Dear Doctor,
I check my blood pressure whenever I sense the feeling of fear in my body and have white coat at the doctors and at home. Medication did not give me any relief. I had CBT from 2 therapists but I got more obsessed about my blood pressure as the focus of the theraphy was how reduce checking. The more I focused on my problem , the worse it got.
So I began checking less on my own but sometimes I gave in due to the compulsion being too strong. I had quite a good run for the past 2-3 months. Then I began checking more frequently again and even though the numbers are so low, I would be doing an activitity and feeling okay and then a thought will come where I had experienced a similar feeling of comfort and when I checked my pressure was high. So I get scared with this thought and feeling and check.
So really the destructive thought is " What if your pressure is high and you don't even know it", then the fear feelings and panic sets in and that is when I usually go and check. As I said for the past 2-3 months , these thoughts came but I just dismissed them and carried on but now that I have given in to these thoughts , the compulsive behaviour is getting a bit stronger.
For over 10 years when I was diagnosed with an illness that could lead to cancer, I developed a fear that I was going to choke to death when eating. Nothing helped and now that fear is gone only to be replaced by this fear of blood pressure and stroke and checking. I don't fear any other diseases just the blood pressure in my mind is so over rated since all the doctors pull out that stupid cuff and measure it and I know that mind goes really up with anxiety. It is just the image of shock and horror on my doctor's face 4 years ago when she told me my pressure was very high and my heart rate was very high. How can I overcome this problem are there self help measures since theraphy and doctors are making the problem not go away. I have reduced doctor visits and that has helped.