High blood pressure vs anxiety

[whaea]

I have been diagnosed as having high blood pressure and because of this my contraception pill has been changed, which I am unhappy about because of side effects etc.

I am 40 and consider myself extremely healthy, I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, eat well and I train 5 times a week for triathlons including weights and yoga. My weight is at the high end of normal but I am quite muscle bound in my calves and upper arms.

I suffer from a number of phobias and struggle to be in public places particularly where there is a large number of people in an enclosed area. I completely avoid supermarkets  and shopping centres etc. To get to the doctors is a stressful time and I am very nervous and anxious and sleep very little the night before. Is it possible that this causes my blood pressure to be high? I have had 3 readings in the last 6 months and they have all been high the last one 149/80.

[whaea]

Thank you very much I will check and ask if 24 hour monitoring is available for me in NZ too.

[is_something_wrong]

Yes, that's possible.

What you should do, is asking your doctor for a 24 hour blood pressure monitoring, which will give a more correct picture of your blood pressure and how it changes when you are anxious, calm, asleep, etc.

The focus on how important normal blood pressure is, and how dangerous high blood pressure is, can make anyone anxious and produce false blood pressure results. And 149/80 is just mildly elevated. Anxiety will make the blood pressure increase in everyone. It's a normal response.

In Norway, almost no one get the diagnosis of high blood pressure without a 24 hour monitoring, to reveal the true blood pressure.