high blood pressure and anxiety

I battled to reply to your post re high bp, had similar experience - I am a state outpatient and exaggerated high reading was taken on an electric BP machine, but I get a fairly normal reading when using my battery operated monitor which I use at home - last week 8 June, 2018 - my local community health centre, i.e. Lady Michaelis, Plumstead, Cape RSA, kept me in their Emergency Room for the whole day, also the month before.  The doctor at the Trauma unit at Victoria Hospital told me not to take it, but a new dr at the day hospital, re-prescribed Amlodipine whereas I told him that the other dr at Victoria Hospital took me off it.  I TOO ended being able to walk - the attitude of the health workers at that day hospital made me realise that they are upsetting me emotionally, obtaining high readings, then "detaining" me for a full day until closing time.  I am angry because of the attitude - I have been on Pharmapress since after my first op at a state hospital in 2010, whereas when I saw private doctors on my medical aid, I never had a BP problem.  Last month (May 2018) when I attended the day hospital, also by appointment, the same story - the new nurse Klem working there, created an Emergency situation.  Not sure if all that is legal and I do not know what my rights are as a patient, but I was left feeling hurt and humiliated.  I have also had my BP taken at private chemists and got lower readings when a manual bp pump was used.  So I no more know who to trust  -  they could be trying to "trip" me as I was employed by the State Dept Health many years ago for six years and my Termination was a swindle.  I did not have money to fight them, so left it and just got work elsewhere.  I do not have a persecution complex and am not one of their MENTAL patients.  Thanks for reading this.

Thought I would add my testimony to this 3 year old post to keep it going. I never thought of my anxiety over taking my BP as a phobia but it does make sense. My employer offered an annual wellness check as a benefit for many years. During that time my numbers were always normal. Then the wellness check changed from a benefit to a requirement if we wanted to avoid an increased insurance premium. From that point forward, I struggled with anxiety each time I went in for the wellness check. I went from normal to hypertensive overnight. Each year my anxiety has increased and has now reached the point where any measurement of my BP causes me to stress out. I tried BP meds for a while that sent my BP through the floor while at home, but still had elevated readings in the doctor's office so my doctor took me off the medication. I may inquire about anti-anxiety medication at my next doctor visit. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences.

The sight of a BP cuff sends me into a panic attack. All the emphasis and scare tactics have worked well. If they meant to scare me, they did their job well. I never had an issue going to a doctor or having my BP taken before. Now I'm terrified to go to a doctor or dentist. I'd almost rather die than go to a doctor. They totally humiliated me when my pressure hit 130/90. Got my diastolic pressure down, but the damage is done. If they only have a clue how they totally destroyed my life.

Hi, Amlodipine did EXACTLY the same to me. I ended up in Casualty (i.e. the emergency department) of my local state hospital, i.e. Victoria Hospital, Wynberg, Cape Town. I had to phone a state ambulance to fetch me and take me there as I had no one to drive me there at night. The doctor who examined me, threw the Amlodipine tablets into the waste bin in the emergency room, he took me off Amlodipine. My neighbor who is a nursing sister also told me that Amlodipine makes your legs weak that you cannot walk, so that is why I do not take it.

The Amlodipine was prescribed by the state day hospital in Plumstead by a female doctor. I have no choice, have to see her as there is no one else other than her colleague, a new male doctor, who prescribed Verapamil when I was kept in the emergency room by their new nurse Klem - so it goes .. yes, it is very hurtful and humiliating, more so for vulnerable, senior people who need that care as you age

A chemist sister can also take your blood pressure for you (but you pay a small fee for the service), or buy a digital one, they cost about R300 at Clicks; I think Dischem stores also sell them. Just get on top of it ..

Hi, I have been through the same journey. I will tell you my story, with the hope that it reaches others in similar shoes and it comforts them that they are not alone.

Unfortunately, there are many people who suffer from this and there isn't a one-fits-all answer/solution unfortunately. Some of us are just more prone to anxiety and are therefore more susceptible to triggers for phobias.

I began having anxiety attacks when I was 27 during an uncertain time of my life; at that time I thought/more like convinced I was sick with some terminal illness, anywhere ranging from cancer to being HIV positive..took countless tests and had tons of doctor visits that claimed I was perfectly healthy. Things then just subsided and I started living a normal life again.

Fast forward to 4-5 years ago, I started having anxiety attacks again during a stressful period in my life. One day I had a full-blown panic attack and I believed I was having a heart attack - headed to the hospital and the nurse took my blood pressure (which btw had been normal average 119/78 up until then during physicals) and of course she panicked looking at the number - 179/112. Then the doctor gave me an EKG, and monitored my blood pressure as I was lying down - it kept going down, took my blood work - no heart attack, no AFIB, nothing.

Three months later, same episode of panic, went down to urgent care, nurse takes my blood pressure, she panicks like the first one - 182/110; so I went to see a cardiologist for a full visit - EKG, Echo, Stress Test, 48hr Holter, the works - all came back negative. The interesting part when I took the stress test on the treadmill, I was super anxious getting on it, my first BP measurement at rest was 150/100, as I started running, during stress, the systolic only went up to 176 and the diastolic actually went down to 70/68, which is completely normal for healthy hearts. That test was inconclusive - just stress/anxiety. Doctor put me on a low dose of Ativan to take just in moments of panic/anxiety, advised me to get a home BP monitor and so I did...

