Embarrasing But Sinister..Suggestive or real?

[looking4answers]

This is really embarrassing and it has taken a lot of courage to talk about it,but its on my mind all the time. Im really scared and worried.

About two months ago I went to the doctor,just for a refill of anti anxiety meds that I had been taking. I thought I was going to go cold turkey off of them because its such a low dosage to start with. I did for 15 days..As I read more about the possible withdrawals the more I got anxious and so on.

When I have gone to the doctor in the past my blood pressure has always been elevated but they said they knew it was white coat syndrome. I have been on low dose beta blocker for years .I guess they always figured my blood pressure went down when I went home.

That day I had the most terrible anxiety attack I have ever had.I had to wait and wait to see the doctor and then when I was let in they took my blood pressure and it was high. So the nurse made a special point to tell me it was high which made my anxiety go really high and then the doctor came in and told me again ,made a point to say it was high.

She said she was going to change my beta blocker from 2.5 mg to 10 mg which is quite a jump but she really scared me acting all concerned and everything. After about an hour of exam she did an ekg and finally got me calmed down somewhat but the suggestion of high blood pressure scared me enough not to argue with her about the meds.

I have no symptoms of high blood pressure and before the withdrawal of the anti anxiety meds I always felt good. I always had a high libido and never had any .. uh embarrassing problems "down there"

When I changed the meds I started getting really tired , I mean just totally exhausted and felt cold. My heart went to 63 and 65 bpm and I didn't really feel like having sex, much the less set for it.
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I started cutting the beta blocker in half which would make it 5 mg and taking that and I felt better but still am having problems "down there" I just am not sure its from the meds or post suggestion that my blood pressure was high enough for me to have a heart attack thus causing me to have enough anxiety as not to be able to function in that way.

I called the doctor today to ask her to put me back on 2.5 mg and for me to monitor my blood pressure in hopes to see if I would feel better and function ok. Im waiting on her reply at the moment.

From everything I have read this beta blocker is known for erectile dysfunction but the low dosages in the past has not bothered me or maybe I just didn't know that it should. I am guess that its the meds according to what I have read and hoping its not just anxiety about dysfunction that is causing it. If anyone else has had this happen to them please advise .

The thing that is scaring me is maybe its all in my mind and not the meds at all and maybe I do have high blood pressure .Both worries me .I told the doctor that I would monitor my blood pressure and hoped it would just be high only when I was at her office. Im guess it was only that and when she raised my meds it made me experience my problem but then again Im confused as to whether it might be mental. .If you have experienced any of what im talking about or even know someone that has please help .

Its really scaring me a lot.

[Anxious_gal]

it seem that you need to find out if you have high blood pressure n not just high blood pressure while having a panic attack.
I'd say if your still having problems seek out a second opinion. :-)

[gypsywomen]

strange i replied to a post the same as this ,this morning

[gypsywomen]

we forget doctors are very busy people when we have anxiety e are so scared we expect them to be there for us 24x7 but they don't look at it this way ,to them we are just another patient,once your Doctor made her diagnosis and was satisfied ,the meds would help probably didn't think you needed her ,i know this sounds hard but its true ,if your bp is as high as she thinks i cant understand why she didn't put you on blood pressure tablets s beta blockers are for various conditions ,, you sound like you need meds just for blood pressure

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[looking4answers]

Hey Gypsy,

Hi, Ok. I get all of what you said.. and understand ,believe me I do understand. I wouldn't call the doctor if I thought I was dying because it makes me even more anxious. I do understand your respect and up until yesterday I had the highest regards for my doctor.

This is my plight. Ok? We live in a town that the population is less than 2000 people.
We live 8 miles southwest of town. I haven't seen this doctor in over two years except at the last visit. Ok you have to understand. We have five maybe ten other health providers here . She is a new medical person and when we started going to her
she was new in town didn't know anyone and close by so we chose her.

