Too much concern and worry about my BP

[sunny891]

Hello,

I had been diognised with high BP at the age of 30 and at that time I was going under lots of stress in business and had a unhealthy life style like drinking often and smoking as well as eating unhealthy stuff. The only good thing was that I was active and playing sports.

Ever since that day the doctore put me in minor dose of BP every day and since then I am taking my tablets regularly till now (I am 53 yrs old now). I stopped smoking immediately and started taking care of my health and changed my life style a lot but still kept drinking and started avoiding deep fried foods and foods with cholestrol though not all the time but to an extent and also kept my cholestrol levels within limits most time although for some years my total cholestrol and LDL used to be borderline high but my HDL was and is always quite high and so was not taking any medicine for cholestrol.

Since last two years my cholestrol levels are again within normal although just below the borderline but my HDL is maximum.

I have been taking extra care about my health now since last 5 years and have started eating heart healthy food, cut down on my drinks and now mostly take red wine (two glasses on average) 3-4 days a week. I also do Yoga (controlled breathing exercises for almost 40 minutes every day and play tennis or do any other physical exercise most days in a week for at least an hour.

In short I have taken total control of my health now and did my physical check up last year and all seems fine.

Now the reason why I am writing this is because I have one big problem which is probably physchological than physical.

Ever since the doctor put me on medication for High BP I got paranoid about blood pressure and ever since started worrying too much about my blood pressure readings and started checking it every now and then and on most occasions it is under normal levels. Except that my systolic kept varying and sometimes showed a bit high (150) but my diastolic was and is always between 80 and 90 except on a very few occasions when I was extra tense about my readings.

I am taking cozar 25 mg since last 10 years now (one daily in the morning) and I kept checking my BP at the doctor's office apprx every 2-3 months and on most occasions although i always used to be nervous when ever the doctor checked my BP, it read within normal limits and although my systolic mostly hovered around 135 - 145 my diastolic was between 80 - 90 and the doctor did not advise me any changes.

Since last two years aprat from checking with the doctor once in 6 months, I also started taking my BP at the pharmacy practically every 10 - 12 days and mostly in the morning after about 30 minutes when I wake up before breakfast, and on most occasions it read under normal levels ...under 140 and under 90.

They only trend I noticed is that like always the first reading mostly showed my systolic high (140 -150) but my diastolic under between 80 - 90 and as I immediately take my reading for 3 to 4 times after my first reading on most occasions my systolic read around 120 and infact between 110 - 120 most times and my diastolic around 80 - 85 and also between 90 - 80 on some occasions. Also my pulse rate read between 60 - 75 on most accasions.

So is it that my systolic is mostly elevated on the first reading due to my anxiety and nervousness which is there before i take my BP although it settles down under normal or even optimal on subsequent readings ?

My other concern is that although I know despite of this readings which are not so high or infact mostly under normal or even optimal, I keep worrying about my BP and keep checking it every 10- 12 days and sometimes If I am nervous or get anxious about my BP readings and sit to take it, I can feel the nervousness in my body and usually my first reading sometimes shows the systolic to apprx 150 and around and sometimes even 160 although my diastolic is mostly under 90, if I am too nervous and so my pusle shows around 100 at that time and I can feel the tension in my body. But again when the initial sespense is gone and when I take my reading again immediately the figures fall down and my systolic returns to normal within 3-4 immediate readings.

Lately, again one day with the same situation under anxiety my systolic showed around 150 and came down to even 120 within few hours when checked again. But again when I checked next day (ofcourse being tensed at that time.) it showed around 150  then 160 and once reached 180 although my diastolic was around 80-90.

I had no other visible symptoms except for the panic of my systolic showing so high for the first time but which I know was probably because I kept and kept worrying too much about my BP and the tension kept building up.

I got really nervous with this as I had never seen 180 and went to my doctor and even then it was 180 as I was very nervous and kept thinking all evening and when I dared to take it again next day morning at the pharmacy, the initial reading showed systolic of 153 and diastolic of 91 and of course I was nervous as ever during my first reading but as I took the second and third reading again my ststolic gradualy settled down to around 130 and even showed 122 on one accasion and my diastolic between 85-90 and 77 on one accassion.

Now I know I am doing everything right to keep my health in good condition with proper diet and exercise and Yoga and I alway feel very energetic and fine physically, but I just cannot get out of this habit of worrying about my BP knowing that it is OK most times with the doctor and at the pharmacy.

And this has been since last 20 years and now that I know my BP is not actually my physical concern knowing that is is mostly under 140 - 90 except under anxious moments as exlplained above, I want to kick this habit of checking my BP often and worrying about my BP so much.

And I am going to make a consious effort for this now by not checking my BP even when I think of checking it each time just out of curiousity.

But at the same time I don't want to ignore my BP readings and want to feel assured that my BP is in control (although I get too anxious about my readings whenever i take it or the doctor takes it).

So please advise me how should I go about this situation and come out of it so I don't worry about my BP knowing that it is normal or even optimal when I am totally relaxed and especially in the morning.

My simple question is... should I take it as a fact that my actual BP is the reading when I am totally relaxed and not nervous which is around 120 / 80 on average ? and that the elevation especially in my systolic is always due to the anxiety which settles down to normal or even optimal on most occasions after my first or second reading ?

