Pride precedeth the fall (?)

My doctor retired recently. We've been together a long time. Change is hard.

My first visit with my new doctor came as a follow-up to a late night trip to the Emergency Room.  My head had been hurting for a few days and that night it became 'unbearable'. Of course I was worried about a tumor, or an aneurysm (you know, something that people have on Facebook.)  After they scanned my head and took some tests the only thing they found was that my blood pressure was like 200-something over 100-something. I was stunned at this. It's been pushing the limits lately but never anything close to this.

I've always prided myself in not needing any pills to keep me going. Many years ago, when my BP crept up, I changed my diet, quit drinking, began riding bike and lost a bunch of weight. Problem solved. But not this time.

The ER doctor injected some beta-blocker and told me to see my doctor ASAP. This could be a sign that my kidney (remaining good one) is having troubles. It's a cyclic thing: kidneys help control the blood pressure and high blood pressure can damage the kidneys. I made an appointment and saw my doctor the next day.  ]

Now we have started the process of selecting the correct BP treatment. There are two classes of BP meds. Each contains a wide variety to choose from. One class targets the kidney's control system. The other uses the heart's. Since we don't want to mess with the kidney, we will choose the heart.

My wife asked; "Well, what about the headaches? What did she say about those?" I passed the scan and all the neurological tests so it's most likely tension. Yeah, I've heard that before and I know the drill. It's another of those cyclic things but now that I know what it's NOT, I can relax a little. I know it works. And now that spring is here I can start riding bike again. This helps everything. 

P.S.
I've only seen my new doctor twice and both times she has asked if I was seeing a kidney specialist (Nephrologist). I have said 'no' and she's let it go. My annual physical is coming up and I will pursue this.