Pregnant with Blood Pressure Phobia Help

[Woody3420]

Hi, will keep this brief I am 34 and expecting my first child. Over the years I have had numerous anxiety disorders OCD as a child, strong panic attacks in my 20’s. Very in control of my life now (compared to past). However still prone to negative self talk and obsessive worries. Well I have loved being pregnant, however in true style had to develop some phobia to ruin things. What better to combine with pregnancy than blood pressure phobia. When I realised they have to take it at every appointment I convinced myself my reading would be high. Guess what they are. I have tried deep breathing, keeping calm, not letting my mind race. I brought a home kit in the hope I can get used to doing this at home and realise that it is normal.. However as soon as I put the band round my arm my heart beat goes straight from 80 to over 130 sometimes and with that the old blood pressure goes up to around 150 sometimes over 75 usually. Mainly the top number that goes up. I have been told adrenalin causes this. After I give it about 10 mins I then usually go back down to 120 over 70! And heart beat back to normal.
This is ruining my pregnancy. Instead of looking forward to my scan next week 20 weeks in the back of my mind I know I have to see the doc after and what should be anormal process will turn into a saga. As it will go high, like I know it will. They will then be concerned and have to wait until it goes down! Hard to do when already anxious. As those of you know if I am thinking about it now 6 days in advance I am already setting myself up to panic.
I know noone can diagnose me over computer, or tell me I have not got high BP! That is not really my issue as I don’t believe I have. However I am presuming I am not the only anxiety sufferer to have had this complaint. So if anyone out there can relate to this, what methods have you found useful? Especially if pregnant.
Thanks

[umeb]

Hi, I know i am posting this after 2 yrs but i m going through exactly the same as u right now. I m 19 weeks preg with my 2nd and developed this severe phobia after experiencing high bp with my 1st at 30th week and ended up having c section but most painful opart is my son suffered stroke as he was low weight ang got some infection at 4 days old and as a result now has very reduced vision.I m m pregnant again after 6 yrs but still cudnot control my phobia.Doctors say my having high bp could or could not be the cause of my son's suffering but i cant control my bp at doc's office.It used to be low in 1st trimester but as time is passing i m getting more nervous about it and now getting 120/70 readings at home and my heart start racing high ang gives reafing in 80s.I know it still not very bad but i dont know how i will handle it in my last trimester when i m going to be more anxious about my bp.Can u tell me how u did after that and what happened when u were in labour and how doctors reacted to it then?

Thanx

[nursegirl6572]

Wonderful!

That sounds great!

See, you have a good plan....so far so good!

[Woody3420]

Well went to see MW today and happy to say managed to get first reading of 130 over 80! hooorah! whilst feeling stressed. So she was happy and I was happy. Lets hope I can build on that

[Julie359]

Well first i'll say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!, it's a very exicting time to become a first time mum...... but also a very stressful and scary one.  

I would say wth the blood pressure the reading u gave doesn't sound abnormal at all... you need to be concerned if it reads anything like 90/180 and it's the lower number that is more important, so if it reads 100/200 or above then a call to the local midwifery centre wouldn't go a miss.  but life threatening is 130/?? and above, this is what i developed when i had twins due to pre-eclampsia and they controlled it very well with drugs... although pre-eclampsia is rarer with single babies as opposed to twins and more.

I don't think it would do any harn to start doing breathing and relaxation exercises, so when u do have ur reading done you can do these to help u stay calm and trust me by the time the baby comes they will cme in very handy in helping to control the pain etc through labour.......

I do wish you a healthy little bundle of joy.....Good-luck..awww

[Woody3420]

Hi Nursegirl!

Thanks for your message. Nice to hear from a professional too.
Yes my hubby has hid the machine. To be honest I was just getting in a tizz about it which is just silly and not helping. Even my hubby found it almost funny how I can wake up calm, hb about 76, feel fine and positive. Then as soon as the cuff goes on and I press start my hb can rise in seconds to figures such as 140! I find it amazing really the power of the mind. Although maddening. I get the same response most would get having to public speak etc… all I am doing is sitting with a machine! That said I realise that exposure therapy is not working for me! 

