29/01/2026
I love what I do. đŠşâ¨
This morning I had a patient whoâs a retired pharmacistâyes, a doctor of pharmacyâand his blood pressure was elevated. He tells me, âItâs usually not high.â đ
So I dig a little deeper (because⌠root cause).
I ask, âDid you take your meds today?â
âYes.â
âDid you take them with your levothyroxine?â
âYes, I take everything together first thing in the morningâincluding my cholesterol med.â
đ¨ Record scratch.
No one ever told him:
⢠Levothyroxine should be taken alone, on an empty stomach
⢠Other meds can block absorption
⢠Cholesterol meds are best at bedtime
⢠Mixing everything together can make NONE of it work properly
When I explained that his thyroid med was competing with everything elseâpulling away from his BP meds and forcing dose increasesâhe was blown away. He admitted heâs been dealing with chronic fatigue⌠which suddenly made sense.
Then it got deeper.
I checked orthostaticsâhis BP dropped 30 points. Kidneys were taking a hit. He swore he was hydrated.
Sir⌠one coffee, tea, four bottles of water, and a ânaturalâ drink with 34g of sugar, 0 fiber is not hydration. Thatâs dehydration in disguise.
I broke down:
⢠Sugarâs dehydrating effects
⢠Why ânaturalâ doesnât mean healthy
⢠How all of this was stressing his kidneys
⢠And most importantlyâhow to reverse it
He looked at me and said:
âNo one has ever explained this to me like this. My doctor never broke it down.â
And that right there? That made my day.
Because people love to underestimate nurse practitionersâespecially Black women NPsâbut we bring knowledge, experience, and EDUCATION to the table. Today, I taught a retired pharmacist something thatâs been affecting his quality of life for YEARS.
This is why I do what I do.
This is root cause care.
This is patient education.
This is impact. đĽ
