Blood Pressure Blues

[Pansy]

Just before Christmas I had a Blood Pressure review. My readings were so high - I am not going to put them on here it freaks me out. I do suffer from 'white coat syndrome' so anytime I go to have a reading at the Drs it goes sky high. I got the usual lecture about heart attack, stroke etc. I was so wound up and anxious about it that it took nearly 3 days to feel normal again, and although I managed to get one lower reading I now cannot even take a home reading, the fear of a high reading is unreal. For the past week I have been stressing about my blood pressure and I know this will be causing it to be high. I wish I hadn't gone for the check it has just caused me a lot of stress.
I have recently promised myself I will get this anxiety under control and formed a plan for the new year so I am hoping it will have a knock-on effect.
Has anyone out there had a similar problem, I would be interested to hear about your experience.

[Catherine S]

Hi Pansy, I was found to have raised bp in 2007, after it being normal or low most of my life, even through 4 pregnancies and 2 divorces! I was mortified when it was so high and panicked every time I had to take a reading. I wasn't given meds specifically for high bp, but was given beta blockers instead and my life revolved around my blood pressure readings and it gave me so much stress and extra anxiety.

Then after a couple of years of this I'd had enough and stopped taking the readings at home. I gave the machine away and whenever I had a doctor or nurse's appointment I'd refuse a bp check very politely telling them i'd rather not as my readings were always much higher in the surgery. I still do this even now...they can't force it and I'd rather not know.

It's now 10 years since the first hypertension diagnosis and i'm still here. My heart is fine and no stroke up to today. Will these things happen in the future? Who knows...maybe, maybe not, something will get me in the end, but without the stress of taking bp readings 3 times a day every day my anxiety levels are much lower.

Cath S ☺

[bin tenn]

My blood pressure was found to be moderately elevated a couple years ago. I had my first physical in over a decade. Doc put me on a beta blocker for that, but also tachycardia (primarily caused by anxiety). My heart rate is great. BP at the doc is usually about 120/78. That is, until a couple weeks ago. Went for a routine visit, and the first reading was 150ish/90ish. Weird. Subsequent readings were about the same.

I do have white coat syndrome to some extent, and the doc and nurse both know. However, my doc wants me to come back on the third (Wednesday) to check again. I had smoked a cigarette right before going in. I also hadn't been drinking water, slacking back into the sugary crap again. I was also at the end of a mild cold. All of those things could have affected it. I checked it at a pharmacy a week after the appt and it was something like 136/84 - quite a bit better

So I'm drinking more water, eating a little better, and going to avoid smoking for at least an hour before my appointment Wednesday. I think it'll be better. If not, doc will likely send me to a cardiologist to manage it long term. Not a big deal. My dad had high BP, managed for many years with a couple of medications. His heart was otherwise healthy, and was still healthy when he passed in 2014 (not heart related).

[goodman]

If you're anxious or pannicked you might as well throw the machine away... you're Guaranteed to have a high reading... i have a over sympathetic nervous system and it can go boom sometimes.... when i had a 24hr bp machine at the nurses station for the fitting the reading was 160/110 as i was so anxious... when i got home and relaxed i felt a reading start.. i looked at the little window and it was 120/70 ....

Your BP will always change during the day.... it will rise and fall... my suggestion is to go for a walk.. burn some energy off... meditate... talk it out with a friend...

My results came back fine... over night the readings were 110/60 and day 120ish over/70... but that first reading that qas super high showed me just how sensitive we are to Anxiety....

That was 4 years ago and at work the other day i checked it (we have a machine in a wellness room) and it was 117/74...

Good luck

[Weasley123]

I have terrible dr anxiety. I always had low bp but once the fear kicked in forget it. I don't check it myself as I panic. I tend to get a high treading abs lower minutes later. I was at my gyno and it was 158/85 theh a minute later 135/75. My dr still renewed my birth control prescription abs wasn't concerned I'm almost 40. He says it's a panic reaction. Classic

[goodman]

Pansy... how have you been going with your new year resolutions

[swajj]

Worse than high blood pressure is uncontrolled blood pressure.

When I went on meds my doctor told me about one of his patients who was a teacher and how she had a stroke and was paralysed down one side of her body. I am a teacher and his words to me were “you don’t want that to happen to you”. It scared the hell out of me.

Catherine I admire you for being able to stop worrying about your blood pressure. I think if I stopped taking my meds I would constantly wonder what my blood pressure was and that would make it high.