PSA: watch your health!
Posted by rubmahbelly@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 25 comments
After 15 years as a sysadmin I developed high blood pressure.
Stress, bad eating and smoking led to it. 15 days ago I was at 150/90. Not good at all. Bought a BP monitor. Now with medication it is down to 120/80.
Whether you are new to the role or in it for decades: watch your health. High BP is a silent killer. It can develop over years and you hardly recognize it. Then one day you CAN FEEL something is really off, in my case shortness of breath and my heart is working like I ran 5 km.
So buy a monitor and or visit your doc on a regular basis.
HIgh BP can lead to serious complications potentially life threatenig.
Watch your health fellow IT wizards.
anonymousITCoward@reddit
Stress is a big factor to... Along with "mental health" Take a break and breath in some freshness... relax a bit more than a bit..
WhatWouldJordyDo@reddit
I get a physical every year with a full blood panel
antiduh@reddit
Get your potassium checked too. A fair number of folks are silently deficient and it causes high BP because your muscles can't relax.
I have potassium deficiency and high BP even though I exercise like a madman and don't smoke.. But have asthma and use Albuterol regularly.
heretogetpwned@reddit
If you're on bpmeds they've likely already done blood test, possibly urine, but not always. Popular Rx, Lisinopril, causes potassium inbalance.
Source: Am on bpmeds and the first two years they wanted fluids every 3 months.
anxiousvater@reddit
At office, we have yearly blood checks, samples are sent in the evening, by then artifically elevated Potassium levels (K leaks out of Red blood cells) appear in results. So I have to redraw the blood at GP near my home.
Sorcerious@reddit
As if being a sysadmin is the number one cause for high blood pressure.
I'm all for healthy PSA's and all that, but I do believe there are some other causes in your list that do contribute a wee bit more
Livid-Assignment-260@reddit
The core takeaway is stress, which can and will exacerbate other health issues.
rubmahbelly@reddit (OP)
Huh? I wrote that the combination of factors led to it.
weHaveThoughts@reddit
You need cannabis in your life.
techtornado@reddit
I read that as a very different word - cannibals
Those would be very stressful
weHaveThoughts@reddit
Cannibals wouldn’t be any fun to have waiting in the server room. Imagine forgetting you locked one in over the weekend and came in to do the Monday morning checks?
MortalJohn@reddit
Legalise it
Emotional_Garage_950@reddit
you can buy strong legal edibles online shipped to any state since the 2018 farm bill passed
jordaniangoon@reddit
This job really normalizes unhealthy habits way too much. Glad you caught it early and got things under control. Take care of yourself man.
Lucky_Foam@reddit
I think the bad eating and smoking is the biggest factor here.
Eat a well balanced diet and don't smoke. Both of which are very doable no matter what your job is.
pimpron18@reddit
I’m very thankful that I was introduced to weightlifting within 5 years of working as a sysadmin. My life is much more balanced as a result with added benefits of normal blood pressure!
Few-Pressure9581@reddit
Health is wealth and technology is well a business problem. I ain't paid enough to put health over a business problem
terminal-admin@reddit
Probably more of the smoking and bad eating than the sys admin work 😊. Either way hope you’re getting it under control!
apathyzeal@reddit
Mines always been naturally very low I often faint during outages
Last-Appointment6577@reddit
your adrenaline is spiking during these times because of the nerves. curb that as best you can
apathyzeal@reddit
It's why I do drugs
anxiousvater@reddit
Yup! I draw inspiration from Politicians & Lawyers who are more stressed. Detachment helps a lot.
packetssniffer@reddit
This why I adopted the routine of waking up at 5am to go to the gym before work.
Also, meal prepping on Sundays.
I don't get stressed at work though. I thrive when shit hits the fan.
anxiousvater@reddit
Irrespective of stress, quit smoking. Outages come & ago but you need a healthy body & a pleasant mind. Regular sports should improve your situation. Take care.
RagingITguy@reddit
I am in a weird position. Sysadmin and also a paramedic.
So first off, being a sysadmin is stressful as hell. We all know the uncooperative users, empty promises from mangement etc. We sit a lot. Get up and walk at work, if you work at home, get a walking pad. Yes get a BP monitor to get your baseline. I like to tell my patients to get a reading around the same time same activity level. So maybe before you get out of bed in the morning as BP levels are quite variable during the day, and respond greatly to stress, diet, smoking etc etc.
Visiting your doc on a regular basis should be a given for whatever career you have. It's not just BP and heart rate. A good lab panel every year will tell you what's going on. Maybe you have a genetic cholesterol disorder, and you need to adjust diet or take medication. Maybe you have a vitamin deficiency. Seeing your doctor regularly is IMPORTANT. After, you service your car regularly... right? You patch your servers regularly..... RIGHT?
On top of this, give your mental health a check up. Some of us are tied into unreasonable unpaid OT, on-call, etc. Find that balance. Both your physical and mental health will kill you if they are not balanced.
I've been burnt out before. I'm pretty drawn out right now. I work 2 stressful jobs. As a paramedic I can leave it at work once I park the ambulance. Sysadmin tends to follow you around. I can't treat a patient remotely, but I can treat my server remotely and that kind of small scope creep has gotten worse and worse. Hey RagingITguy, it'll just take you 5 minutes. Well I'm out having a BBQ with friends, so it'll have to wait until Monday. Learn how to do that. I know some of you don't have management that allows you to do that, so look ahead to a better job at some point.
I've been doing both for so long now, I think I've seen pretty much all of it.
Eat well, physically move often, laugh with your friends and family. Only when you let this job consume you will you let it end your life prematurely. Easier said than done.