In a state - blood pressure worries

[MLK1958]

Hello. Please can someone give me some support. I am in a state and can't stop crying. For years I have worried on and off about my blood pressure. It is ever since I had a major operation and my blood pressure was high and I was so worried. Anyway, since then I have avoided having my blood pressure taken. For background, I'm 67, both parents still alive, non smoker, slim, active, good diet, no history of heart disease in family, but brother has hypertension. Anyway, whenever I go for a routine e blood test I don't have my BP taken because I get so worked up about it I can feel myself getting tense at just the thought of it. 8 years ago I had a 48 hour perambulatory blood pressure thing and the whole time I was worrying about it and couldn't sleep - waiting for the arm cuff to inflate. Then my average was 139/81 and the doctor was not concerned. I know I was worrying all the time I had it on. I have got to go for a blood test next week and the doctor said she wants to take my blood pressure, and I have bee worrying ever since Inknew I have to have a blood pressure reading. I am terrified. I do have a cuff at home, but every time I use it, my reading goes up. I am so worried now about the blood pressure next week that I can't stop crying. I am scared. I am scared I am going to die of high blood pressure and I get so anxious about it that I am afraid my blood pressure is going to go up and so I go round and round in circles. I feel like I've got pressure in my head and next to my ears and a bit muzzy and I'm scared tthat is high blood pressure. I have also got a slightly blocked nose though. i I don't know what to do with myself. I'm trying to do breathing exercises to keep calm and also isometric exercises, eat right etc but I can't stop worrying about my blood pressure and I'm scared that is going to make my blood pressure worse Please help...

[Pearly queen]

I understand your fear so well. I have in the past had such bad experiences of having my BP checked at my doctor's that they agreed to me testing at home. I am treated for high blood pressure and am now able to keep reasonably calm at home to have it checked. If your doctor knows you are nervous about it they will anticipate it being high and possibly ask you to do daily readings at home.
If they ask you to do this, try to find a time and place at home where you can fully relax. Try to keep noise and distractions to a minimum. Keep.the cuff on your arm and get used to the feeling of the cuff expanding but stop it before it's fully inflated. After 10 minutes or so of getting nice and relaxed and when you aren't feeling on high alert to the cuff expanding, take a few readings. Don't panic if the readings are high. Just walk away and try later. Make sure you have emptied your bladder and don't eat or have caffeine for an hour or so before.
Worse case scenario will be medication if it is found to be a bit high.
Try to get into the habit of checking now before your appointment and try to desensitize yourself to the experience. Good luck.

[Rosanna]

MLK1958 I am in the same boat over this. I've been told to do daily readings. I have some stressful stuff taking place atm, so I've decided to get those things out of the way first. I am terrified of high blood pressure.

With me the fear is that the high blood pressure is a disease state in itself, but I don't actually think that's true. I think it can just be high and the only problem about that is that it raises risks for other illnesses over time. And if that's the case, in most cases, then I don't think I should be anxious about it and just keep a check on it and get it down if it's high. No idea yet whether I have high BP or white coat syndrome as due to my anxiety and terrible dehydration on the day it was checked, it was high, 150/90 but the doctor said it doesn't mean it's usually high.

Anyway that's my fear, that high bp is already a bad thing but perhaps I'm wrong. If you knew that it was just a measurement and that it can be brought down to a healthier level (if needed) would that help? Is your brother's hypertension well controlled? What is the deeper underlying concern for you, what would it mean if they found you had high BP and put you on treatment?

A relative of mine was on treatment for 20 years and has now had to come off the treatment as his blood pressure has improved back to normal, so it's not always permanent either, though it is for many.

Anyway, this is something I have to tackle very soon so you're not alone x

[MLK1958]

Thank you for your replies. It is the numbers themselves I’m afraid of seeing. I’m terrified in case they are high and in case it means I’m going to have a stroke or heart attack. I’m afraid that if I see high numbers I will be so panicked that my blood pressure will go up even more and cause me to be really ill it’s a horrible vicious circle.

[nomorepanic]

But by being worried you are increasing the readings.

A high blood pressure is not a death sentence believe me.

Mine is always high at the GP's so I do mine at home and they are happy with them.

Obsessing over it won't help and make the readings higher.

[Rosanna]

As someone who's had terrible panics after a traumatic event, I've been told over and over that my heart's behaviour and blood pressure during those times is of no concern to the doctor, because it's a result of panic rather than an ongoing disease state.

A heart attack or stroke should not happen because of a temporary, panic driven spike in BP or heart rate. Not unless there was already a disease state there and even then mostly panic wouldn't do it.

So I suppose if you got panicky, then best not to take the BP then. Not easy though if you are having to get a certain number of readings done. But I'd stay away from the whole thing if you know deep down you are in a panic state.

Hard though I know and sometimes hard to separate what is panic and what is the body's behaviour. Some of my heart ectopics were said to be due to trauma. Then for totally different reasons I decided to go onto hrt while still peri menopausal. Suddenly my ectopics calmed right down. So it is hard to separate what is anxiety and what is the body itself. I would rate your anxiety on a scale of 1 - 10 and if you are over 3 or 4, don't do BP check. Or if the BP check actually makes you anxious, decide not to pay too much attention to the first day or two readings (unless dangerously high but that's really unlikely), until you feel calmer taking it.

And here I am saying all this and yet I've put off doing my own for now.

[MLK1958]

Of course I realise that by feeling anxious and panicky that will make my readings higher, but I can't stop feeling anxious! I wish I could! I have a lot of stress going on at the moment with two parents and mother in law all in their 90s and every time I visit my mother in particular, all she talks about is various friends and their ailments. That doesn't help and of. course it just feeds my own health anxiety, which is really bad at the moment. And I am not sleeping well. So - the blood pressure is the thing I am most worried about.

[MLK1958]

I just went to my appointment with the nurse. I told her I get so worked up about my blood pressure that the readings are always high. She said she needn’t do the reading if I was feeling bad. I was feeling so muzzy in the head. I said she could do the reading but not to tell me the number or look at me strangely if it was high as that would panic me. Anyway, she just said my bp was “a bit high” and that they would not want to record that number. She asked me if I would do twice daily readings at home for a week and I said even doing them at home would make me worry but I would try. I can’t stop worrying about it and feel as though I’m actually giving myself high blood pressure through worry and that I will give myself a stroke. Maybe I should just ask for bp medication. I wish I could stop worrying. I feel all muzzy and pressure in my head. Please someone help me again.

[Pearly queen]

I have been in your position and the only way to overcome this is to expose yourself to the BP machine and get used to the feeling of the cuff inflating but ignore the numbers to begin with. Make sure you have taken 10 mins to calm yourself first. Remember that an isolated high number is not an indication of a problem. It is only if it stays high.
The only other option is to ask your medical practice for a 24 hr monitor which will give a picture of your BP averaged out over a day. Although it will feel stressful to begin with, over the day you will get used to it and it should give a more accurate picture of your average bp. It's not the most comfortable thing but it's only for a day.

[nomorepanic]

High blood pressure can be sorted with medication if it needs to be. You are worrying for no reason and causing more anxiety. Just calm down and relax. You are causing an issue here that you don't need to so making things worse.