-7-percent/) (through an entirely different mechanism, oddly enough)
There are always things to be wary of, when you have an autoimmune disease:
9. echinacea hits the turbo button on your immune system , very effectively counteracting the meds currently keeping you alive
As a result of Wegener's I have learned many things, for example:
1. Prednisone causes sodium retention and potassium loss (as well as a whole bunch of other effects)
2. Potassium (amongst other things) helps regulate your heartbeat
3. Low Potassium leads to tachycardia
4. High Sodium leads to hypertension
5. (some) Blood Pressure medications can boost Potassium levels (behold the circle of life)
So that explains why I ended up in Hospital christmas 2011 wondering who hit the turbo boost on my heart.
If I had known 1+2+3 I'd have eaten a LOT more potatoes:
6. Potatoes are fairly high in potassium (just avoid frying them, and avoid adding salt - BEST is baked-in-skin)
7. So are Dried Apricots (eat the unsulphured air dried Turkish ones)
And drunk more beetroot juice:
8. Beetroot juice can help lower bloodpressure (http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/04/25/drinking-beetroot-juice-every-day-can-help-lower-blood-pressure-by-7-percent/) (through an entirely different mechanism, oddly enough)
There are always things to be wary of, when you have an autoimmune disease:
9. echinacea hits the turbo button on your immune system , very effectively counteracting the meds currently keeping you alive