Blood pressure again....:(

[kivyt73]

Hi Everyone,
I have posted on this topic many times before but I am screwed up again. I have been obsessively worrying about my bp for a few years after a few higher reading at the doctor's office. I also was checking so obsessively that I had to get my therapist and gp involved to tell me to stop. Anyway long story short I have gotten to a point where I only check once every three weeks (still to often but manageable). Well today was my three week check day and I was really anxious because I have a big weekend coming up and I don't want to be worrying about bp and wanting to check. To make matters worse they moved the bp machine at the local pharmacy I go to, to a new location which is much more visible and active so that really threw me off my game. So you know what happened my reading were "elevated". I say "elevated" because they were elevated for me. My first reading was 118/77, my second 124/80 and finally 114/77. Now I know logically that these readings are fine but I have set a standard for myself that I want my readings to always be below 115/75 hence my anxiety and my post. I think I have chosen 115/75 because that is what I am hearing is optimal and we always want to be perfect in our health. I know that my expectations are way too high and I should be thrilled with these readings..I am 38 years old so its not like I am 20 and my average for the year is 108/75 so why can't I just be satisfied???

Can anyone set me straight?

Thanks,
Ivy

[nomorepanic]

Your blood pressure is perfect so to be honest you need to move on from worrying about it and being obsessive as this is not helping your general well being

Just please stop obsessing and taking it and forget about it for now

[kivyt73]

I needed that...thanks so much. It really does help to be told straight and honest. I know I am being irrational and unrealistic. I am working on weaning myself off of the checking and have been doing better, this was a little bit of a relapse I think.

thanks again. I am really glad to have access to this board and for the support.

Ivy

[spacebunnyx]

omg - now you're making me worried! my BP is way higher than that - my max has been 141/92 and i'm 30, a healthy weight, exercise (but do have a history of high bp in my family)!! my gp said mine was ok.. just to keep an eye on for now.

jess xxx

[baileys]

Bloody hell i wish i had blood pressure as low as yours, all your readings are below the average for your age so you must be very fit, that's good. The recommended reading in the UK is 120/80 but anything under 140 is acceptable it also raises with age so yours is great.
If I'm very relaxed my average blood pressure is 135/90 when I'm at the docs it is never under 180/100 but because it comes down at home the docs not worried.
You cant set yourself a goal for what you want your pressure to be, it doesn't work like that.

[cathycrumble]

Your blood pressure is perfect so to be honest you need to move on from worrying about it and being obsessive as this is not helping your general well being

Just please stop obsessing and taking it and forget about it for now

Hi nicola

I wandered if you could advise me I have blood pressure phobia I didnt used to but it came on last year after a few incidents in my life the last time I had it done it was fine but I still worry about it and when I have to have it done again I am worrying . I am just about to start CBT and it is worrying me whether I should go ahead with it as when I rang the crisis team at my local hospital he said why bother to put youself through taking it at home all the time when it was ok last time you had it done? I have been off my citalopram 5 weeks now and doing ok but going for the assesment for CBT really brought the fear up and now today I feel awful. I just wish I knew why I am carrying this fear around. Any advice would be appreciated. and I was wandering do you or have you ever had BP and how did you handle it?

ps I've canceled the CBT this morning I am sure I can deal with it myself. Just need to calm down lol.

Cathy xx

[kivyt73]

You guys are so great, thanks so much for the posts. My mind and anxiety just focuses on this bp thing and I don't know why I can't seem to get that my numbers are good, even great...I just focus on not low enough. I think part of it is I used to be googling about low bp after getting numbers in the 90/50s so now I feel like 114/77 is high. You know honestly though I feel better now with my numbers where they are than I did when they were lower and I was dizzy all the time. It is just such an overpowering impulse to check and recheck to make sure it is still ok. I think I have just attached all anxiety to bp so whenever I feel anxious I think it must be my bp and then I want to check it to be sure. What a mess. I was at a grocery this morning on the way to work and I walked past the machine and I wanted to check so bad...but I didn't so that is good.

OCD for sure about this issue.

