Brian Robson

As a pharmacologist I speak with some expertise, but as with any advice on the 'net check with a doc!

How have you been storing your UK meds? The heat here can be detrimental to some drugs, which normally have a maximum storage recommendation of 25 Deg C. Keep them in the fridge (NOT FREEZER!) This may have caused your UK medication to stop working.

150/90 is considered mild to moderate hypertension and a common drug of choice is Ramipril (ACE inhibitor). I have been taking these for years without side effects, but stopped three weeks ago after giving up beer and my BP is now a normal 140/75.

If you start at 5 mg per day in your case, that should bring your BP into line, and only cost 600 Baht/100 at my pharmacy. A thiazide diuretic can reduce water retention if you have any.

As I said at the beginning, check with a doc first thing, especially if you are on any other meds!

Since I bought and started taking the Tritace (Ramipril) at 5 Mg per day (only 3 days ago) my BP has dropped from a regular 150/90 to around 125/75. So I want to thank Brian Robson for his advice.

The pharmacy in Asok, near work, charged me 1500 baht for 30 10 Mg tablets, which I cut in half, so 2 months' supply. I will try the cheaper pharmacies across the other side of Sukhumvit next time, but I didn't have a lot of time that day... But don't think I will be able to find them at 600 baht for 100!

So far I have not needed a diuretic. What exactly is water retention? Swelling of ankles? What should I look for?

As I said I do not eat any crap. Nothing in the 7/11 is edible for me. I eat fruit, salad, veg, wholemeal bread, but some Thai food, and I must admit I do enjoy French cheese. I go to the gym and do not have any other health issues. I am 54 and the last time I was admitted to a hospital was when I was 18. for appendicitis.

I use an Omron upper arm BP meter which I bought for 10 pounds in Asda in the UK.

Thanks. I'm glad it worked, but at some point have a doc look you over and check for known side effects on the internet.

Swollen feet or ankles, are a sign of water retention, so first off, cut down on salt. Thai diet is full of it!

Upper arm BP meters are more accurate than wrist ones. Try and take you BP under the same conditions each time.

Every time I had mine taken in the UK at my doc, it was always very high, compared to when I took it at home. So last time I took my BP meter to check the calibration against the UK surgery one and the readings agreed. White coat effect!

My BP is still normal 140/75 without medication and I'm still off the booze. So another boring remedy there!

Asian cultural mores can be a bit arsey.

Never pull a business card from your back pocket or accept one and put it in you back pocket.

It's like wiping your arse on it!

Just because your slim doesnt mean your fit, working out 2 to 3 times a week means nothing. Sounds like your torturing yourself as opposed to helping yourself

You would be well advised to speak to a doctor re: exercise program

My thoughts would be at least 60 minutes a day of continual exercise every day ie Hikiing , walking mix it with swimming lengths is ok , forget weights.

stop all alcohol until you get your pressure down or stop altogether

stop sodium salts oils crisps etc

eat more green veg, nuts oats fish etc

Its really common sense , what you have been putting into your body for so long is now paying you back.

There are many $10 books that can help your life if you prepared to read.

You may also consider the thought that an ingredient in alcohol or something your eating may have an adverse reaction to your body intestinal tract somewhere. You may not even know it. Just because its sold in shops doesnt mean you can drink it and be safe.

Alcohol and many foods especially in asia are full of artificial additives that are harmful.

Hope this helps.

The alcohol issue is an important one to which I will attest.

I was in Pattaya Memorial ICU last month, having collapsed with a massive loss of blood (needed 6 units). As my blood pressure was by then low, I stopped taking my Ramipril (BP meds) until my BP came up. I was also off alcohol! I have not had to take Ramipril and I'm still off the alcohol and my BP has remained normal since. I conclude that for years my high BP was due to my alcohol intake!

Should've let her dangle for an hour or so

This is probably more applicable to ladyboys!

As a pharmacologist I speak with some expertise, but as with any advice on the 'net check with a doc!

How have you been storing your UK meds? The heat here can be detrimental to some drugs, which normally have a maximum storage recommendation of 25 Deg C. Keep them in the fridge (NOT FREEZER!) This may have caused your UK medication to stop working.

150/90 is considered mild to moderate hypertension and a common drug of choice is Ramipril (ACE inhibitor). I have been taking these for years without side effects, but stopped three weeks ago after giving up beer and my BP is now a normal 140/75.

If you start at 5 mg per day in your case, that should bring your BP into line, and only cost 600 Baht/100 at my pharmacy. A thiazide diuretic can reduce water retention if you have any.

As I said at the beginning, check with a doc first thing, especially if you are on any other meds!

Unluckily he didn't get fifty shades of crap beaten out of him by half a dozen Thais!

Steven Hawkins must go nuts over these guys, while Albert Einstein, and Charles Darwin spin in their graves to give enough electric power to Tokio for a year.

Btw. isn't it against the law now to spread such rumors?

