Help! BP/white coat syndrome. So scared.

[Almost_there]

Hi guys, i’m hoping someone can put my mind at ease. I know it sounds ridiculous but here goes. I’ve got a terrible fear of taking bp, cos of course i panic and it’s always high i’m panicking about having a stroke/heart attack.
I’m 30 and quite fit/healthy and pregnant at the moment which means i have to get my bp checked every couple of weeks1 i have my first midwife appointment and i’m really freaking out that she’s gona freak out about my high bp when she checks it... To be honest i’m getting better, it used to be 155/105 when they checked now after breathing it goes down to 139/97 so i’m getting there but it’s usually with the doctor i know and this time it’s going to be someone totally new! i’m scared of her reaction...
This fear is coming from the reaction of one incensitive nurse who after me having an allergic reaction and having high bp as a result (apparently it’s normal after allergic reaction), she just totally freaked me out and sent me to er and told me i will have heart desease etc if i don’t take meds.
Anyways just want to calm down, i don’t know how to get over it, just dreading my midwife appointment....

[PinkRoxy]

I know how you feel except mine is quite odd because I worry that mine will be hgh but its usually healthy low but the worry of having it done is always still there for some odd reason.

The thing is if it is high they usually can give you stuff to help reduce it and while being pregnant I would imagine it would be quite normal for it to be a little higher than normal.

My mum had super high blood pressure one time that she had to get it checked further and got put on tablets and now its fine and she feels fine now and is healthy.

That was wrong what that nurse did to you and you shouldve made a complaint because they shouldnt of made you feel worse.

Anyway try not to worry about it and a good way is to sip plenty of water as that usually reduces blood pressure.

Good luck honey :)

[sunday]

Hi Allmostthere

i was Exactly like you when i was pregnant -so scared of the MW appts, just because of them taking my BP! In the end i bought my own machine so that i could take my BP at home -this meant that i was so used to having it taken that it helped me at the appts. I also used to take my home readings to show the MW to proove that my BP was ok! in the end it turned into a bit of a joke with the MW and actually she stopped taking my BP and just took dowm my own readings from home as she said those would be much more reliable -maybe you could do this? At first it is scary, but you will soon get used to taking it and then, if you are anything like me, will take it every 10mins or somthing!
They can easliy give you meds if it is too high for pregnancy which i have been on and didnt have any probs. HOpe this helps x

[cathycrumble]

I am exactly the same but I tried to take mine at home but can't I just cant relax. I was ok all through my pregnancys never even thougt about it. I have just develped this fear after a marraige break up and losing my job but it was being in hospital last year with a water infection i was nervous and this nurse kept saying ooo your bp highish and she scared me now I am totally scared of bp I take a pill for it and I asked for that while in hospital as I just couldnt relax. I just wish they could take it by having a blood test lol. I would have no worries then just hate the bp machine. What is anoying is just like pinkroxy mine is ok but I still worry. my last reading at the nurses office it was 135/80 I feel I just have bad anxiety and if it wasn't my bp it would be somthing else I would worry about.

Cathy xx

---------- Post added at 15:58 ---------- Previous post was at 15:53 ----------


Hi Allmostthere

i was Exactly like you when i was pregnant -so scared of the MW appts, just because of them taking my BP! In the end i bought my own machine so that i could take my BP at home -this meant that i was so used to having it taken that it helped me at the appts. I also used to take my home readings to show the MW to proove that my BP was ok! in the end it turned into a bit of a joke with the MW and actually she stopped taking my BP and just took dowm my own readings from home as she said those would be much more reliable -maybe you could do this? At first it is scary, but you will soon get used to taking it and then, if you are anything like me, will take it every 10mins or somthing!
They can easliy give you meds if it is too high for pregnancy which i have been on and didnt have any probs. HOpe this helps x

Sunday do you still take meds for your bp?

