Blood Pressure Worries

[lilyofthevalley]

Hello Everyone!

So, I felt like my hypochondria was in check until the past few weeks. An occasional flair up now and again, but I was doing better and had only had a couple of incidents in the past year.

But lately, I have been extremely worried about my blood pressure. Now, I have always had fluctuating blood pressure, but more so lately, it has been anywhere from 125-140/75-85.

Well, I came down with a painful UTI and while I was in Urgent Care, my BP was 154/110 which sent me into an immediate panic. The month before when I went in to Urgent care for sinus infection, it was 127/75.

The nurse said I should make an appointment to discuss my blood pressure with my PCP. So of course, that night, I bought a blood pressure monitor (a decent one) and since then, when I take it at home, my blood pressure is consistently high, like 140 or 150 over 80 or 90 and I am obsessively taking it several times in a row, hoping that it will suddenly decrease to a normal amount. (now, my husband, who claims that he has always had great BP, shows high on this machine too).

For years, I always get anxious the second someone tries to take my blood pressure. So I am not sure how much is anxiety of taking the blood pressure and actual high blood pressure.

I have set an appointment with a CBT psychologist to discuss my fears of the BP (and other medical fears) AND my PCP to discuss my blood pressure at the end of the month.

Does anyone else obsessively take their BP?
 

[LVMomra]

I have high blood pressure. I also get "white coat syndrome"-my bp always goes up at the doctor's office. I bought an excellent bp monitor, because my doctor told me to keep track of mine for a few weeks so that my meds could be adjusted correctly. I about made myself really nuts!!! I'd get so concerned about taking my readings that they were almost always high. I'd take it two or three times in a row hoping for something different. I finally called my doctor and told her that I just could not monitor my pressure on my own-it was causing me too much anxiety. She agreed and I very rarely check it on my own anymore. When I go to the doctor, I ask them to wait until I've been there for a few minutes and relaxed before they take a reading. Seems to work for me!

[Twinhere]

When my anxiety started I used to check my blood pressure every day because i was scared  because it was high when i had panic attacks. They put me on bp meds, but it made my bp to low when i wasnt panicking so i was feeling tired and faint. I stopped worrying about it and quit the bp meds. Now its always normal, unless ofc i have a bad panic attack.

[lilyofthevalley]

Thanks! I m going to try to stop worrying about it so much!! It's just so hard not to freak out.  I will take it a couple of times a day for two days prior to my appointment, but for now,  I have put it in a drawer.

[gcalex]

Good move, for anxious people self-monitoring is the road to ruin, along with Google.

[marc]

I agree with gcalex.