Thanks guys.
Ivy

---------- Post added at 09:07 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

By the way, do any of you guys check your bp at home or at pharmacies or anything other than at your doctor's office and if so where and how often? If you don't check how do you manage to throw off the anxiety about the higher readings at the doctor's office and move on?

thanks.

[baileys]

Thanks guys.
Ivy

---------- Post added at 09:07 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

By the way, do any of you guys check your bp at home or at pharmacies or anything other than at your doctor's office and if so where and how often? If you don't check how do you manage to throw off the anxiety about the higher readings at the doctor's office and move on?

thanks.

You certainly dont need a home monitor, your blood pressure is perfect, even when you are anxious.
I brought one years ago because every doc i go to wants to put me on pills because they say i suffer from high BP. I disagree with them, i dont suffer from a medical problem that is causing my BP to rise, i suffer with anxiety so when im not anxious my BP is normal.
I dont use my monitor often, usually only after ive been to the docs but he now agrees.... after showing him my home readings that i dont need to go on meds because my BP may go too low if i do.

[cathycrumble]

I am like you mine is or was ok at home but now i have become so obsessed by the bloody bp and I cant even take it at home now am soo scared I got told mine was high after i had a car crash the nurse at the hospital said it was high and to go my gp and have it done there so i worked myself up when i went it was borderline. and now I am on a tablet for bp and i know if only I could chil it would be ok. How do you not worry when they told you it was high as i cant stop worrying about the damn thing. However my last reading was 128/80 and gp said it was fine but I was on citalopram then which is an anti depressent. I am not on anything now. I wish i had the courage to take it at home and all my troubles would be over lol. Help.

cathy xx

[baileys]

I am like you mine is or was ok at home but now i have become so obsessed by the bloody bp and I cant even take it at home now am soo scared I got told mine was high after i had a car crash the nurse at the hospital said it was high and to go my gp and have it done there so i worked myself up when i went it was borderline. and now I am on a tablet for bp and i know if only I could chil it would be ok. How do you not worry when they told you it was high as i cant stop worrying about the damn thing. However my last reading was 128/80 and gp said it was fine but I was on citalopram then which is an anti depressent. I am not on anything now. I wish i had the courage to take it at home and all my troubles would be over lol. Help.

cathy xx
Of coarse your blood pressure is going to be high after a car crash, what did the nurse expect.
Your blood pressure is really good at 128/80 it proves that your BP isn't constantly high it just fluctuates depending on stresses and time of the day, just like somebody who doesn't have anxiety their BP will probably be higher if they have kids work etc.

Ive just taken my BP, i haven't don't it for ages, when the cuff started pumping up however hard i try and relax about taking it I'm obviously not because it read 150/90 but i was pleased with that because the first time is usually a lot higher. I took it 5 times in a row and it gradually went down until it got to 130/80 which I'm really pleased with, everybodys BP is higher in the morning.

Whenever i go to my regular doctor as soon as i walk in the door he asked to take mt BP, last time I told him no, i had just waited in the waiting room which made me anxious, couldn't find a parking space and i hate going to the docs anyway, i told him he could take it after my consultation. He did and he was surprised how much lower it was. He said ive learnt something today about taking peoples BP, bit late as he retires next year.

Why not go to the docs with your own monitor and ask him/her how to use it properly and give it a go there.

[kivyt73]

Baileys,
I think that is a great idea having the doctor take it only after the exam. After I started having difficulty with bp readings at the doc's office I did a similar thing. I won't let the nurses take my bp. They try to take it after driving to the appt., waiting forever in the waiting room, taking my weight, and then just plopping my down on the table, legs dangling, arm not at heart level and not after sitting quietly for at least five mins. How is that resting bp in fact all of these things go against recommendations for taking a resting bp. Now I only let the doc take it after I have been sitting quietly in the office waiting for him and it is much lower now, usually at or around 120/80. I think the doctor's office just want to hurry up and check it off the list and that would be fine if they weren't medicating us based on that.

I haven't checked since my last readings and I am feeling ok after everyone's good advice.