My next appointment is Wednesday is the 20 week scan! Thanks for your advice on whether to find out the sex! Really unsure what to do. Do agree with your logic but will also be so so tempted to ask when lying there. I had formulated a plan for Wednesday too. After the scan you have an appointment with the consultant at the hospital rather than my midwife! This only happens twice at 12 weeks and 20! Well I like my MW she seems to understand. I did not get the same rapport with the consultant. So already I am looking forward to scan so much but with this dread in my stomach of the appointment after. Can I refuse to have my BP taken? I have booked an appointment with MW for Monday, so can I just say “check my bump, urine etc….” but leave the BP as I am in a state and would rather MW take it Monday?

Then after that only ever have to see MW? It was just a strategy as I like her and she makes me more relaxed. She appeared to understand my phobia he didn’t and made me worse.

Also I have found that when I go into panic, if I do deep abdominal breathing which I learn in yoga this does calm me down and brings my BP down. Is this ok to do before going into docs. EG in the same way panic gives a false high reading can breathing give a false low reading? At the end of the day I want to ideally know my true reading due to conditions like preeclampsia. However I was reassure they can check for that with urine too? So not just relying on low BP?

ON a happy note my due day is 26th April so half way through and all in all loving being pregnant and feel great. So fingers crossed can just knock this silly obsession on the head.



[nursegirl6572]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your upcoming blessing!!  It sounds as though you have a great plan.  Yoga is an excellent idea, and I'm glad that you've decided to stop checking your BP at home.  A lot of times, that just reinforces our obssessive thinking.  That goes for those who are obssessed about their heart rate, breathing, or anything else.  

You  need to try to get to a point where you can accept that most likely your BP will be elevated at your doctor's appointments, and like lydia said...if the doc's felt it was elevated due to medical reasons, they would be taking action.  The very best thing you could do is be upfront with your medical team about your phobia so that they can proceed appropriately and not panic about an elevated reading.  They also may have some very useful suggestions on how to get past this.  

Another thing that will hopefully ease your mind a bit.  IF your BP was truly elevated for reasons other than a stress response (which, like lydia said.."white coat phobia is pretty common), there would be many other symptoms present that would not be affected by stress that would make it very easy for your doc to recognize a problem..

Be straightfoward with your OB and his staff, and like you said, you shouldn't feel embarrassed or afraid to confide in them...believe me, they have seen and heard it all.  MANY new Mom's have anxiety levels thru the roof, not to mention, with your history of OCD and panic, you are just way more susceptible to it.

Let us know how you're doing.  When is your due date?  Are you going to find out what you're having?  My own personal opinion?  DON'T!  It is the neatest thing to have such a HUGE surprise on that day.  Let's face it...everything else about that day will be a given.  You know it's going to be a a lot of hard work, you know it's going to hurt (lol), and you know you're having a baby, right?  So, why not add a nice element of surprise in there!  And people that say they have to "prepare" so they need to know the sex of the baby...I disagree.  There are plenty of great gender neutral products out there to at least get you started, and of course, there will be plenty of shopping time after your lil bundle of joy arrives!  :0)

Best of luck...keep us updated!

[Woody3420]

Hi

Thanks guys for your reponces.... It really is an annoying issue. However! that said every pregnant woman I meet seems to have some sort of issue. I just wish they could take your BP without you knowing lol!

M4YOU thanks for your advice too. One thing I want to point out which is positive is that 90% of the time I am happy and positive and non stressed. It is only when I am about to have my BP done either at docs or home.

I have decided to not use the machine at home. It is not helping or proving anything. Apart from I start off really anxious and then calm down. Each time I do this.. I know its not having any positive effect on me or my baby so what is the point.

I am simly going  to leave it to the professionals and explain to them my phobia. I am not going to feel silly, or stupid I can't help it and I know they must see this a lot more than just with me.

I guess like anyone with anxiety I get so angry, that I always have to put some issue into any given situation.

