by chris87 » Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:10 am
I'm actually writing this post for my dad. I was hoping that someone could give me some advice. He has a severe cataract in his left eye (to the point where he is blind). He is supposed to have it removed next week, but it looks like he won't be able to have it done. As part of the pre-op testing, he needs clearance from a primary care doctor. He went for the first time in probably 20 years last week. He has hypertension (and probably CAD) and ate a western diet for most of his life (he's 66). Fortunately, he doesn't have any other conditions . I've successfully converted him to a WFPB for the last 2 months, and he has lost quite a bit a weight. He's down to about 178 lbs (5'7"), so he still has more to lose. Unfortunately, at the appointment, his pressure was 200/100, and the doctor freaked out (he wanted to send him to the ER). My dad had no symptoms and felt fine (other than he was nervous about the appointment). He put him on 3 medications - Metoprolol 50mg ER, Lisinopril 10mg, and Clonidine 0.1mg. It seemed like they did immediately bring his pressure down. He stopped taking the Clonidine, because it made him very tired and his pressure readings were under 120/80. I've seen Dr. McDougall's videos about the J-curve and how it can be dangerous to aggressively lower pressure. The doctor said that he won't sign the sheet for at least another month because of the high blood pressure. When I've researched online, it seems like they will generally remove cataracts as long as the BP is less than 180/110 (some even say 200). I'm pretty confident that he is under that mark at this point. If he takes the Clonidine, he'll be less than 120/80. I'm so upset, because for work reasons, he really needs to have this done.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I know it's kind of off-topic, but I don't what to do. My goal is for him to get off all of the BP medications. He is adhering strictly to the diet, and I make sure that he follows it carefully. I'm tempted to send him to a different primary care doctor to see if they'll sign off on it, but I don't know if that's possible. I also don't know if the primary care doctor that he saw is being too cautious, or if this is just standard operating procedure. He seems to think that the pressure must be stable for at least one month before you can have a cataract removed. I thought maybe he could talk to the Ophthalmologist, but I don't know if that would matter at all. I appreciate any input! If anyone has been in a similar position, I would be interested to hear how it worked out.