OK next thing is there is hospital and multiple health agencies in a neighboring town
she is a small general medical group. They can afford to spend a little extra time making personal phone calls and also giving personal service. That is what I got the first visit there . She recognized anxiety and was compassionate and considerate
and thoughtful. She told me even this last time they made me wait for two hours to go to the back and then another 40 minutes(no wonder they thought I had high blood pressure) but she told me Why don't you call me when you have issues. I said I do but you never return my call personally . She said "Oh no problem" just call me when you need to im here for you .

So you see I understood her to be a small town doctor with personal service and a good bedside manner. She is not. I have been to large hospitals with busy busy busy staffs in major cities and just moved from one of the largest health care facilities four years ago that serviced not only over 2 million people in a metro area but also the entire USA in specialty services and never got treated like a number or a person that was annoying.

OK this doctor is only a nurse practitioner that has a doctor handy, but I gave her my confidence in her diagnosis.. I trusted her and never doubted her .All this being said she is my doctor and I want to trust her but how can I ?

I have seen her three times in four years. The first time I went there my bp was elevated a little and she told me not to worry it was white coat syndrome, next time same thing. and they made no BIG deal out of it.. said it was nothing worth checking out just anxiety.

This time I go in and was freaking out since I had not been there for over two years ,
they make me wait two hours to go to the back .. then the nurse takes my blood pressure and sure its going to be sky high anxiety anxiety anxiety .. then not only does she assure me that I have high blood pressure she leaves little doupt that it can be anxiety and says its really high and you can bet you have high blood pressure.

That freaks me out at the very least ,very unprofessional.. Im a professional tech but would never ever ever give a diagnosis on one thing. I would check it over and recheck and make sure before I opened my mouth. These people are suppose to be professional that wasn't . Im not talking about FREE health care these people charge big money for their services ok? Next I have to wait another 40 minutes freaking out and thinking I was going to die right there and the doctor comes in and first thing she says is oh my god ..Your blood pressure is sky high .YOU MUST Have high blood pressure. Funny thing is that last time I was there it was higher than that and she blew it off.

One thing I can say for her. She checked my heart more than it had ever been checked listening and listening and listen to my lungs ,checked me from head to toe ,looked in my mouth down my throat and also checked my ears and eyes for blood pressure damage. She said there was none and to boot she gave me a free ekg just
for my piece of mind...Ok I don't understand.. If Im going to keel over from high blood pressure at any moment why didn't they give me a shot of something there or send me packing to the hospital for observation at the very least give me a really strong blood pressure medicine and not a beta blocker?

Ok now you understand the situation a little better. I choose her for being a small town not E R doctor that has no time. She is not a surgeon ,she is a nurse practitioner.. with lots of personal time to be if need be on call for me 24/7 but like I said I would never bother a doctor ,nurse or anyone because it tends to freak me out more than help. So no in a nutshell I don't expect anyone to be on call for me when I want them.

As a matter of fact I know a surgeon and E R doctor that live down the road from me very well and also two nurses within a few miles that are as good as doctors . I don't bother them ever, so why would I expect that from my doctor.

I do expect when a person says call me if you need me or need anything and Ill call you back. They don't call you back and they tell someone else to call you and see what I needed and they don't call either and my wife has to call and get ugly with them.

Ok.. Today I went to the pharmacy and because my wife called them and told them what she wanted .The pharmacy already had my meds the mg that I ask for and enough for six months so I wouldn't have to go back to the doctor that soon.

I suppose when you tell them because you PAY them what they will do they jump.

Im not a nasty person and my wife isnt either but I suppose in this little hole in the wall they think they are kings .. and you have to put them in their place. So im back on my orginal meds and will be monitoring my BP on my own to see what happens..

Also the doctors have a moral obligation when they prescribe a medicine to someone to be sure and answer any and all questions about reactions or symptoms they produce also here in the USA they have to be available to consult just in case they screwed up and gave something bad to someone. They can be sued.. Just for your information.. Anyway that about sums up what happened and why I feel the way I do and im not an unreasonable person, I want respect not someone at my beck and call but I do expect respect. Thanks and good luck

Yes Im sure you answered me once today in another post and Ill find it and copy and paste this there so that you are sure to read it .. Thank you very much