On Tuesday, I had a doctor’s appointment to remove a small epidermoid cyst on my upper back. No big deal, totally benign, it’s basically skin cells that become envaginated inside the epidermis and slowly grow until the cyst is removed.

While I was stretched out on the exam table as Dr. W did his job, I mentioned that my BP had been elevated when the nurse had taken it (she’d done it on my left arm and had gotten a reading of 180/100, which scared the crap out of her. When she tried my right arm, it was 160/88, which was better but still not good) and how I’ve been having an elevated BP all year and maybe it was time to discuss hypertension meds. He agreed, took my BP again after the removal procedure (it had dropped to 130/84, go figure) and said, “Yeah, considering your history and all, let’s put you on an ACE inhibitor. It’s effective, dirt cheap, and the only side effect most people report is a dry tickle in the throat.”

So off I go with my spandy new prescription for lisinopril, get it filled, and take the first dose. No side effects, but I did notice that there was a certain loosening in my chest, which felt good. I then went home and researched my new med, and found medical studies that recommended taking it at bedtime so that it would be most available during the night when the heart repairs and remodels itself. Makes perfect sense, and last night was the first one I took a dose at bedtime.

Then I found another study on ACE inhibitors from 2008, an Australian one with an absolutely fascinating result. It had been reported in a lot of the news agencies at the time, then promptly disappeared. I did some more digging and found follow-up studies from 2012 and 2013 that seemed to reinforce the conclusion from the 2008 study. I don’t want to wander off into tinfoil hat woowoo territory so I’m not going to go into detail about this, not yet. Not until I’ve had a chance to see how the conclusion of the study applies to me, if it does at all.

Although if it does, I may have to fly to Australia and give those researchers some big ol’ kisses because it would explain one hell of a lot about the hot mess that is my endocrine system. Stay tuned.

Man, this month pretty much flew by. I know I got various things done (the taxes, a start on the weightlifting, voting for the Nebulas, writing up outlines for the next two books, finishing a novella) but it seems like it was just February 28 a few days ago.

Then again, the weather was around the high 80’s today, so I suppose I should be grateful it wasn’t that warm AND February. It’s bad enough that we’re getting those kind of temps in March, along with the mondo storms that force me to shove the Brit’s leathercrafting stuff to one side in the garage so that I can park my car in there and away from any possible hail damage.

But climate change isn’t real. 45 said so. *rolls eyes*

Anyway, today finished my second week of weightlifting, and I’m pleased to say that my Eastern European genes are kicking in as expected and putting on muscle tissue like you wouldn’t believe. I haven’t lost a whole lot of weight yet, but I didn’t expect to because some of it is being converted into muscle. More importantly, I can see a noticeable difference in my silhouette (not to mention the definition in my arms and legs), and I can feel a definite increase in my strength and stamina. Turns out that going to the gym at 4:00 PM instead of late at night might have been what I needed to do all along.

The interesting thing will be when I go in next week to get my Synthroid scrip refilled. I fully expect them to do a blood draw and test things like my triglicerides along with my T3 and T4 levels. Staying away from carbs and other foods that aren’t good for Hashimoto’s patients, using the 16/8 IF protocol, and three weeks of weightlifting by then will hopefully have some nice knock-on effects on my bloodwork. We shall see.