Should i get a second opinion?

[melissa27]

I have been going to see my doctor for 3 months now because of my high blood pressure. It has continued to be high no change and the doctor just keeps giving me more pills Atenolol 50mg and Bendrofluazide 2.5mg. I have been feeling alot better this last month and not had a panic attack for a couple weeks so thought it would be lower. I just wondered if he should be doing some more tests to see what is is causing the high blood pressure. I have done what he asked so far cut down in the salt in my diet not drunk alcohol in the past 3 months have very little caffiene. So i just wondered if its worth going to see another doctor because i am worried something else might be causing it.

[Peru83]

Hi melissa,

Sorry to hear you going through this at the mo. have you asked the g.p your with now about other avenues to take?

Also what does he say your high blood pressure is due to at the moment, is it stress or cholesterol? It was just with you saying about having to cut things out of yoru diet thats making me ask. My dad had really high blood pressure and he had high cholesterol, so he asked his doctor to refer him to a dietition. The dietition helped him change his diet completely and now his blood pressure is regulated.

Take Carexx

claire

onwards and upwards

[melissa27]

Alot of the time he doesn't really give me much time to ask questions just does my blood pressure and hands me another prescription i think next time i go i must be more pushy and ask questions i am pretty quiet and shy so i never push myself forward to ask questions. He has never said what has caused my high blood pressure which worries me i mentioned my diet first time i went because i am over weight and do not take much exercise but the doctor never says much maybe i am the problem and make him explain more stuff to me. But going to the doctor terrifies me in the first place so i am a bag of nerves when i go in there anyway so the questions i want to ask i usually forget. I dont like going to the doctor cause i always fear the worse.

[jackie]

mellissa you are very young to have high blood pressure that requires tablets, you say you are so anxious going to the doctors, surely that is what puts your pressure up and not because you have high blood pressure on a regular basis.

is your doctor aware of the state you be in when you are going to see him, really you should at least ask him do you have temporary high blood pressure that happens when you are nervous only as this i do not feel needs medication at your age but some form of treatment that deals with your anxiety

obviously i am no doctor but perhaps if you were to get a doctor who you were comfortable with you could be less anxious and more willing to ask the necessary questions for peace of mind about this

please let us know what happens and really try to get him to explain

jackie

[lass]

Hi Melissa,

I agree with the post above - lots of people get white coat hypertension, where blood pressure soars just because of the stress of having it taken at the doctors. Is your blood pressure high all the time, or just when you are at GP?

I would recommend when you go back to your GP that you write down EVERYTHING you want to know - about why you have high BP, implications of it, what you can do to help, what next steps are, and so on. Don't feel silly about taking this list to your doctors with you; my friend is a practice nurse and she recommend everyone to write down what they want to know so that you can get it all dealt with and hopefully go away feeling much more reassured.

I wish I took her advice - last time I went to GP I had lots I wanted to ask, but I was actually feeling in a strong frame of mind and felt quite able to talk to her - until I walked into the surgery, opened my mouth and burst into tears. I ended up with a prescription for anti depressents, a referral for counselling, and didn't ask any of the questions I wanted to!

So when I go back I will write down everything I want to ask, then at least if I fall apart I can give her the bit of paper to read for herself! Then maybe I'll get somewhere with this.

If you feel unable to talk to your GP, is there another GP in your practice you'd feel more comfortable with, or do you generally just feel quite shy of talking about your problems?

Don't be fobbed off at the doctors, and don't sit at home worrying yourself about things that you could easily get reassurance on. I reckon you should go back and get a better understanding of what's going on with you, and then you can either seek further help/investigations or have reassurance that you don't need any at the moment.

Take care,
Caroline
xx

[melissa27]

Thanks all for your replies writing a list out of questions is an excellent idea i am going to do that before i go next time. I do find it difficult to discuss my problems with people even family itried talking stuff over with my husband but he dont really understand. I do have a friend i talk to alot about stuff but have not told her much lately as she has had some pretty big problems of her own. I think it is just the doctors that raises my blood pressure i feel fine most of the time. It worries me taking tablets anyway have never liked taking dont even take pain killers till i really have to. Taking the atenolol really freaked me out when i found out people have to be weaned off it cant just stop taking it.

