Never ending circle of worry

[dudkat72]

I found this forum and it has helped me straight away to know that there are other people like myself. Im currently under the doctor for high blood pressure which i know increases when i go to the doctors....white coat syndrome i believe is the official name...however i cant get out of the cycle. I know i need to relax but the whole fluttery stomach anxiety thing thumps in and my bp is through the roof.

I have stopped seeing the previous doctor , to put it bluntly , she put the fear of shyte in me when she took my bp and her faced looked horrified....i had to go back a week later and the nurse checked my bp and it was still slightly high...however when i enquired what the readings were the first time she said they were high but not dangerous......Why some doctors do this is behond me...the have no sensitivity at all.

A previous doctor told me from a stomach scan i had signs of early liver disease and needed loads of function tests...which again made my ah worse...my normal doctor just said that i had a fatty liver and to get more exercise.....needless to say i dont see that doctor now either.

Does anyone have any tips to reduce the stress of going to the doctors

[cattia]

Have you tried doing any relaxation or breathing excercises? They can really help to lower your anxiety and keep you calm, you could get a relaxation CD or even download them from itunes and try to use some breathing excercises while you are in the waiting room. Also you could try some cognitive behaviour techniques, there are some really good books on this and it is a way of challenging your negative and anxious thgoughts which can be really effective in reducing anxiety associated with a particulr thing like a trip to the doctor. Another thought is could you invest in a blood pressure monitor to use at home? It depends if you are going to obsessively check your BP (like I would!) in which case it would not be such a great idea, but if you think you could just use it once in a while you might find that your reading is lower when you are relaxed and that in itself might help to reassure you so that you are less anxious when you go to the doctors?

[dudkat72]

It depends on my state of mind to whether i would obsessively check or not but i would say i would tend to be the same as you!
I havent tried breathing techniques but ive read of one on here about closing the mouth and breathing through one nostril which seems to relax me quite alot.
Thankyou for the advice.

[cattia]

If you do a search on itunes, amazon or ebay for 'progressive relaxation' there are loads of CDs etc which could help. I also ued these books and found them really helpful:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Anxiety-Self-Help-Behavioral-Techniques/dp/0465012655/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272052907&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Help-Your-Nerves-Overcoming/dp/0722531559/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1272052936&sr=1-1-spell

I hope I am allowed to recommend books on here, not sure of the forum rules. Obvioulsy these have not cured my anxiety otherwise I would not be hanging out here (!) but they have helped me a lot to manage anxious thoughts and situations.

[Zee]

I have the same problem with docs. White coat hypertension is what its called when BP goes high at Doctors. That happens to me. Saw my doc recently who took my BP 3 times leaving 5 mins inbetween each one to allow my anxiety to drop a little.
My visit was the first in 10 years as I have a phobia of doctors. Waiting over a week for blood test results upset my tum and tensed my neck/shoulders up as well.. I arranged to walk into the surgery with just a few minutes to spare so I wouldnt be hanging around waiting to be called in.
All was well..but I should have been so relieved and all it did was give me an upset tum again after all the waiting for results !

[dudkat72]

Thankyou for the time you taken.

[dudkat72]

Yep thats exactly what happens...i also get an upset tum. Its the waiting that causes the tension. Im the same if im getting on a plane although im not scared of flying or queing for a roller coaster.
I might try getting to the appointment later and hopefully will reduce the waiting time...most of the time though our docs is so late its difficult to gauge it.

[Zee]

Youve got me beat there , Ive never been on a plane :blush:

This BP thing seems to vary as well.. My doc says 100 plus your age is ok and from talking to other people their docs go for something like 130/90.Its all very confusing.

[dudkat72]

Mine can vary between 130/150 over 90 to 150/170over 95 .....ive also been under 140/80....so yeh im confused also lol