Anxiety vs High Blood Pressure

[Bushkey]

Good morning, my question is this - when I go to the Dr. my BP is always high, anywhere from 170/99 to 180/100 - has been for years.  I am presently on Lopressor 50 2x a day & Diovan 80mg 1x daily.  I do monitor myself at home on a regular basis and it is always low.. morning 123/68 evening 99/52 or lower.. I bring these readings to my Dr. along with my BP Machine,( my machine is exactly what his says) what is going on!!! How can I control this "White Coat"?  Sometimes I feel overmedicated.. very tired every afternoon, fall asleep on the couch as soon as I sit in the evening, and have so many dreams at night.  Can just the anxiety of a Dr's office do this to me?  Is White Coat dangerous?  I appreciate your time.  Thank you

[CCF-M.D.-CRC]

Dear bushkey,
Well, you are having high blood pressure.  I guess the question is how much of the day are you spending having high blood pressure.  I think the best test for you to ask your doctor about getting is called a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor.  This is a small machine that you wear for 24 hours which checks your blood pressure at regular intervals.  It will help to reveal how much time your blood pressure is low, normal and high.  If it is low or normal most of the time then perhaps your medications can be reduced.  However, if it reads high a good percentage of the time then perhaps you need to try some different medications.

[kovacs]

Hi,

You sound like me. Everytime I go to the doc my pressure is usually between 180/100 to as high as 220/110. It has been this way for many, many years but at home it always was around 130/85.

This last time in prep for a stress test the docs refused to do the test as my BP was much too high. They put me on atenolol which made me feel awful, dizzy on rising, tired, drymouth and a real low pulse rate (42-52). My BP was always around 105/65 with lows of 82/52. I have 3 different BP machines and they all read about the same. Like you, when I leave to the docs office my BP is low and at his office it skyrockets ( at that time my machines show high just as his). I finally found a dose which is better for me at 10mg spaced at 8hr increments seem to maintain my BP at 110/70 and is acceptable. Dreams are still vivid.

I really can't get a good answer from the docs cause all they see is super high BP when I visit the office.

If you find out anything please feel free to contact me at ***@****

Thanks

Frank

[Blessedx4]

i am 38 yrs old and for the past 13 yrs i have had the same problem. whenever i go to the drs my blood pressure shoots up. i am only 4'10 and weigh 94lbs so when my bp reads 150/100 or more the drs freak. at first i was put on beta blockers but i felt terrible on them and my pvcs go worse. when i am at home (even without meds) my bp is around 110/70. my drs attribute it to my body overreacting to the adrenolin i produce due to anxiety. i worry that in the long run this could be harmful because i am a high strung person. i also have dysautonomia which is a defect in how my nervous system was wired.

[nurse12hr]

I too had white coat hypertension.  Many docs now think it SHOULD be treated, as it may be a risk factor for hypertension later in life.  Also, if your BP shoots up high like that from the stress of a doctor visit, it may shoot up high during other stressful life situations (rough days at work, arguments w/ significant others, etc).

My white coat hypertension became mostly generalized hypertension this past year.  I was put on an ACE inhibitor, which is not the same thing as atenolol.  it has done the trick w/o leaving me feeling wierd.  At home my BP's were pretty much ok, but I started checking my BP at work it was high.  My doc is one who believes in treating white coat hypertension.  

Some docs put you on a 24 hour BP monitoring device to see what your BP is during a regular day.  

My mother had white coat hypertension for many years, then one day had a hypertensive crisis out of the blue, and had a stroke.

[andrew21w]

my blood pressure has,in the oast year or so,been quite high when i go to the doctors-usually 139/100(this is the highest reading i ever got).at the pharmacy it's always quite normal.my doctor and myself attribue this to my anxiety issues.I'm always worried and very anxious when i go to the doctor.

[waterman]

Have had high BP for a few weeks.. averaging 145/95 or so.. Dr. had me monitor for 2 weeks and it was about 135/87 morning/night.  He still thought that was high and put me on Ziac..2.5 mg...  Question is... Can a pain medication like Percodan or other be taken on Ziac...?  Also have to fly in a couple of weeks with some anxiety... can Valium be taken with Ziac..?/  Please advise

[andrew21w]

I didn't think a blood pressure of 135/87 was considered high.normal bp is 120/80.it just seems like a normal high,and bp can raise to that level do to stress or anxiety.excercise can lower that quite easily.

[Donnasunshine]

A related discussion, Crazy Blood Pressure was started.