[polly daydream]

Hi Melissa, can I ask what does your blood pressure normally read, when I go to the drs my blood pressure always goes sky high but when I go home it goes back down again, you might have what they call white coat syndrome, when you are scared of medical enviroments a persons blood pressure goes up. It might be a good idea to get yourself a blood pressure monitor so you can do it yourself at home. Does anyone else in your family suffer from high blood pressure, just checking.

Take care,

Polly

[melissa27]

I have no way of telling wat my blood pressure is at home but i may invest in one for home so i can check it. Yes my mother has high blood pressure too.

[Duck]

My mother was was told I had "White Coat Syndrome" when I was 10 years old. My blood pressure soars at the though of going to the doctor. I can actually feel it rise. My face gets hot, my pulse pounds in my ears and my heart races. Don't tell me I'm giving a normal reading when I'm in this state!

My latest doc has finally put me on medication but I'm not convinces I need it. Problem is, I've never had a normal reading because of my anxiety.

Melissa, have you found yourself becoming more and more anxious each time you have it tested?

[melissa27]

Yes i do become more anxious every time i am tested. by the time its my turn to go in at the doc's i am absolutely terrified this must be the main cause of my blood pressure. I feel fine normally except for the odd panic attack at night so i presume my blood pressure is fine.

[Duck]

I'm convinced that my medical anxiety is a huge contributor to my blood pressure. I even get nervous when when I check it myself beacause now I anticipate it being high and get that flushed feeling. It takes several tries before I get a close to normal reading even at home. I scare myself with that darned cuff. How pathetic is that? ;)

He who conquers himself has won a greater victory than he who conquers a city.
- Proverbs

[fed_up09]

I suffer from white coat syndrome. Last time I went Doctor's he said my pulse was higher than a sprinter, and BP was through the roof. Also come out in massive rashes from nerves which the Dr looked shocked at lol! I now have my BP taken in the pharmacy because I can sit there for however long I like, once nerves stady BP drops. x

[Cell block H fan]

When you go to the doctors, if just walking in the place stresses you out, like it does me, you probably wont ever have normal blood pressure there. Have you tried going to Boots or somewhere like that & getting them to check it? My mums boyfriend has a home blood pressure kit, as he has terrible high blood pressure, he is a walking nightmare really, very overweight, diabetes, stesshead. He bought one. We all tried it at mine one day.
I dont know how much they are, but it might be worth purchasing one if going to the docs gets your heart racing. You will get a more reliable reading I would of thought. People dont always realise the affect anxiety has on blood pressure x

[shaz01]

Hey, I just wanted to add that I get stressed going into the docs, and my bp goes up, the doc knows im anxious and he hasnt put me on medication but he is monitoring it on a regular basis....I do wonder how long this will go on for though as today he said it was higher than he wanted so Im back in 4 weeks :-(

[LisaLisa]

I have been going to see my doctor for 3 months now because of my high blood pressure. It has continued to be high no change and the doctor just keeps giving me more pills Atenolol 50mg and Bendrofluazide 2.5mg. I have been feeling alot better this last month and not had a panic attack for a couple weeks so thought it would be lower. I just wondered if he should be doing some more tests to see what is is causing the high blood pressure. I have done what he asked so far cut down in the salt in my diet not drunk alcohol in the past 3 months have very little caffiene. So i just wondered if its worth going to see another doctor because i am worried something else might be causing it.

Hi, just wanted to say that my mum has had high blod pressure since she had me, thats 33 years ago. They treat it but have never found any real reason for it other than stress. She was slightly over weight but even losing the extra weight did not cause it to lower.

Try to keep perspective that it is a commom ailment that tonnes of folk have for no reason at all and that worrying about it will most certainly cause it!!

Lisa
xxxx