On Tuesday, I went to the doctor’s for my annual physical and quarterly bloodwork. I can’t report much to you, since the test results were given to me while I was driving (look at me getting behind the wheel!) and I was paying more attention to the road than numerical values. I do remember my A1C is at 6.1, which is not quite where we want it, but it’s still very tolerable. My triglycerides are still high, despite the prescription strength fish oil that I’m taking, but at least they’re down significantly. They’re less than twice what they should be for the first time in years, so I’ll take it. My blood pressure was a little high, though, high enough that they retook it before letting me leave the office, and the prescribed me another medication to get it under control.

And what a job it’s doing. I’m used to my blood pressure hovering around 145/95ish, which is still pretty high. This morning it was 120/81, almost perfectly textbook. Other readings have been slightly higher, but still in the 120s/80s – much better than I had been recording. I’m very pleased with the results.

However, there is an unpleasant side effect to this medication. Everything that I take in by mouth – all food and drink – has a metallic aftertaste. In foods with strong flavors, it’s not really noticeable. (Thankfully, one of those foods is coffee.) But with water, since it really has no taste, the aftertaste lingers for a while, and it’s very strong – to the point that I initially thought the water filter had had something go wrong with it. And generally speaking, the only things I drink during a typical day are a glass of milk to get my morning meds down, coffee, and unflavored water – with the majority of what I drink water.

So I’m going to have to get used to this metallic taste, or find another medication that’s going to work. I hope I can get used to it – I really like the results I’m getting from my medication regimen these days.