So give me the right advise as how I should go about this where I should not worry about my BP so much as I am because mostly it is under control, but at the same time not ignore my BP and how often to check it to play it safe although I am doing everything right to keep it in control.

In short, I know it is all in my head but it is the phobea about BP which spikes my systolic above normal mostly to 150 - 160 as explained above during my first reading so please tel me what should i do to about this BP issue ?

Thanks a lot

[sunny891]

thanks to all those who have replied

this gives me some assurance and although I know it is mainly in my head ever since i was **** scared about my BP/ cholestrol and general heart health when my doctor first informed me about my high BP but when I was really stressed at that time with bad lifestyle.

I always wonder, maybe I never had BP in the first place when the doc just put me on medication right from the first day without monitering it for a while ?

The only good thing that came out of this though is that I started taking care of my health after this incidence, especially heart health and am now doing most things right health wise and  I am very energetic with lot's of stamina when I play my sports and rarely get tired even at 53 now which probably indicates that I have a healty heart.

My only problem has always been this anxiety and worry about my BP and although on most occasions in last 20 yrs has been under normal on average except on a few occassions when I am probably stressed about my readings.

My confusion always is if I my diastolic is mostly between 80 -90  or sometimes even less than 80, but when i get a systolic reading of sometimes around 150 on my first reading, (when nervous of course and I never wait for 5 minutes before taking it in the pharmacy) but subsequently goes down to 140, 130, 120 and even to 110 on some occasions on immedite repetead readings and this trend has been so for a while, what does this actually say about my systolic ?.....I mean if I get a reading of 150 to start with and end up with 110 within few minutes and ultimately averaging to 120 at that particular time after 5-6 immediate readings, what should i consider as my normal systolic figure to keep in my head just like I know my normal diastolic is apprx 80-85 on average recently.

Please answer on each of my doubts as mentioned above.

As once if I am medically confirmed that it is not my BP to worry considering my facts as mentioned so far but more of my anxiety and worry or say phobea about my BP and heart health, I think this will somewhat relieve me from my anxiety and worries.

Also should I take the help of a phsyciatrist (I am not sure about the speling) to treat my anxiety if this would really helps to make me feel more confident about my situation ?

thanks a lot friends,

[Rich99]

I too have to tell you that its not so much your blood pressure that controls your life,  it's most likely an anxiety disorder which can be clearly seen from the size of your post and all the details.       Drinking and smoking has probably been your method to control stress and anxiety in your life.    But it has also caused your higher bp since smoking contricts the blood vessels.     If you want help in controlling your bp,  stop smoking and refrain from alcohol.      In addition,  take an inventory of your life and how you react to everyday issues.    Like poster cj above,  thats what it took for me to cure my anxiety issues.      Don't get me wrong,  some anxiety is good for life and the goals you want to reach.    But like anything else,  too much of anything can be detrimental.

[cj29]

I have to echo greenlydia's advice here.  My original source of anxiety came from concerns about heart health.  I would literally take my BP 10 times a day and of course it was sky high whenever I took it.  It still gets high at the doctor's office because of my nervousness, but I realize (and so does my doctor) that it will be, so they are not concerned one bit.  

The best thing that I did was to learn about my anxiety and to confront it. Counseling did wonders for me with this concern.  Keep us posted!

[RubyWitch]

WOW! Feel like I just got out of class...........BP 101.

Your last question was "what should I do about this BP issue?" My answer is pretty short. Nothing.
You don't HAVE a BP issue.............other than being obsessed with it.
There really is no such thing as an "actual BP." Nobody has exactly the same BP everyday, every time it's taken. What we have is a "ballpark" number that we range in. Our BP changes constantly throughout the day and a hundred things can cause it to change. If you're tired, if you're in pain, if you're stressed, if you're angry, if you haven't eaten, certain medications can raise/lower it, if you're happy or if you're sad..........on and on.

If your BP is "normally" in the range of 120/80, that is just about as perfect as you can get. You say that is the number you get when you are relaxed and not anxious about anything. I'd say your BP med(s) are working great.
When you keep taking your BP because you're anxious about where it is, your anxiety will naturally cause it to elevate. So then you get freaked and take it again. And again. What that does when you take your BP 3-4 times in rapid succession is two-fold. Your anxiety goes up along with your BP and the veins in your arms do not like to be squeezed that many times. About the 3rd time, your mind says "well, that arms blood supply seems to be off kilter, so we better get the heart to pump harder and send more blood down there," which raises your BP even MORE and I trust you're getting the idea of what you're doing to perpetuate your BP phobia.
Take your BP once, maybe twice a week at most, then forget about it the rest of the time. Stop running in to take it when you know you're upset. Stop thinking about the dys/sys differences.........you'll make yourself crazy, which, no offense, you've got a pretty good jump on right now. I suggest the next time you see your doctor, have a very long discussion about your BP at that time. Be sure and fess up about how obssessed you are and he/she will tell you just what I have...........that the ONLY thing that will come of that is NOT the sense of control or a sense of "playing it safe," but rather, an elevated BP.  You really need to get off the BP merry-go-round. It's unhealthy.
Peace
Greenlydia