Cathy xx

[Almost_there]

thanks girls.
cathycrumble, 135/85 is not high at all!
I actually had bp monitor (at home) but found i was still stressed out taking it and then would panic if it wouldn't come down (and it wouldn't cos i'd panic, vicious circle:))
i'm just hoping the mw will be understanding and just say "don't worry about it, will just measure yours compare to normal for YOU and not normal guidelines" if it makes sense...

[cathycrumble]

even though it was ok at gps I still have fear about taking it. so I took my bp before and it wouldnt come down I was just panicing I just don't know what to do to make myself confident and relaxed I am soo upset the lowest I got it to was 138/97 I am so miserable. I was shaking with fear. This BP fear is ruining my life. All I want to do is try and relax while having my BP taken I just cant seem to understand what the hell is wrong with me all day that is all i think about I am soo unhappy and I feel so sorry for my children seeing me like this. I just cant bear to see high numbers on the machine. Me and you are so alike

Cathy xx

[countrygirl]

My GP said that if someones pulse is very high due to anxiety then the bp will be high as well and the time to take it seriously is if someone has a normal pulse but high bp then its not due to anxiety.

My pulse at just the sight of a bp machine can reach 140bpm in an instant and once machine is out of sight its back to normal in minutes as well!

[katielou80]

i was like that too at the midwife. i work in maternity and now take bp. we do realise what your gong through....and we add on a bit for nerves, its usually the top number that goes up when your panicking. its sooooooooooooooo common xx chill

[Savannah]

It's very normal for bp to shoot up when anxious. I've had patients really nervous when I've taken their BP, so I think it's a common fear.

Maybe tell your midwife your bp is known to be on the high side when you panic, it may help relax you a bit that she's aware of it. Just let her know how nervous you are.

[Almost_there]

With me both numbers go up not just bottom or top number... I hope it's normal that it does that...:(

[cathycrumble]

I went to have a health check because I am on esa because of anxiety and depression and my bp was taken and it was 140/100 and he said it was nowt to worry about as the 100 means I was panicing through having my bp taken and when I got home I took it and it was 128/81 so that was fine. My problem now is I have lost a lot of confidence and I just cant do my bp anymore it has got out of hand this fear. so I have got to try and get myself to a more confident place. Since losing my job I have more time on my hands to worry :(

Cathy xx

[cathycrumble]

Hi Almost there

I was just wandering do you worry about having your bp done 24/7 or just when you have to go for it to be done? and if you don't worry 24/7 how do you put it out of your mind as I have become a little obbsessed with it I am waiting for CBT. I have had a very bad 2 years ie marriage break up car crash and with all the stress i ended up in hospital for 3 days with a bad water infection actually weeing blood and like you I had a stupid nurse kept saying your BP is high! No wander it was high I was terrified as I hate hospital. Then to top it all, because I was off work alot in 2010 they dismissed me from my job so now I have too much time on my hands to dwell. I am looking for a job at the moment. I just don't know why I let the BP get me down.

You know and I know we are healthy and if relaxed our BP is fine It is just telling our brains this and that is the hard bit.

If anyone out there can help us to put the correct thought in our brain I would be very greatful.

Cathy xx

[sunday]

hi

i'm no longer on tablets my BP seemed to sort it self out a few weeks after pregnancy. I still have a major fear of having my BP done. i'm fine with my machine at home but i have such bad white coat syndrome that its always high at the docs, i think it was 153/101 or something but at home 125/82. i've sort of got it in my head that as long as the home readings are ok then it doesnt matter if other readings are not! and thats help me to relax! i had to go and see a neurolgist a few weeks back and my main concern was that he was going to take my BP, not tell me something scary, which might have been the case! its so silly! in the end i told him he wasnt allowed to take my BP as i was too scared and it wouldnt be an accruate reading! he went with it! x