Cathy,
Your situation sounds exactly like mine, your bp is good, you know it is good but you just want reassurance. When I take my bp and the number is good, I breathe easy, I feel like I can relax and I am ok. If I take it and it is higher it has the opposite effect so naturally I worry about taking it because I have attached my mood to my number.

So ridiculous really and I am trying so hard to accept that my bp is ok and I am fine, I don't need to check it and I don't need to worry about it but my anxiety keeps fighting me.

Ivy

[cathycrumble]

Baileys,
I think that is a great idea having the doctor take it only after the exam. After I started having difficulty with bp readings at the doc's office I did a similar thing. I won't let the nurses take my bp. They try to take it after driving to the appt., waiting forever in the waiting room, taking my weight, and then just plopping my down on the table, legs dangling, arm not at heart level and not after sitting quietly for at least five mins. How is that resting bp in fact all of these things go against recommendations for taking a resting bp. Now I only let the doc take it after I have been sitting quietly in the office waiting for him and it is much lower now, usually at or around 120/80. I think the doctor's office just want to hurry up and check it off the list and that would be fine if they weren't medicating us based on that.

I haven't checked since my last readings and I am feeling ok after everyone's good advice.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine, your bp is good, you know it is good but you just want reassurance. When I take my bp and the number is good, I breathe easy, I feel like I can relax and I am ok. If I take it and it is higher it has the opposite effect so naturally I worry about taking it because I have attached my mood to my number.

So ridiculous really and I am trying so hard to accept that my bp is ok and I am fine, I don't need to check it and I don't need to worry about it but my anxiety keeps fighting me.

Ivy

Ivy I am defo like you just cant get it in to my brain that I am fine so me and you have a job to do OUR BLOOD PRESSURE IS GOOD end of lol I will and you will have to repeat it again and again. My prob is I dont have to take it until next August and I started worrying now lol. How bad is that? That is why i feel I my need anti depressents to help calm my mind down and put things into perspective plus I am starting CBT so hope that helps me.

Cathy, x

---------- Post added at 20:28 ---------- Previous post was at 20:12 ----------


Of coarse your blood pressure is going to be high after a car crash, what did the nurse expect.
Your blood pressure is really good at 128/80 it proves that your BP isn't constantly high it just fluctuates depending on stresses and time of the day, just like somebody who doesn't have anxiety their BP will probably be higher if they have kids work etc.

Ive just taken my BP, i haven't don't it for ages, when the cuff started pumping up however hard i try and relax about taking it I'm obviously not because it read 150/90 but i was pleased with that because the first time is usually a lot higher. I took it 5 times in a row and it gradually went down until it got to 130/80 which I'm really pleased with, everybodys BP is higher in the morning.

Whenever i go to my regular doctor as soon as i walk in the door he asked to take mt BP, last time I told him no, i had just waited in the waiting room which made me anxious, couldn't find a parking space and i hate going to the docs anyway, i told him he could take it after my consultation. He did and he was surprised how much lower it was. He said ive learnt something today about taking peoples BP, bit late as he retires next year.

Why not go to the docs with your own monitor and ask him/her how to use it properly and give it a go there.

I am so glad you brought this thread to my attention as I didn't read it thanks for this. I need to be as confident in the way you look at BP I hit a brick wall when it comes to thinking about BP. I will take my monitor in to have it checked. My gp said i can take it at home if i wish. I did do it last week god was i nervous. the 1st reading was 151/96 the 2nd was 143/92 and the 3rd was 133/86 and I stoped there. So will try again just need to relax a bit more. mybe the CBT will help me. I wish BP could be taken by having a simple bood test lol all my trouble would be over hahah. And you are right all of us have BP that changes and also that bloody nurse who made a big deal of it when I had the crash she has got a lot to answer for. I have never been the same since. I just hope I can laugh at this one day and be philosophical about it having it taken. And thanks Bailey you have helped me a great deal.

Cathy xx

[baileys]

I hope i have helped. You have reminded me at least that i must take mine more often as high BP does run in my family, i wont become obsessed by it though.:D

[cathycrumble]

And I will try not to either. Not easy but I will do my best and thanks again :)

Cathy xx