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Extremely worried about BP

Posted , 7 users are following.

highbpguy
highbpguy

Hi,

I like to start off by saying I've been dealing with health anxiety and OCD since I was a teenager. I am 32 now. I've been with my doctor for over 6 years, she's great and very understanding -- always reassuring me that I am healthy. I went to ER for different reasons and EKG always normal.

I've been seeing therapist for over 2 years now and have been taking xanax. Which helped me gain weight from 150 to 170 in 2 years. I've always had poor diet consisting of fast food, soda, snacks, fatty foods, etc...The xanax helped me relax and stimulate my appetite, thus eating more than ever. Before I was always too nervous to eat.

Sorry for rant, but my question is having a 140/83 blood pressure when lipids, diabetes, thyroid, kindey, liver test are all negative a sign of possible heart attack in near future?

This morning, my new nurse was this cute attractive lady and I got extremely nervous. My BP test was 140/93, second was 139 and 20 minutes later it was 139. My doc did not seem concern with this. She gave me pamphelt about reducing salt intake and asked me to come back for recheck in 2 weeks. I do not want to label this as white coat syndrome because I've been tested at docs many times.

Now my concern is that I will drop dead of heart attack. I have no symptoms of heart disease whatsoever or family history of heart issues. I feel fine, even though I do no cardio or exercising.

Here are my blood pressure results throughout the years, yuo can see the increase from when I was only 150lbs til now. I hated being skinnny at 6'0 and only 152, so I was happy to get to 170.

Are these numbers concerning or showing a trend to hypertension? In my mind, I feel there is no way to fix this and I am headed to some serious problem.s

Weight at 170lbs with no muscle definition

1/26/2015

140/83

10/13/2014 8:40 AM

125/73

10/8/2014 3:10 PM

125/76

9/23/2014 9:40 AM

130/78

7/7/2014 9:00 AM

115/73

7/1/2014 10:00 AM

137/83

2/20/2014 2:50 PM

132/72

Weight 152 lb (68.947 kg)

7/9/2013 9:20 AM

105/60

110/62

6/3/2013 1:50 PM

103/65

4/26/2013 10:00 AM

117/74

4/18/2013 2:50 PM

109/60

4/9/2013 4:10 PM

115/72

2/23/2009 4:00 PM

109/71

4/22/2009 2:50 PM

121/70

11/4/2008 7:30 PM

124/72

1 like, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • JohnRacing
    JohnRacing highbpguy

    Posted

    hard to change your lifestyle but you can do it! get support from your families,friend etc.
  • Fisherman
    Fisherman highbpguy

    Posted

    Hi. First of all STOP WORRYING. Easier said than done I know. I am in my early 60's and like you weigh 170 lbs and am 5' 11". Not a great physique but hey no beer gut either!!! I am on ramipril. My father diedamy years ago with a stroke and my bp is of concern so I exercise, 30 mins brisk walking every day, no processed or fast foods, no coffee and limited tea. Cut out all unnecessary salt. Limit alcohol. Eat beetroot and garlic and almonds. Look at positives in your life and don't dwell on negatives. Get a great interest. I am off fishing today!!! Your readings are OK so dont panic.

    Good luck!

  • alexays
    alexays highbpguy

    Posted

    Your BP is not that high really.  Make sure you get enough sleep, exercise more, donate blood and make sure you don't drink too much ( but then you Americans probably don't as the Brits are the binge-drinking kings!) . I reckon you could probably be back down to 125/75 in virtually no time. I had panic attacks in my late twenties. Cured by exercise - specifically running. If you can't stand running at least walk. Maybe get a step counter, such as a fitbit and aim to do 8000 a day during the week and > 10,000 steps at weekends. The US industrial diet is the least healthy on the planet - must be hard to eat well there. 
  • margaret53068
    margaret53068 highbpguy

    Posted

    I think we all have thoughts about heart disease when we are first diagnosed.  I am no doctor but those readings are not too bad to me.  Try not to worry about it that's the first thing to do    Try just cutting down food portions a little at a time.  Try to go for a walk every day if only for ten minutes.  Think of your body as an engine and try to feed it nutritional foods where possible. It takes a lot to retrain your mind to these things but it will make you feel so much better I am sure.  If you know your blood group go online and order a book of foods for you blood group try and stick to this and feel the difference it does work.  It might only mean cutting out a few things that your group should not be eating.  It goes back to the cavemen if you think about it   It is all fascinating once you get into it
  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey highbpguy

    Posted

    highbpguy, your BP readings don't seem to be any cause for concern but if you continue with high anxiety levels then that could in the future have a knock-on effect on your blood pressure.  So do try to stop worrying and just concentrate on  a healthy and active lifestyle, including a good diet. 
  • mattz37001
    mattz37001 highbpguy

    Posted

    it sounds like we have age and health anxiety in common. I was tested with a 24hr monitor and found to be 133/78 as a day time average which meant no treatment required. But it still really freaked me out and has led me to make some big changes in my diet and lifestyle. I'm still really struggling with the anxiety and worry side of it, but knowing I've made positive changes helps relax me. I really recommend you do the same as many of the changes are good both for blood pressure and anxiety:

    1. exercise every day for 30 minutes. Even if just walking, I walk as fast as I can and try to work up a sweat.

    2. Low sodium diet. I check the labels on things I buy and now steer clear of things with high sodium And season with herbs or lemon juice instead of salt.

    3. Increase in fruit and veg intake. now have bananas or apples instead of salty snacks, and i make sure most meals include multiple vegetables.

    4. Switch to whole grain breads, Brown rice, and whole grain pasta instead of white bread, and rice and normal pasta.

    5. Take a multi vitamin, natural anxiety and fish oil tablet.

    6. Take up yoga, and tai chi

    7. Make a point of two 10 minute blocks during the work day for deep breathing and visualization

    8. reduce coffee from 2 cups to 0.5

    9. Educated myself on the relationship between bp reading and anxiety.

    10. Eat almonds and walnuts

    I will do the bp monitor again in a few months and I really hope to see an improvement.

    Best of luck in your efforts.

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