Worried about blood pressure

[bombodiemalodie]

Hi there

Can anyone help me? I've been worried about my blood pressure for a while as when I'm really anxious, it raises alot. I have a home monitor and usually its normal but towards the higher end of normal. For the past couple of days my anxiety has been really really bad and when I'm feeling like this my blood pressure becomes high. Usually for the first half of the day it's fine and then raises in the afternoon. Is this classed as high blood pressure if it goes up only when anxious? I'm also getting strange sensations in my head and one ear which I'm worried is due to the blood pressure.

Any advice? Thank you.

[Munchlet]

I'm exactly the same.

I used to have high normal blood pressure then after going to the doctors in a panic about palpatations they measured it and it was really high so needless to say I got into even more of a state.

I then for years managed to get it under control and stopped worrying about it and it was always fine when I took it. Fast forward to last year when I thought I was over my HA and decided to stop my medication. I then took it in a panic and it was through the roof and since then I've struggled.

However, the more I take it, the better I am with it and it does drop as I relax and I can see my heart rate slowing.

If you take it when you are feeling anxious it will be up. I don't have any tips on how to cure this, however what did help me was reading about how common this is and then I sit down get myself comfy and put the cuff on, try to relax with deep breathing and then take it. I know it will still be up the first couple of times but I find now it normally drops to normal quite quickly.

My understanding is if blood pressure is high it's high all the time not just when you feel anxious. My mum has blood pressure and she tells me that when hers is high, it doesn't change even if she is relaxed.

Can't really offer any ways to resolve this but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone and it's actually quite common.

[bombodiemalodie]

Thank you so much for your reply. Reassuring to hear that someone is in the same situation. Can I ask how you got it under control? I'm guessing stopping worrying about it helps. I feel like I'm in a vicious circle as I take it when I feel anxious and I know it will be high and then I can't calm myself down to get a normal reading. The highest it's been today was 150/99. I can get it down to 140/89 when I'm feeling anxious. When I take it in the morning it's usually around 120/80 or 117/75. It's confusing to know if I'd be classed as having high blood pressure if it's only up when anxious? Thanks again

[ccake79]

There's white coat hypertension (BP only high when taken by a doctor). I don't think you'd necessarily be classed as hypertensive if your BP only rises when anxious. I think most people would experience a change in their BP when stressed out.

It's also unusual to experience any symptoms with hypertension. When I was pregnant I had pre-eclampsia and my BP was consistently high, I had one severe migraine then nothing for over a month, then another severe migraine (I have awful migraine usually and this was way off the scale). At its worst, I felt a heavy sensation on my chest like someone was sitting on it. My BP was 220/110 at that point.

I think if you're concerned you should speak to a GP. Mainly for your anxiety but they can also properly check your BP.