High blood pressure due to anxiety?

[xBettyBoopx]

I went to doctors today for an mot!! Haven't been for ages been too scared tbh.

My blood pressure was very very high first time, of course I was anxious beyond belief that's why I was seeing him. He did it a second time and tried to help me relax by talking to me about films and such like, it went down a little. He did it a 3rd time and it had gone down a little more but it's still high. I am 59 and never had high blood pressure before, however I apparently hadn't had it checked since 2010!! I have to go back and see him in a few weeks and he said he would check it again and take it from there.

Do you think I ordinarily have high blood pressure now or would you think that anxiety has completely taken it to a stupid level?

If someone suffers with high anxiety how can they judge if the readings are true? Mind you if I'm always in a state of high anxiety I suppose I would need medication

My heart rate was so high as well but tbh I'm not surprised, if it was normal I'd have fallen off the chair! Bloody anxiety :(

Thanks
xBettyx

[Catherine S]

Hi Betty, like you i'd never had high BP before ever, until I moved house in 2007 and registering with a new doctor it was discovered on a new patient health check up. It was 180/110. At that time I was 55 and post menopause, but I also had an underactive thyroid which wasn't diagnosed until 2010, so this may have contributed to it also.

I was given the beta blocker propranolol and they seemed to bring my bp down really well, but they had side effects that were hard to cope with so I've been changed to another beta blocker called Bisoprolol which have hardly any side effects but unfortunatelydon't help my BP and this week it's been really high again, so it looks like I might have to take bp medication to target it specifically as it's been almost 10 years now since it all started.

Something to bear in mind though, is bp can be high if your body is fighting an illness or an infection. Hopefully yours will settle down but if not, there are meds to help. Blood pressure does become naturally higher as we age too.

ISB ☺ x

[xBettyBoopx]

Hi ISB

Thanks for replying I can't remember my numbers exactly but scary scary

Sorry you're having complications with your medication. Isn't there another beta blocker you could take instead of going back to the one that causes you side effects? I would expect not as of course they would try you on it....silly me.....sorry high anxiety, can't think!

I don't wanna be afraid anymore, it's soooooo tiring

[BikerMatt]

I believe people without anxiety often have raised blood pressure at the doctors because of the environment. As you've been having a hard time recently with anxiety and being at the doctors it's a double whammy for blood pressure.

So glad you went!

[xBettyBoopx]

Matt

[Carnation]

Hi BettyBoop,

It happened to me. :(
I never had a problem with high blood pressure until anxiety came along.
And I want to tell you about a visit I had at my surgery last year.
I went to see my doc about something else, I'm already feeling anxious about that, I'm sitting on the edge of the chair wringing my hands and fidgeting like crazy and then those words come out; "I'd just like to check your blood pressure".

Hate the feeling of the tightness on my arm and the waiting for the answer and I'm already sweating profusely. Then it comes, "Well, it's a bit on the high side." It was about 165/105. Then they say; "Maybe we need to talk about some meds if it doesn't come down". Just a blank stare from me and the fear of God on my face.
Now, my surgery has a do-it-yourself BP machine in the waiting room.
I went straight over to it, put my arm in it and remember I am still in the surgery and I am not relaxed. It came out 135/95.
Get my drift?
I have also been as high as 185 and I used to drive myself crazy with obsessing about this, checking and checking until it kept me awake at night.
I don't bother now. I make sure I eat a varied and reasonably healthy diet without being too boring, I walk a lot, because I know that is good for keeping the rate down and I even do a bit vigorous gardening to work out a sweat and don't worry about it.
Worrying about it was killing me and ruining my life. x