Lushchicken
29-11-19, 17:50
I am a very very anxious person with severe hypochondria and a doctor phobia. I'm also determined to look after myself and therefore force myself to get regular checkups. Which are always hell, but I'm getting better at coping. Unfortunately, a BP reading this morning during an appointment triggered my HA massively and I don't know what to do.
It was my annual gyno check-up, one of my least favourite doctor's visits. They made me sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes and then took my BP. It did feel a bit strange as they took it over my jumper (supposedly fine?) and quite low down near my elbow. The compression hurt a lot more than usual. Maybe because of the placement of the sleeve, maybe because I was tenser. She got a reading of 120/95. Apparently, it was 120/80 or 120/90 in the past. I'm 38, btw. Doctor lectured me about checking it at home and how this reading was concerning. I told her I have white coat syndrome. She didn't seem to care.
Went to visit my Mum afterwards (who does have BP problems and had them even as a child). I remember playing around with her BP cuff in the past and my result was always completely normal. Same today. Measuring at her place gave me 117/70. I wasn't even particularly relaxed as I was thinking about my earlier BP result.
So where do I go from here? My BP has never been a concern for me, no doctor ever mentioned an issue. But it feels like I've just acquired this new HA and it sucks. I don't trust myself with a cuff, because I can get insanely OCD about stuff like that. An added problem is that I am an asthmatic and can't take most BP medicine for that reason. So I feel like I'm screwed either way. I do meditate and look after my body but my doctor really threw me today :weep:
It was my annual gyno check-up, one of my least favourite doctor's visits. They made me sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes and then took my BP. It did feel a bit strange as they took it over my jumper (supposedly fine?) and quite low down near my elbow. The compression hurt a lot more than usual. Maybe because of the placement of the sleeve, maybe because I was tenser. She got a reading of 120/95. Apparently, it was 120/80 or 120/90 in the past. I'm 38, btw. Doctor lectured me about checking it at home and how this reading was concerning. I told her I have white coat syndrome. She didn't seem to care.
Went to visit my Mum afterwards (who does have BP problems and had them even as a child). I remember playing around with her BP cuff in the past and my result was always completely normal. Same today. Measuring at her place gave me 117/70. I wasn't even particularly relaxed as I was thinking about my earlier BP result.
So where do I go from here? My BP has never been a concern for me, no doctor ever mentioned an issue. But it feels like I've just acquired this new HA and it sucks. I don't trust myself with a cuff, because I can get insanely OCD about stuff like that. An added problem is that I am an asthmatic and can't take most BP medicine for that reason. So I feel like I'm screwed either way. I do meditate and look after my body but my doctor really threw me today :weep: