White coat symdrome

  Dear Dr.
       I have a Dr.appt next week for some severe heartburn and acid indigestion I have had for about a month, along with shooting pain in my chest area. My problem is this. I suffer from white coat syndrome which causes my blood pressure to shoot up and my pulse to race to about 120 bpm.whenever I go to the Dr. My fear is that they will not believe me when I tell them I REALLY DO HAVE A NORMAL BPM and blood pressure and they will send me off to have all of these test done on my heart causing me more anxious moments at the Dr. Do you have any suggestions to help myself to calm down before I go and not let my pulse get up so high. I know this sounds silly but I really could use some advise. Thanks.

[CCF Cardio MD - MTR]

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Dear Julie, thank you for your question.  My best advice to you is that you get a home blood pressure monitor.  These monitors record your heart rate and BP whenever activated.  Thus, you could keep a log of your blood pressures to show your physician that your heart rate and BP are indeed normal when you are at home and in a calm mood.   Otherwise, I don't know of any specific relaxation techniques you could use to better "prepare" for your visits to your physicians.  
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.  Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.   The Heart
Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.