[cathycrumble]

hi

i'm no longer on tablets my BP seemed to sort it self out a few weeks after pregnancy. I still have a major fear of having my BP done. i'm fine with my machine at home but i have such bad white coat syndrome that its always high at the docs, i think it was 153/101 or something but at home 125/82. i've sort of got it in my head that as long as the home readings are ok then it doesnt matter if other readings are not! and thats help me to relax! i had to go and see a neurolgist a few weeks back and my main concern was that he was going to take my BP, not tell me something scary, which might have been the case! its so silly! in the end i told him he wasnt allowed to take my BP as i was too scared and it wouldnt be an accruate reading! he went with it! x


Haha sunday that is me to a T If I got to go to see my gp or anything like that all I worry about now is will they take my bp. And now I am on Employment support allowence they call you in for a medical and all I want now is a job so I don't have to go for a medical as I know they will take my BP and I know it will be high I can honestly say this bp thing has ruined my life this last year and i should be happy as got rid of my husband lol And what also makes me mad I have had to go on an anti depressent to stop me worrying so much about this bloody BP Maybe I should just laugh about it and chill

Cathy

[Almost_there]

Looks like we’re all in very similar situations:) but also looks like doctors are aware of this as I think loads of people have white coat syndrome. I just read an article somewhere that your bp shoots up during exercises after meals etc and exercises are good for you! It’s supposed to be up and down all the time, as my friend says we’re not robots, sometimes people have higher sometimes lower bp, doctors just take the average as an ideal but nobody have it ideal 24/7! So I’m getting to the point where I’m starting to at LEAST think more calmly about high bp rather than panic all the time, I still panic a bit when I see hospitals (even on tv) or someone taking bp (even on other people), but I think the main point to remember is that even if your bp is high for several hours a day it’s not going to kill you at least for another 30 years and then we’re all going to die of something when we’re old, would you rather go quickly from a heart attack or slowly from cancer for example? I think the important thing to remember-it doesn’t matter if it goes high, I’m just going to tell everyone (doctors, midwives) that measure my bp – please don’t freak out if it’s high, it’s high cos I have a phobia of taking it but overall it’s perfect. Hopefully they’ll believe me:)

---------- Post added at 03:05 ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 ----------


Haha sunday that is me to a T If I got to go to see my gp or anything like that all I worry about now is will they take my bp. And now I am on Employment support allowence they call you in for a medical and all I want now is a job so I don't have to go for a medical as I know they will take my BP and I know it will be high I can honestly say this bp thing has ruined my life this last year and i should be happy as got rid of my husband lol And what also makes me mad I have had to go on an anti depressent to stop me worrying so much about this bloody BP Maybe I should just laugh about it and chill

Cathy

Cathy, did the antidepressant help? i was vonsidering taking anti anxiety drugs just for the GAD i tend to worry but i at the end decided to go with the books and got loads of Dummies books (Overcomign anx for dummies , Meditation for dummies, CBT for dummies etc), so hopefully it'll help...

[sunday]

Cathy,

i was once like you - so consumed by my BP that it drove me nuts! i think the thing that helped me was taking it at home OVER and OVER again - literally! that must have somehow relaxed me about it. As i say, just have to sort out my WCS now!!
I think we worry about BP as we think we are going to have a heart attack or soemthing if its high, but there have to be lots of risk factors dont there to have a HA= not just BP!!
PLease try and free your mind of this worry, the result you have had are the same as mine so WE ARE FINE!

[Almost_there]

Sunday is right, BP alone can not kill you, it's the narrowing of arteries due to bad diet etc that together with bp (not just bp alone) will do it after about 30 years! it doesn't happen in a month, or even several years, it take whole life practically. That's the thought that calms me down...

[cathycrumble]

What you have both said are correct and i must put it in my head I have jsut bought cbt for dummies so i must take the time to read it. I feel a bit calmer on the anti depressents I will just see how I get on. I feel that the stress i have been through triggered my bp phobia and i have to realize that and also what you both have wrote and it is getting the right thinking in your head. thanks guys. It's good to know i am not alone.

Cathy xx