Ok NOW IM NERVOUS

[valleyplayer42]

Just was at my doctor for monthly visit. Everytime he takes my blood pressure it starts out as example 146/93 then the second time and third time it'll lower to like 135/82... This time he did it 4 times and it was all 145 over 96-97-95-98. He wants me to get a lab test blood test just to make sure it's not a secondary thing causing "high bp.." ... Does this mean cancer or a brain tumor or something that I'm fearing. My urine test was normal but I'm going to Cvs pharmacy and going to take it on my own. Helppppp the paper he wrote for the lab says Please do CBCT diff?, ESR, CRP, LFTS, Uric acid, CMP14 and lipid profile on 25 year old male hypertension.

[Hohum]

I would highly suspect that you suffer from: white coat hypertension.

This condition is very, very common among anxiety sufferers. It manifests as heightened blood pressure in clinical settings (eg: the doctor's office) but normal BP in other settings. I have suffered from this ever since the doctors started strapping blood pressure cuffs on me! To get a true baseline BP reading you need to do so in a relaxed setting. The machines in pharmacies etc are ideal. Word of warning though: give yourself 5 minutes to sit down and relax before using one - I would often rush to the pharmacy, sit down and immediately freak out that my result would be high and of course it was off the charts. Since I've managed to get a better handle on my anxieties in recent years I can take a normal BP reading on those machines. My BP is always around 150/100+ at the Doctor's offices though.

Other than that, it sounds like you're getting a fairly standard blood workup. Is this for something else, or purely because you had high BP in a clinical setting? If it's the latter it seems a little ... weird. But who am I to say, your Doctor knows best!

[valleyplayer42]

143/78 at cvs. Then 118/68

[LindaRK]

Sounds like white coat issues to me, too!  And I'm wondering about the blood tests - for what?  Do you have other underlying problems or is your doctor just basing this on your increased BP?  Sounds like he's jumping the gun.

[valleyplayer42]

I have no underlying illness. If he thought it was more than just for my BP reading he would tell me right? Legally?

[AnxietyGuy]

I too get whitecoat hypertension to the point of 150/100 sometimes too. I can take it at the drug store and it'll be 130/80s, much more in the normal range. Another poster made a good point, even at the drug store or something it's easy to spike your blood pressure. Basiclally because you're worried about the results even without a doctor present. I get blood pressure anxiety in general, but know that if I try to focus on reading something near the blood pressure machine or something like that then I get better readings. I try not to stare at the numbers to pop up.

[valleyplayer42]

i called him and told him i took it at cvs pharmacy and it was normal ... he said check it the next few days and see how it is

[LindaRK]

I've found that with white coat hypertension, docs will send you home with a BP kit so you can take it and chart it for a few days or a week.  But, you're using the one at CVS so that's comparable.  It's also important to wait about 3-4 minutes between taking BP each time and also do each arm.

[valleyplayer42]

i took it today at cvs... 141/97....138/91......128/87 all in a row...

[gcalex]

My advice is to stop checking it.

[ivyt73]

I agree with gcalex, stop checking it...you are obviously anxious about this and need to explain that to your doctor.  What you are going through is EXACTLY what I went through the past four years or so.  I had a couple of higher readings at the docs and the nurses freaked out.  That got me going on a checking regimen that went on for over three years.  I checked multiple times at each sitting several times a week until I got the perfect number which for me was 115/75 or below.  The lower the better really.  When I wasn't checking, I was thinking about checking, planning the next check etc.  I planned my life around checking.  Finally it got to where I was so anxious I had trouble getting my "perfect" numbers even at home.  I had to throw away countless monitors to keep myself from checking and my therapist even called my GP to have him tell me to stop.  Any way long story short, the only thing that has helped lower my bp has been to stop taking it.  It was hard at first but now I don't think about it much at all.  My bp was 127/74 at my last doc appt. and I didn't like that 127 but I just had to let it go.

This is a hideous obsession and you don't want to go through that, just be careful.  If you got a reading of 118/68 you are fine, it is really just anxiety.

Ivy

[princessweaz]

Definitely sounds like white coat syndrome. The more you worry about your blood pressure and check it, the higher it will be. I went through a long period of doing that, I bought my own blood pressure machine. Bad idea, all it did was result in me being paranoid about it. And I would get some crazy readings, highest being 160/115, and I'm still alive. My doctor said it was just anxiety. I would check it at home all the time after that and it would usually be pretty high, but once I stopped worrying about it, it went back to normal and now it's always low.

[valleyplayer42]

I know you are both right...I'm pretty much driving myself insane about this. Getting wierd chest pains now and thinking its related to my blood pressure and that I'm about to have a heart attack at 25 yeaold any minute. I have been cutting back on my Xanax in take per doctors orders and I am not feeling the same I think everything happening all at once and me thinking about heart disease or something causing my "high" bp isn't helping.

[marc]

If your blood pressure is high during your examination, my friend who is an internist/cardiologist
has said that blood testing is routine.

[gcalex]

If you have medical clearance, overwhelming likelihood is that ALL your symptoms are anxiety.  Please read Claire Weekes Hope and Help for your Nerves

[valleyplayer42]

I just ordered it for 8$ on Amazon

[Pippy187]

I'm a white coat syndrome kinda guy

[dancer67]

When my BP was high, my Dr. sent me for bloodwork as well. Usually it is standard thing.  I have HTN(hypertension). I am 45. Was DX at 37. It runs in my family. My cholesterol was a little high this time, but I took Gclex advice and started exercising, cutting out sugar, eating healthier, and I have always had a low sodium diet anyways due to my blood pressure. But honestly, your numbers were like mine. They are slightly high, and if they stay elevated you could ask to try diet and exercise first. If that doesn't work, they usually will try you on a diuretic. And then move you to a low dose BP med. I have been on the lowest dose of BP meds now for 3 years. Also, do not take your blood pressure three times in a row, one after the other. Just take it ONCE at the same time every day with the same machine. Record your findings and take your BP machine to the Dr's to make sure it matches up with theirs. Sounds like she is just following protocol, and I really would not worry. And I know from experience that the more you obsess with this BP machine, the higher it is going to go. If your Dr. felt you were in immediate danger she would have put you on meds ASAP. And kept you there in the office until it came down. No worries.