Elsa_Alkaseltzer
07-09-13, 14:02
Recently, I underwent a plethora of medical tests - the most I've had done at any one time in my life. I had gone to a specialist concerned that some chronic health issues meant I had a connective tissue disease. She didn't really suspect it, but she ordered SEVEN PAGES of tests to be thorough. I all but had a nervous breakdown having all these tests done, sure that something would have to come back bad. I've been a health worrier for at least a decade now, so I really have forgotten how not to think the worst.
Earlier this week, I had a follow-up appointment at her office to go over my results. I was perhaps as scared as I've ever been in my life as I awaited the news. Well, I'll cut to the chase: everything looked absolutely fine! She said nothing came back worrisome. Whew!!
So, you'd think I'd be on cloud nine after having soooo many tests come back normal, right? Not quite. Instead, I have been obsessing over my blood pressure reading from that appointment. I didn't even want the medical assistant to take it, because I knew I was having an absolute panic attack on the inside as she took me back to the room. I told her how scared I was, and my blood pressure showed it: 147/100!!!
I want to believe the high result was my nerves and nothing more. But I don't know. I always thought the top number was most affected by anxiety, yet you can see that both my numbers were high, and that's what really freaked me out. I really hope some others here can reassure me that what I experienced is not that unusual from anxiety.
I have been extra panicky about blood pressure lately. I had a baby in June, and during my pregnancy, my blood pressure was normal at every appointment. It was also normal through delivery and shortly after. But then it started to spike in the hospital. When I returned home, I bought a wrist monitor, and my results were sky high at home, too.
I was scared out of my wits and went to see my gynecologist. My blood pressure was much better on his manual cuff than on my automatic wrist cuff, and he told me that mine was inaccurate and to get rid of it and stop checking all the time. A couple weeks ago I went back to his office for my postpartum follow-up appointment, and I was so happy when his assistant reported my blood pressure as 120/80. "Yay! Back to normal," I thought.
But since getting the 147/100 reading the other day while awaiting my test results, I am a wreck again. Never mind that I just had a 120/80 reading at the gynecologist's two weeks ago. I have been fretting that maybe there is something wrong with the cuff at his office and that my normal readings there were wrong and that I am walking around all the time with terrible numbers. I am mostly scared about the bottom number and hope that the spike was really just stress related and not something I always have.
I don't have a home monitor I know I can trust, and I really would prefer not to get back into the obsession of checking it at home. I guess I am just looking for reassurance that maybe my 147/100 reading was caused by nerves. Thanks for listening.
Earlier this week, I had a follow-up appointment at her office to go over my results. I was perhaps as scared as I've ever been in my life as I awaited the news. Well, I'll cut to the chase: everything looked absolutely fine! She said nothing came back worrisome. Whew!!
So, you'd think I'd be on cloud nine after having soooo many tests come back normal, right? Not quite. Instead, I have been obsessing over my blood pressure reading from that appointment. I didn't even want the medical assistant to take it, because I knew I was having an absolute panic attack on the inside as she took me back to the room. I told her how scared I was, and my blood pressure showed it: 147/100!!!
I want to believe the high result was my nerves and nothing more. But I don't know. I always thought the top number was most affected by anxiety, yet you can see that both my numbers were high, and that's what really freaked me out. I really hope some others here can reassure me that what I experienced is not that unusual from anxiety.
I have been extra panicky about blood pressure lately. I had a baby in June, and during my pregnancy, my blood pressure was normal at every appointment. It was also normal through delivery and shortly after. But then it started to spike in the hospital. When I returned home, I bought a wrist monitor, and my results were sky high at home, too.
I was scared out of my wits and went to see my gynecologist. My blood pressure was much better on his manual cuff than on my automatic wrist cuff, and he told me that mine was inaccurate and to get rid of it and stop checking all the time. A couple weeks ago I went back to his office for my postpartum follow-up appointment, and I was so happy when his assistant reported my blood pressure as 120/80. "Yay! Back to normal," I thought.
But since getting the 147/100 reading the other day while awaiting my test results, I am a wreck again. Never mind that I just had a 120/80 reading at the gynecologist's two weeks ago. I have been fretting that maybe there is something wrong with the cuff at his office and that my normal readings there were wrong and that I am walking around all the time with terrible numbers. I am mostly scared about the bottom number and hope that the spike was really just stress related and not something I always have.
I don't have a home monitor I know I can trust, and I really would prefer not to get back into the obsession of checking it at home. I guess I am just looking for reassurance that maybe my 147/100 reading was caused by nerves. Thanks for listening.