I started exercising more, losing weight, take my meds as needed and was measuring my BP 3 times a day, morning, afternoon, night - averaging it out. Months later I had another full-blown panic attack - went back to the cardiologist (a different one this time) - did another battery of tests, Echo, EKG, Holter, again inconclusive...

I started wondering the doctors were right, the problem was in my head and my heart was completely fine. Heck, most people go a lifetime without having a full cardio workup...I had had two in less than a year. I continued measuring my BP and I noticed two things: 1) in times of stress it would be higher than average and 2) I slowly was becoming dependent on the machine as if I needed it to justify my well-being. So I started taking my BP more than 3 times a day, it slowly escalated into an OCD behavior, never thinking it could turn into a phobia.

A year later, new doctor check up - he takes my BP with an old school sphygmomanometer, my heart starts racing like crazy, sees me obviously panicked and just says my blood pressure is high at 160/100, looking worried as hell. Never mind he completely ignored the fact I was panicked and that my heart rate was definitely over 100bpm. So I tell him my readings at home are completely normal - he asked me to show them to him and so I did. So he just said to keep monitoring them.

This is a turning point in the story when the full phobia began, where I started to question my own BP machine, so I bought two more monitors...no I had 3 monitors measuring my BP countless of times a day, still averaging it out. You can imagine what that started doing not just to my head, but to my family. Days where the numbers weren't perfectly under 120/80 - I kept trying to make sure it was still normal. Days where I had spikes were bad days, all I was thinking was my BP - the machines finally had taken over my life. I started questioning my whole health - even though I appeared to be in good shape, running 3-4 times a week, I felt terrible, always down, tired and on edge. I then began monitoring my heartbeat more closely, during workout, before and after. I started to obsess on my heartbeat. When I obsessed on my heartbeat, my BP wasn't a concern - when I obsessed on my BP, my heartbeat wasn't a concern. Every day for the past 2-3 years.

Finally, two things happened. Six months ago, I had another full-blown panic attack - the worst one yet. At this point I was having them on a weekly/monthly basis - most of them would happen before I was about to take my BP. I headed straight to the emergency room thinking this is it - I am finally having a heart attack. At the ER again doctors took my BP - they had to put the monitors away from me, each reading was ranging between 170/90, 170/80 - heartrate anywhere between 150-130...again EKG...all negative, I finally relaxed and took my BP again - I think the last reading was 128/90. So I left, this time thinking: I need to get a hold of my life here as I am going into the deep end.

I went to a cardiologist AGAIN for the third time - again EKG, Holter, Echo - explained my BP phobia to him and my full history. The doctor was very stern and very serious. He told me to snap out of it and do the following:

1. GET RID OF YOUR MACHINE! it is obviously ruling your life and it's doing more damage than good. He said he could see in my arteries and the whole structure of my heart and there was no true arterial hypertension anywhere, so lay off the machines and to give it to people who actually need them.

2. GO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST! This was in relation to my obsessive behavior/phobia and conviction some health catastrophe was about to happen. He told me to get rid of the root cause of the anxiety and get some help doing it and he guessed that # 1 phobia would eventually subside.

3. KEEP RUNNING! He told me to keep running and doing cardio - he said if there was anything wrong with my heart, stress during exercise would give me preliminary signs than you would normally not have if you weren't. And if I felt fine during exercise, it was a sign to keep doing it and that it was good for me for a number of reasons. He also said if you ever did have true hypertension, meds can only control 20-30% of the problem, exercise is actually a better control system at 30-40% and said you are already doing it and it works as a preventive system. He also said you would not have normal readings here and there if you had true hypertension - your BP would be high all the time no matter if stressed or happy, etc, which is not the case for me.

I followed each recommendation to a T in the last six months and I can say I feel a ton better. 1) getting rid of the machines has helped me regain control of my life. 2) I am doing CBT to deal with the OCD and health anxiety triggers without or trying to avoid taking any meds - this helps a lot and it is natural - it does take time and it is considered to treat PTSD. Basically, my doctor told me that the culprit of all those physicians/nurses panicking when seeing the high BP number has triggered a series of events in my head that cause me to panic simply at the sight of a BP machine. It's unfortunate, but it is true. In this case, it is worse feeding the panic and conitinuing to measure BP when you know it will be high and you won't have a good sense of your hypertension factors. 3) I doubled down on the exercise and I quit monitoring my heartrate or anything that would cause me to go into a panic. Basically, eliminate all possible triggers until they have subsided and your mind goes back to its original state of interpreting them as they should be.

I am not out of the woods yet, but I feel a ton better. I have come off the benzos, which are also poison, I haven't had a panic attack in 6 months...sure I haven't taken a BP reading in 6 months either, but that simply tells me that the BP machine had a lot to do with my panic and I feel healthier in general. Not out of the woods, at all, but it's the best shape I have been without taking any treatment or relying on any meds to make me feel better.

There are a lot of stories like mine out there - I just wish doctors and nurses were a bit more educated on the triggers of mental health disorders and a bit better trained on how to respond in each context rather than freaking out about a stupid high BP number when the patient is clearly in distress...

Sorry for the long post, but I hope everyone takes this story as an example of the full journey I have been through, with the hope it can help and/or relate to anyone else in similar conditions.

Thanks!

M