Stress Factor
Don’t Use Drugs Or Alcohol
The temptation to use alcohol and drugs is very strong for many people. When you are dealing with High Blood Pressure, you may feel the need to just relax. Turning to alcohol or drugs can be a huge temptation. You may feel better while you are intoxicated, but the mixture of medications with these substances can be fatal. Some will take alcohol and drugs to help them to sleep. The problem is that it almost always makes it even worse.
If you have problems with alcohol and drugs, seeking help and counseling will help to provide you the strength that you need to overcome this problem. One of the best tools to use is that of Alcoholics Anonymous or other self help groups.
The use of alcohol, caffeine and even over the counter medications can be deadly and can cause enough medical problems for you to land you in the hospital. This is especially true for over the counter cold medications and allergy medications. Always check with your doctor about the right medications to use when you are ill.
In addition to that, realize that these over the counter medications and trigger mood swings, [stress] even when you are taking your medication.
They can interfere with your sleep patterns, cause loss of appetite and put your body in the position of being vulnerable. If you become sick, talk to your doctor about the best medications for your condition.
Reduction Of Stress
You’ve heard it before. You know that stress is a killer of many people, not just those that suffer from high blood pressure. Yet, it is essential that you look at your life and identify those times when stress has lead to mood swings or even out of control behaviors that put you at risk.
Consider this. If you push yourself at work to be the person that does the most, what do you accomplish? You probably will cause the onset of numerous symptoms of stress, specifically that of mood swings. When this happens, you put yourself in a position of not being able to work or even worse putting your position at jeopardy.
Therefore, you end up not actually benefiting from all of your hard work, but instead have fewer benefits and ultimately you drop the productivity level that you could have had.
On the other hand, if you would have worked a steady schedule and done what you should have done in regards to stress management, you ultimately would have accomplished more.
Here are some tips for stress management at work.
• Work the same hours as much as possible. By working a predicable and steady schedule allows you to stick to a schedule which helps to lessen mood swings.
• Get the rest that you need. You need to try to sleep at the same time each day. You need to be able to monitor your sleep patterns to reduce stress.
• When you are suffering from mood swings, consider whether or not you should be working. For some, it may mean talking with your doctor about how they affect your job. Ultimately, you need to decide if you are benefiting yourself or not by continuing to work and tough out these mood swings.
• Take time off. Those that take time off often improve their overall health and well being. By getting time off each week and even vacation time, (or taking time off when you need to) you improve your level of stress and how the body reacts to it.
• Don’t work in overly stressful environments. While you may not feel that this is something that you can control, it needs to be. Those that suffer with HBP need to consider their health above anything else. Stress, depressive and manic symptoms, can be made worse when you put yourself in a position to deal with a lot of stress.
• Work through problems. If there are small things that happen that cause you to worry or cause stress, handle them right away. Small problems turn into large ones that are much less likely to be dealt with. By handling problems quickly, you reduce the stress toll that they take on you ultimately.
Reducing stress should be one of the most important things that you do. By doing so, you lessen the risk of having a mood swing because of stress. Learn to spot stressful situations and learn how to get out of them effectively! It will pay off.
Keep Your Doctor Informed
Although you may hate to go to the doctor and you may think that your doctor never has anything good to say, it is very important to keep him informed. By telling him what is going on and what you are feeling, he can make better decisions for you.
By keeping your doctor informed, you allow your symptoms to be monitored. Your doctor can learn patterns and even notice the things that trigger these episodes to happen. That can lead to benefits throughout your lifetime including the avoidance of those situations which will lead to fewer episodes throughout your lifetime.
Medications and side effects should also be considered daily. If you take your medication and in an hour feel like you need a nap, this should be recorded. It is
very important to remember to include changes in your overall response, too. If you begin to have new side effects or ones that are worsened, this needs to be considered.