Well I did come off the beta blocker earlier this week. However, I had a really strange episode of lightheadedness while at the Biltmore estate on Tuesday. My wife and I had exercised for a little while in the fitness center that morning...no problem. We headed out to the Biltmore later in the morning. It was when I climbed the first set of stairs that it hit me. I felt bad. I thought, I am having a heart attack, stroke, bad day, etc. Well after struggling through the entire tour, I finally was able to find a chair and rest/recover. You could say that I was overwhelmed by the tour, but you would be wrong.
Let me digress for just a moment. Biltmore was built by a man that had never worked. He basically used someone else's money to bring a vision to fruition. Now granted, his vision was excellent, but many people have great visions with no resources to bring them to reality. The other thing is that George had his own bedroom and one for his wife. No wonder they only had one child. The Biltmore is a beautiful work of art and a lot of that effort is due to his grandsons. They had the vision to take a man's self-indulgent idea to a higher plane. What is brilliant is that they got the public to pay for it most of it. And yes, I contributed to the cause.
I can say that George's self-centered vision is not as bad as what I saw in Germany at the various castle's in the Bavarian region. King Ludwig II, the fairy-tale king, was a narcissistic SOB. His bedroom on one lesser castle was full of gold metal leaf and mirrors. He never married and seemed to have more for Wagner that he did for women...
Digression complete...after returning from the castle....errrr...estate, I stopped at grocery store to take my blood pressure (102/58) which was way lower than my usual readings. [side note - they poor smuck ahead of me was 192/101 which is off scale high.] My heart rate was 62. After resting at the room, I went back to the store to buy a BP monitor and measure it again. My BP was closer to normal (128/70...HR 51). I have been measuring my BP ever since then and have not noted any low readings. In addition, I have not noticed any abnormal heart beats. Certainly no flutter.
Today we drove to Mt Mitchell, highest peak east of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway west of the Mt Mitchell entrance is closed due to a rock slide (or something). So you have to take the long way around (40 east to 70 east to 80 north to Blue Ridge Parkway west). The 80 north route is a great route for driving the Mazda Me-otter. It is one o the twistiest, turniest roads I have ever driven. I am not sure my wife enjoyed the ride and much as I enjoyed the drive. I did keep the speed down because it was narrow and I was not familiar with the road.
We had fun hiking one of the trails at the park. The Mt Mitchell summit was not open due to renovation. We hiked to a couple of adjacent peaks and I took some pictures of Mt Mitchell. The hike took it out of me. I did have some lightheadedness initially and I had to stop and pee 4 or 5 times (not sure what that is all about). My wife thinks I may have diabetes (which runs in the family), but I have not experienced any other symptoms before now. All these issues are coincidental with the going on drugs and coming off beta blockers.
I hope to be feeling better soon (today would be great). We head to Cherokee tomorrow and then home on Friday (where my own bed awaits me).
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