high blood pressure and anxiety

I can certainly understand your fear. Your blood pressure was very high. I too had fear of taking my blood pressure but my pressure was only 150/ 104 or so...Im.high strung and worry alot. I decided to change things after my doctor put me on 20 mg of linsopril. I started eating healthier and dropped 12 lbs in 6 weeks..i also asked my doctor to put me on a low dose of clonazepam for my anxiety. I just got off of my blood pressure meds for good this past weekend. Read all you can in trusted places like the mayo clinic. Don't be afraid to take meds that help keep you calm. My mom's blood pressure was like yours over 200 and she got help and it's much lower. Eat healthy, it's hard I know but will result in lower anxiety because your trying to put a health plan into action. You can do this! Your life is worth it.

Hi Folks,

This is a very interesting discussion. My story: bought a bp machine a short while ago and for the first four days I got readings of average 135/80... not too bad but was a little concerned by the 135 number- then on the fifth day I got 150/90, this really concerned me til I took it a few hours later and got 160/100! Almost called an ambulance when I saw that!   For the next few days I was obsessed and took it dozens of times, always getting these 150-160/90-100 readings. Then I thought "well it was pretty normal the first 4 days so I must be just spooking myself" but in the back of my mind I'm still worrying and afraid to take it again. They say to buy your own machine in case you have white coat syndrome but nobody warns you that you might give yourself a form of white coat syndrome ...until I found this blog.

 One thing I noticed that gives me relief of mind: my resting pulse is 70ish and on the bp machine it always registers 85-95bpm which implies the bp readings are also unrealistically high- anybody else notice this?

Hey! This is my first time posting here. I’m 27 years old and I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety disorder since my early teenage years probably about 14/15. Since then my life has been marred by frequent anxiety problems. This has been boosted by the fact my dad had been sick with blood pressure, glaucoma( which took almost all his eyesight) and a heart condition. I used to help my dad monitor his BP with his apparatus. I developed this fear for the BP apparatus cos i felt it had a connection with my dad’s ill health. 

Some years back before i turned 20 I had a little fever which was probably malaria in one night which I couldn’t sleep properly, kept waking up so i told my mum i had fever and she took me to a nearby clinic. Thought i’d just be given a drug or injection but the hospital’s policy was to take a person’s BP( by a nurse) before he/she sees the doctor. The nurse strapped my arm and began pumping. That was the beginning of my miserable life. Even before she started the process i was all over the place. She was in shock when she saw my BP.  I saw this shock and fear in her eyes. She was asking what was wrong with me at my age. It got me so scared i felt like dying. That was my first panic attack. 

My mum was worried too, her eyes turned red as she consoled me. I was finally sent to the doctor who saw my condition and i told him i was so scared of the BP test that i felt so anxious and worried. He consoled me and offered to check me without the device. He said i was okay I didn’t have BP I shouldn’t worry. It took me months, perhaps years to get over that episode. Had a few panic attacks afterwards. My anxiety grew that i got scared of any hospital or any test whatsoever that had to do with my health. I even developed a fear for addressing a crowd(presentation)and also the fear for flying while still having the fear for my health.  

My dad’s condition worsened from 2011 and i got to witness it all. I was very close to him as i was his last son and only child still staying with him. It was traumatic for me as i watched him die over time. I’m a sensitive person so i feel people’s pain and his was overwhelming. He finally passed on at the tail end of 2013 in my arms. I was a student then so i had to deal with lots of challenges on a daily basis and my dad’s death. But i kept living through the pain. 

I never really felt sick or had physical symptoms of high BP but there was this night that i had a massive panic attack for the whole night. Early in the morning i thought i should go seek help but i was scared of a hospital so i went to a local pharmacy and complained about my attack so the man asked to measure my BP and my heart started racing again and i was at my worst anxious-wise. The man was shocked and i told him i was so scared of BP that I didn’t even wanna know the readings or any details about anything  i just wanna get better i just want drugs to make me better. He gave me some BP drugs(I think) which i started and but still never really made me more relaxed or any better so i felt its probably not BP so i stopped taking the drugs and i just got better on my own. But as usual i have my anxiety problems from time to time but never a panic attack again. This continued but yesterday(June 2018)i had another episode. 

I am currently processing some travel papers as I’m planning to travel in a couple months time. I filled a form and there was requirement for a medical(blood test, blood group, blood sugar, height, weight and blood pressure). Days before the medical I’ve been anxious about the whole thing. I had an 8 hr road trip 4days back and it was pretty stressful. I came to the city where i had to process my travel documents. I never really had time to sleep. And i had to wake up very early everyday and spent days for the process. I have friends here they wouldn’t let me rest. We played soccer everyday for the first 3 days. Even though I’m pretty overweight(6ft 108kg) I actually play soccer at least once a week for about two hours every week. But since i came here I’ve played with my friends 3 straight days but then we smoked hooker for about an hour every night since i came. I’m pretty healthy since i drink alot of water( I don’t drink alcohol & i avoid drinks with high sugar content), I eat healthy most days along with the soccer i play. My lifestyle isn’t that bad for a guy my age. 

Anyway i got called to the hospital yesterday and i was freaking out before i even arrived. Tried to calm myself and be brave to actually face it but i was still anxious. Before i went to the hospital i was relatively calm and had less anxiety but it kicked in the longer i was in queue. Had my blood taken for the blood tests then it was time for the BP test and everything just went crazy. I told the doctor I didn’t like my blood pressure taken i had phobia for it but he still insisted. I tried to stay calm but soon as that strap got that tight grip on my arm i could feel my nerves. My heart was pounding. The doctor still gave me that same ‘look’ and said ‘do you have BP?’ and i said no I’m so tense I didn’t know if i did. He recorded a 180/90 for me on the form and his remark was ‘Elevated BP’. While my brother whom I’m travelling with had a 120/80 was remarked ‘medically fit’. My brother has been seemingly worried about me. I wasn’t given any drug or treatment. I wemt home and I’ve been feeling off since i left the hospital . Even though i played soccer in the evening and swam in the night i still feel really bad right now. I couldn’t sleep throughout this night even though I’ve been sleepy for days and actually took a single panadol night pill( which usually makes me sleep if i want to) to aid but right now it’s 6am in the morning and I’ve been awake, scared and anxious. I don’t even know what to do. I’ve fought back several times for years but it keeps coming back. I don’t feel like i have BP(don’t want to believe even if i do) since I haven’t had it’s symptoms like severe headaches and dizziness. I want to believe it’s just my anxiety. I just want to be normal and healthy without any drugs. Oh! And i have acid refux as well which I believe gives me a lump in throat feeling(gets worse with my anxiety) can someone make me better please