side effects of cardiac medication

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Compassionate, caring Tories? Not with this Cabinet.

Balls patiently waiting for levers.

We supported Liz Truss winning the previous Whose Gonna Be The Next Prime Minister competition because we predicted she would sink the Conservative Party. She amply demonstrated her lack of understanding of conventional economics in the leadership debates and correctly anticipated that Conservative party members innate racism and credulity would see her through. The party members duly disengaged their brains and didn’t vote for the right winger who wasn’t promising tax cuts and also had the disadvantage of having a brown skin. The fact that he was reasonably competent and economically literate failed to be a pertinent issue.

With Liz Truss’s demise, Tory MPs acted quickly to neuter a second crazy decision by party members and rapidly voted for Rishi Sunak despite a last ditch attempt by showman and chancer Boris Johnson to regain office.

Now Sunak, as Prime Minister, is appointing his cabinet and revealing his true Tory credentials. Shockingly he has reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and Therese Coffey has become Environment secretary. Braverman, at a fringe meeting of the recent Conservative Party conference, laughingly commented that her dream was to see a headline Telegraph picture of a jet carrying immigrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for out of country processing and decision making. Therese Coffey in her former role of Health Secretary made a mockery of her position by openly smoking, revealing she shared her own unwanted antibiotics with friends and suggested nurses could leave the profession if they weren’t happy with their pay rise. She also asserted the UK could recruit nurses from abroad. Oh yeah? What havoc will she reap on the environment? Gavin Williamson has been appointed Minister Without Portfolio, or, in other words, cabinet teaboy.

Sunak himself, this year, cheerfully stated that he thought there was nothing wrong with transferring money away from poorer areas to more well off areas.

Steven Baker becomes Health Secretary. Another right winger with a record of voting for underfunding, and setting unachievable targets for, the NHS.

Twelve years of Tory rule, partisan class politics and tepid economic growth. We are again faced with another swingeing round of cuts and austerity on top of a cost of living crisis. Tory economic policy has failed disastrously. They should call an election immediately.

I went for a 5k run yesterday after I decided to cut my bisoprolol from 7.5mgs to 5mgs a few days earlier. It had tripled to 7.5mgs following onset of atrial fibrillation but I felt I was more breathless on exertion and more tired with the increase recently. The run felt less of an effort and I feel I have a little extra energy. I’m taking my blood pressure several times a day and it remains within healthy limits. I probably would do parkrun again if I had more motivation. Part of the problem is that Milton Country Park did not bring parkrun back after the covid lockdown and the other runs are some distance away. It shouldn’t be a problem but for the present I seem to have lost my running mojo.

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100th parkrun celebration. Runners not dressing down!

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Lorna’s and Michelle’s joint 100th parkrun (Lorna in red and Michelle in multi colour tutu. Various wings were worn and a lot of talking undertaken during the run. Coffee, tea and cake in the cafe afterwards. All very enjoyable. I was surrounded by running ladeeees and had to watch my P and Qs (an English expression meaning “mind your manners”, “mind your language”, “be on your best behaviour”. It’s not easy, I can tell you! I have to suppress the urge to be ridiculous at the best of times. It’s an ongoing battle since most of the time I think that’s a legitimate response.

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Cambridge parkrun was attended by a rhinoceros seen here menacing two fairies who have become detached from the magical community. No clever comment offered here. See how grown up I am?

Parkrun was a bit of a no score draw for me. I’m still 90 seconds down on my usual times and yesterday I felt tired. Today I went for a nine mile run and felt much better. I borrowed Lorna’s Garmin and clocked exactly 9 minutes a mile as an average. I wasn’t pushing hard and I felt quite relaxed. The problem running with heart disease is the medication (bisoprolol and Ramipril) acts as limiter on the amount of effort the heart can undertake. In practice the difference between running comfortably and running to capacity is rather small ie I don’t run much faster when I put in maximum effort.

The attack by a knife wielding man at Leytonstone Underground station yesterday who apparently shouted “This is for Syria” as he stabbed and assaulted a random person (presumably) and threatened others before he was Tasered and subdued by police, was a disturbing and frightening incident. The police are regarding it as a terrorist act, provisionally, but I note that BBC reporters included the possibility of his behaviour resulting from mental ill health. His physical movements and manner certainly gave that impression.

Since a high percentage of people regard themselves as citizen reporters and can easily video scenarios played out before them and share via social media, we can all enjoy the unfolding drama with detachment and  the safety of distance. Over and over again as with this incident. We can also see how bystanders, or people passing, act. This ranges from running off in terror to standing gawping or even walking over closer as if the danger was occurring on a screen. If news isn’t accompanied by explicit film or images, it loses its impact compared with news that is.Video can be repeated endlessly and shamelessly, as it was with 9/11.

A large proportion of of news presentation, these days, is devoted entirely to exploiting our emotions. It’s cheap, voyeuristic and cynical. The police themselves are complicit in this approach and freely make available video of subsequently convicted suspects being questioned. They also permit the making of sycophantic TV programmes following traffic cops and docile fly on the wall documentaries about themselves. News has been receiving a substantial make over for several years. There’s less news, it’s dumbed down and it’s more likely to be presented as emotive entertainment. We can all feel sorrowful and pretend we care.