I have analysed this recent behaviour and I think its my need to control. I am so happy to be pregnant and so excited. I have joined YOGA and love the relaxation of that etc.. however I think I am scared to just be really happy ! due to complex childhood reasons I wont go on about. So I think as I know I can control my BP level to some degree... My subcouncious almost puts this little issue in to stop me just being elated! kind of like a litte reminder that I can't let myself be truly happy.

LIke when I met my husband he is lovely to me but I get very jealous. Deep deep down I know there is a litttle child in me wanting to be loved and protected! i think I try to self protect myself with issues. Anyway waffling on sorry bit deep! just helps to write it down :)

IN short I want to give this little one everything and on a positive a few years back I was really struck witn panic and now mainly panic free! so all in all nearly there

x

[RubyWitch]

Many of us who are pregnant with our first child have a great many fears in our minds. This is really normal........but even as we are feeling so many wonderful things,
unfortuantely, quite a few negatives can slip in as well.
With your past history of anxiety and OCD, the normal stress of a pregnancy can bring many of these issue to the forefront.
Your phobia of having your blood pressure taken is really common and I applaud your self-awarness about this. Attempting to take your BP at home was a good try at "exposure therapy," and that it didn't work should not really bother you. You have what those of us in the medical field call "white coat phobia." Let anyone wearing a white coat, a stethascope and carrying a BP cuff anyone near us and our BP skyrockets.
Usually your BP will be taken at the beginning of your exam and again at the end, after you've had a chance to relax a bit. Those second set of numbers are usually more normal, but may still present a little on the high side.
If you have made your OB/GYN aware of your BP phobia, he/she will defenitely take that into consideration during your exam. And rest assured that if he/she thought for one minute that your BP was at a dangerous level for either you or your baby, they would be taking steps to control it. Since that is not the case, I suggest a frank discussion with your doctor to ease your mind.
You might find some good advice on one of the Pregnancy Forums. I'm sure you are not the only one who has concerns about their BP. They are wonderfully supportive women who will undoubtly be able to relate to your fears and your phobia.
You are young, healthy, pregnant and nervous. Welcome to motherhood!
Please let us know how you're doing, OK?
Peace
Greenlydia      

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

I think you developed some sort of phobia over blood pressure.

What i find the most important to tell you tho is since you are pregnant you need to address stress issues soon.

I will keep it short and use analogies to help you understand.

While under stress your system goes into a protection mode therefore reducing the growth mechanisms. It's like if people ( your cells ) we're going to the bombshell after an alarm then returning to work after the alarm. It's an ok when this is an acute response but if it's for prolonged period of time this can in fact be bad for health. In other words you are taking up energy from you viscera ( intestine, liver, adrenal gland, kidney etc ) and using it for your somatic system ( muscles and bones , reflexes etc ) to promote fight of flight response. It is an ok response created by evolution while we faced stress factors like facing a sabertooth tiger so we needed to run, therefore engaging the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal ( HPA ) axis resulting in a increase adrenaline from the adrenal gland. The problem with this is that it should not be a 24/7 state of alert. While under stress it is affecting your immune system so you become more prone to diseases. In presence of the stress hormone the blood will preferably be sent to the arms and legs ( to run away from the sabertooth tiger ) therefore compromising the growth mechanism and the immune system.

You are pregnant and i think it is important for you to know that the baby is already preparing for the outside world based on your perception due to the factors i mentioned above but also some other genetic factors that i won't get into. Basically you need to calm down and take it easy while pregnant to prepare your baby to something perceived peaceful and harmonious. You live in symbiosis with your baby so prolonged period of stress will affect him too.

Every sane doctor will tell you to take multi-vitamins and minerals and keep a healthy diet and stay exercised while pregnant too. I guess you are already doing this but it is strongly recommended if you don't.

So basically you need to reduce your stress and get over your blood pressure phobia. I didn't tell everything i said above to scare you or anything but since you are pregnant it is important to address those issues soon.

You can start a therapy with a qualified therapist which i strongly recommend along with keeping a healthy lifestyle and calm down and enjoy life and stay away from stress it will be good for both you and your baby. Do more things you enjoy, focus your energy on the you and the baby being healthy and I'm sure the bloodpressure issue will get better. So do what you like to do the most and do it often.

Best regards,
M4