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The clinic says 126/78.

At home, your monitor keeps showing readings around 150/94.

Please do not let one normal clinic reading silence what appears to be happening during the rest of your day.

This pattern may be masked hypertension. Your blood pressure looks normal during the appointment but is repeatedly high at home.

First, make sure you are checking correctly. Use a validated upper-arm monitor with the correct cuff. Sit quietly before checking. Take two readings, one minute apart, and record both numbers.

Keep a record of the date and time. Take that record and your monitor to your healthcare professional. A 24-hour blood-pressure monitor may be recommended to confirm the pattern.

White-coat hypertension is the reverse. That is when blood pressure is high at the clinic but normal at home.

Do not change your medicine because of one reading.

And do not dismiss repeated high home readings because one clinic reading was normal.

Please share this with someone who has been told, “Your blood pressure was fine at the hospital, so there is nothing to worry about.”

You check your blood pressure once and see 168/104

Your mind races straight to stroke.

Take the reading seriously, but do not diagnose yourself from one number.

Blood pressure can rise temporarily because you just exercised, drank coffee, felt anxious or talked while it was being measured. An incorrectly sized cuff can also give a misleading result.

Sit quietly for five minutes, keep your back supported, your feet flat and your bare arm resting at heart level. Do not talk.

Take two readings, one minute apart, and write down both numbers.

If repeated readings remain high, arrange a medical assessment. Your healthcare professional may ask you to monitor at home or use a device that records your blood pressure over 24 hours.

If your blood pressure is 180/120 or higher, wait one minute and check again. If it remains that high, contact a healthcare professional immediately.

If that reading comes with chest pain, difficulty breathing, weakness, numbness, vision changes or difficulty speaking, seek emergency care now.

One high reading is not usually a diagnosis.

It is also not a reading to ignore.

#HeartAndStrokeMonth

#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

“But I feel fine.”

That is exactly why high blood pressure is often missed.

You may have no headache or other warning while persistently high blood pressure makes your heart work harder and gradually damages blood vessels.

Over time, that damage can affect your brain, kidneys and sight.

The good news is that much of this damage can be prevented.

Check your blood pressure regularly. Reduce salt and salty packaged foods. Stay physically active. Do not smoke.

If you have been prescribed blood-pressure medicine, take it consistently. Feeling well may mean the treatment is working. It does not mean you should stop it.

Keep your follow-up appointments even when nothing feels wrong.

Please send this to someone who believes blood pressure only matters when a headache begins.

#HeartAndStrokeMonth
#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

You remind everyone else to take their medicine and keep their clinic appointments.

But when last did you sit down and check your own blood pressure?

Many people with high blood pressure feel completely well. That is why waiting for a headache or another warning sign can be dangerous.

Today begins Heart and Stroke Month on Healthy Living with Dr Ketch.

Let us start with the number you cannot guess by how you feel.

Sit quietly for five minutes before checking. Keep your back supported, your feet flat and your arm resting at heart level. Take two readings, one minute apart, and write them down.

One high reading is not a diagnosis. Check again after resting. If your readings remain high, speak with a healthcare professional.

Before today ends, check your blood pressure.

Then send this to the person who is always looking after everyone except herself.

#HeartAndStrokeMonth

#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

One small stain after two years without a period.

It stops. You may be tempted to ignore it.

Please do not wait for it to happen again.

Any vaginal bleeding that occurs after 12 months without a natural period is called bleeding after menopause. It should be assessed even when it is only spotting, pink or brown discharge, or a single episode after sex.

The cause may be dryness and thinning of the vaginal tissues after menopause. It may also be a polyp, a reaction to hormone treatment or a change in the lining of the womb. Less commonly, it may be cancer.

Most women assessed for bleeding after menopause do not have cancer. But there is no safe way to know the cause without being checked.

Your assessment may include an examination, an internal ultrasound or a small sample from the lining of the womb. What happens next will depend on what is found.

Today brings our Women’s Health Month series to an end. My hope is that this month has made it easier to listen to your body and seek care without shame or delay.

Thank you for reading and sharing these posts with the women you care about.

#WomensHealth

#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

After six months without a period, you assume menopause has arrived and stop family planning.

Then the pregnancy test shows two lines.

How can that happen?