Must leave you now. Going to watch that emotionally uplifting Nordic noir TV crime prog, The Bridge.

 

 

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Aliveandrunning November 16 2014

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I should have been running the St.Neots half marathon today but my lingering, three week old cold and no training scuppered it. I did do Cambridge parkrun yesterday, and last week, plus I ran a 10k race two weeks ago but these were more than manageable given my level of running fitness. I haven’t been out with the club for three weeks and there have been no training runs. So a bit of running but not much. Before my heart attack five years ago, I definitely would have run the half marathon today despite the cold and insufficient raining. In fact, I wouldn’t have given it much thought. Now, I give it a lot of thought. It’s great to be running at the same level as before the heart attack (despite the baleful effects the bloody cardiac medication has on my running). I describe it as baleful only in the sense that it restricts my speed and effort. I have to accept that overall it probably has a positive effect on my heart health (see how I have to qualify the (possible) benefit I am receiving?. Am I not incorrigible in this respect? Do I not have a shipping container stuffed full of caveats?) Recent research suggests that placebos have a very good health benefit (among many others, see Mind Over Medicine:Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself by Lissa Rankin). I’m rehearsing a conversation with my GP.

Me:Pretty please, Doc, take me off my heart medication and prescribe placebos instead!

GP: I fail to see the rationale behind this idiotic request.

Me: The current prescription is slowing down my running which won’t be the case with placebos.

GP: You want me to take you off meds which strengthen and regulate your heart so you can run faster?

Me: You’ve got it Doc! Current research points to a measurable benefit in a given condition even if the person is fully aware that they are taking an inert placebo. I believe a placebo would be very good for my heart health. You gotta believe as well, Doc. Together we can do it. I’ll keep you fully informed of my parkrun times.

GP: Request denied with knobs on. Next patient, please!

Note to family : only joking!

I’ll go for a leisurely, longer run this afternoon. It’s chilly but not cold, will probably be raining, will definitely be dank, dark and overcast but I’ll just take it on the chin.

I wore trail shoes for yesterday’s parkrun. Unlike last week when a number of people fell and injuries included a broken ankle, I didn’t hear of anyone coming to grief. I wasn’t far off my old times so I mustn’t complain. I was thinking about placebos as I went around. See how beneficial they can be!

I picked up the above books in the Emmaus (homeless charity) store which, conveniently, is less than a mile from me. The Rare Words book is good to dip in to, if you like words. It means you are a logophile (not a lover of wood fires). Not much, if anything, on etymology, though. Of course, If you are a Sun, Star or Mirror reader I don’t think you need a vocabulary greater than 500 words so don’t bother (gratuitous insult of the day).

Grumpiness! Very much under rated, very much maligned. Far better to call it discernment or sagaciousness. It should be recognised as an art form and as an academic subject. Should this be offered, one might be able to do a Phd in Grumpiness. It would certainly appeal to people over a certain age.

WP_20141115_001  This ailing walnut tree continues to fascinate me. Despite its appearance, it soldiers on and had a good canopy of leaves this year.

I listened to the excellent The Life Scientific  (BBC Radio 4 this week , available as a podcast on iTunes) and heard Professor Dave Goulson talk about preserving bumble bees in the UK. He set up the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and has done a lot of work on the reasons for the decline in bee populations. Very interesting and positive. I think one of the focuses of my therapeutic gardening project will be on creating a bee, butterfly and bird friendly environment. Must pull my finger out!

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 15

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Day 15. “Ooohhh……….what a lovely dog. I bet he loves to run with you. Don’t those Dalmatians run beside carriages of the rich?  Or used to in the past when horse drawn carriages were common and posh people wanted to display their sense of style.”

This is Rupert. I’d love to take him running with me. I’d love to take him to parkrun where dog running is allowed. He gets along very well with other dogs and he’s grown up with children. Unfortunately, he finds it impossible to run in a straight line and frequently stops suddenly. In a large group he would be a complete liability and trip up large swathes of runners. I mention this because I had various commitments today and took Rupert for a walk later than usual. I then went for a run and started cooking as soon as I got back. It would have saved time if the dog walking and run had been combined. It’s not too late, though. I’ve successfully bid for a carriage and four horses on Ebay. They’ll be delivered on the weekend and we’ll go for a trial run as soon as we can. I’ve discussed this approach with Rupert and he’s agreeable in principle. I think it will work. I’m sure he’ll learn to run continuously ahead or behind me so a parkrun with him is possible……as long as he’s accompanied by a carriage and four horses!

The 2 mile run went OK. It was dusk again and the temperature was a mild 10C. Yesterday it was considerably colder and I really didn’t warm up all day. I attribute this to the side effects of my cardiac medication.

My wife Lorna was contacted by Addenbrookes Hospital today and offered a cancellation appointment tomorrow to see an orthopaedic surgeon with a view to assessing and treating her Achilles tendonosis. It may well require surgery and we don’t know if running in the future is an option. We are keeping our fingers crossed. In the meanwhile I hope she continues to take some great photos of me running.