I go nuts over irrational nonsense quoted by supposedly educated first world people on the internet.

We are clearly still in the dark ages!

I do not touch food which has been swilling around an open bowl in a market or vendor's trolley for (hours, days?).

I might risk BBQ meat I've seen cooked in front of me.

I have rarely had a gippy gut here!

"Playing on an escalator" says it all, seen many parents oblivious to this sort of thing also

If I see kids mucking around on the escalator, I usually tell them off in no uncertain terms.

It is hazardous machinery!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APAb0JM_XEo

Too common an occurrence. I was in Pattaya Memorial ICU two weeks ago, and a Chinese guy had popped his clogs drowning

The last thing I want to think about is dying!

Last week I blacked out and ended up in Pattaya Memorial getting six blood transfusions.

Made me think....

The property is in my brothers name....check!

Enough money in the bank for a funeral and for the girlfriend for a while.....check!

Living will to not to keep me alive in a vegetative state.....check!

No other encumbrances......check!

Just keep your affairs in order, as you can go in the blink of an eye!

Crazy Brit. You don't visit a foreign country, rent a car, and drive with reckless abandon. You don't know the roads and you are a guest.

I hope they lock up Mr. Benjamin in a Thai prison cell for a few years and not just let him go back to the island after paying off the officer's family.

My condolences to Police Lance Corporal Wiroon's family and friends. Terrible that this happens at the end of the Songkran holiday.

Who said the car was rented?

What makes him a tourist? Maybe just his visa?

The police officer's motorbike had no license plate at all

Yet, you condemn the guy to a prison sentence. What if it's found out that the car driver had not a trace of alcohol or other substance and that it was an accident at 2:40am.

Then again, i'm sure you'll find some other answers.

Ignoring all the alleged possibilities, the guy was going far to fast at 2.40 am! Serious case of reckless driving!

"The impact hurled the motorcycle about 200 meters away from car. Several parts of the motorcycle were broken and scattered at the spot."

The TAT has missed the boat again.

The Rooskies have almost evaporated like the gals in the low season. The Rouble is in rubble!

Now is the time to install electric fenced off sites for the Chinese and Koreans. They are used to this sort of thing!

Demolition derby for very small particles.

What is the purpose of all this a cure for cancer, bigger Nukes, better cheaper beer?

Another one for the naysayers!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/large-hadron-collider/10003417/Large-Hadron-Collider-scientists-developing-new-cancer-treatments.html

Good point! We could have remained in the stone age, and failed to progress beyond that, like discovering iron and how to advance to a civilisation which can communicate globally, instantaneously!

We may even find a subatomic particle smaller than some people's brains eventually!

Bought a new air-conditioner recently to replace the one in the living-room that is 7 years old. I must say its great turn the thing on 29 degrees with a fan and I am ok.

One AC finally gave up the ghost after 15 years, so I'm getting one of those new fangled inverter ones that people have been talking about here!

When we first met walking round Pattaya I asked the gf, "are you hungry" She replies."lateron"

OK we'll eat later on then. This happens a couple more times until I reply, "I'm hungry, fancy a restaurant (lateron)" DOH!

Seven years later this afternoon in BiG C she wants some Lits biscuits! Eh? Oh Ritz!

Another gem from the song, "She don't like, she don't like OK?"

When my daughter visited me in Thailand I was berated for speaking to my Thai girlfriend 'like she was a child!'

No excuse really, as I am a TEFL teacher grad and should know better!

Takes a gun on a night out at a restaurant and game of arrows!!

What? You bought arrows to a gunfight?

Pretty much the only option they had in the circumstances. Many will blame the BBC for Clarkson's demise and the end of Top Gear, but the fact is he shot himself in the foot with both barrels here.

Hoist by his own petard!

It's most important to keep drugs stored in a cool dry place!

The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) recommends that medication storage temperatures should be maintained between 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C (59 degrees F to 86 degrees F). Concerns have been raised that storage temperatures in EMS may deviate from this optimal range, predisposing drugs to degradation.

A chief ingredient of Sudafed which was great for post nasal drip due to colds and hayfever, is still sold in some countries, but in restricted quantities.

This has been circumvented by the practice of "Smurfing", Smurfing is a term law enforcement and illicit drug distributors use to refer to the hiring of individuals to purchase pseudoephedrine. These individuals buy up to the limit permitted by law (typically a monthly limit, as in the United States) in order to avoid arousing suspicion, but then pool their purchases in order to exceed the legal limit. This is done in order to facilitate the manufacture of illicit drugs such as methamphetamine

Not sure if this would be practical for condos, but in our community housing, they hold a general meeting every six months or so, emphasise the importance of paying service fees, then pass round diagrammatic list of house numbers and how much each are in arrears. Then owners are asked to pledge when they will be paying up!

People 'lose face' when others can see who is not paying their dues, so it seems to work quite well.

I thought they had exported these types to South Africa nearly 400 years ago!