During perimenopause, your periods may disappear for several months and then return. Your ovaries can still release an egg during this time.

Ovulation happens before menstruation. This means pregnancy can occur before you ever see another period.

If your periods stopped naturally, the general guidance is:

If you are under 50, continue contraception for two years after your last period.

If you are 50 or older, continue for one year after your last period.

By age 55, contraception can usually be stopped because natural pregnancy is exceptionally rare.

These rules are harder to apply when you use hormonal contraception. The pill, injection, implant or hormonal IUD may change or completely stop your bleeding. The absence of a period does not necessarily confirm menopause.

And remember, hormone replacement therapy can relieve menopause symptoms, but it does not prevent pregnancy.

Before stopping family planning, speak with a clinician about your age, the method you use and when your natural periods stopped.

One final warning: bleeding that starts after 12 months without a natural period should be assessed.

Save this before assuming that no period automatically means no pregnancy.

#WomensHealth
#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

Five pregnancy tests taken too early can tell you less than one test taken at the right time.

You took the morning-after pill. Now your period is late, lighter or simply different, and you are wondering whether it worked.

The morning-after pill can cause spotting and alter the timing or flow of your next period. But it is not 100 percent effective, so do not rely on bleeding or symptoms to rule out pregnancy.

If a normal period has not come, take a pregnancy test three weeks after the unprotected sex.

If the result is negative but your period remains absent, repeat the test or arrange an assessment.

Please seek urgent medical care if you have severe or persistent lower abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding, fainting or a positive pregnancy test with pain.

Did you start a hormonal contraceptive injection afterwards? That can also change or stop your bleeding. Do not automatically blame every later menstrual change on the morning-after pill.

Save this. The timing of the test matters.

#womenshealth
#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

“I have used the morning-after pill more than once. Have I damaged my womb?”

No.

Emergency-contraception pills do not cause infertility, damage the womb or delay your ability to become pregnant in the future.

They work mainly by delaying or preventing the release of an egg. Because they can alter the timing of ovulation, they may temporarily disturb your current menstrual cycle.

You may notice spotting, unexpected bleeding, abdominal cramps or nausea. Your next period may also come earlier or later than usual. These changes usually settle and do not mean that your fertility has been damaged.

Emergency contraception can be used more than once, including more than once in the same cycle when necessary. The reason it is not recommended as your regular method is not because it causes infertility.

Regular contraception is generally more dependable and provides ongoing protection. An emergency pill only addresses sex that has already happened. It does not automatically protect you if you have unprotected sex again later in the same cycle.

If you find yourself relying on emergency pills frequently, a family-planning clinic can help you choose a method that suits your health and plans.

Take a pregnancy test if your period has not come within three weeks. Seek medical care for severe or persistent abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding or faintness. A positive pregnancy test accompanied by pain needs urgent assessment.

Pain or bleeding during sex should not be blamed automatically on emergency contraception. Please get examined if it continues.

The pill may disturb this month’s bleeding. It does not destroy your future fertility.

#WomensHealth

#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch

You had unprotected sex. You panicked and washed immediately because you hoped the sperm would come out.

It will not.

Washing, bathing, urinating or douching cannot remove sperm or prevent pregnancy. Urine leaves through a different opening. Once sperm enters the vagina, washing the outside does not reach it.

Please do not insert soap, disinfectant, salt, herbs, vinegar or medicine. These substances will not prevent pregnancy and may cause irritation or infection.

If the sex happened within the last five days, you may still have time to use emergency contraception.

An emergency-contraception pill should be taken as soon as possible. Some options can be used within five days, but they generally work better when taken earlier.

A copper IUD can also be fitted by a trained clinician within five days. It is the most effective form of emergency contraception and can remain in place for continued pregnancy prevention.

Emergency contraception does not wash out sperm, end an established pregnancy or protect against sexually transmitted infections.

If there may have been exposure to HIV, seek urgent medical care for PEP within 72 hours. Do not wait for symptoms. Ask a clinician when you should test for HIV and other infections.

Your next period may come earlier or later after an emergency-contraception pill. Take a pregnancy test three weeks after the unprotected sex, or follow the advice given by your clinician.

There is no shame in asking for help. What matters now is acting within the available time.

Please share this information. Someone may still have time to act.

#WomensHealth

#HealthyLivingWithDrKetch