But it’s only a headache

I woke up and knew I couldn’t go in I heard the start of an aura.  My head was pounding, I went to bed and made an appointment to see my doctor. The appointment was for late afternoon so I made the decision to not go in to work the next day either.  As I sat in the chair and explained my headache, and the fact that I had felt quite dizzy the previous week and had had a numbness/tingly feeling in my hands in early summer she asked about blood pressure.  “Oh!  It’s always been quite low.”  I assured her, she looked at the monitor and took my blood pressure again, hmm, she tried another machine. “It’s quite high, they’re all the same.”  She asked questions about my family and said, “I’m a bit concerned about your blood pressure.  Is it high because you’re ill or are you ill because it’s high?”  She mulled it over.  I just came in for a headache tablet.  “Right well I’m going to sign you off for two weeks to give you time to relax and recuperate then we’ll test you again.”  That was it, just like that, I’m unfit for work and will not be in for two weeks.