High blood pressure - in a panic (unhelpfully)

[Frogmae]

Can anyone talk me down from this panic I’m in please?

I had high blood pressure when pregnant with my eldest nine years ago. Every time I’ve had my blood pressure checked since, it’s been high, but because I suffer from anxiety, they always put it down to white coat syndrome and dismiss it. Today, I had a family planning appointment and the nurse was very blunt about my high blood pressure, saying I didn’t want to have a stroke etc. She’s sent a message to my GP. I’ve tested approximately a hundred times since I got home, but it’s just getting worse (naturally!).

I’m very worried. I think my surgery will continue to dismiss it, or ask me to make an appointment with their nurse in several week’s time. I’ve very little chance of even getting through to get an appointment. I’m really worried and feel quite helpless. I’ve potentially had very high blood pressure for nearly a decade, which can’t be good.

I don’t know if this is in the right place, but I don’t have anyone to talk to in real life and wanted to get it off my chest. Thank you if you read this.

Stop checking your BP ! You are stressed so it will be higher than whatever is your normal.
your GP will probably check your kidney function and then make a decision regarding medication.

Even if your blood pressure is a bit high lots of people live for years and years without anything much happening. So as lament says, stop checking. If you want to do something then start looking at lifestyle ways of helping your bp - the usual suspects, weight, exercise, eating well, but also anti-stress techniques like breathing and meditation or whatever you usually do to calm yourself when you're feeling anxious. Here are some to help you destress.

I have high BP and both my mum and dad had strokes, and a grandparent, so naturally I worry.
however, I am now monitored closely and on medication and that makes me feel so much calmer about it all.
your gp will probably give you a bp machine to do at home every morning and evening for 7 days.
if they start you on meds then you will have a blood test every 6 mths to monitor kidney function
any meds eith a name ending in ‘pril’ may give you a cough as a side effect. I had ramipril and then changed to candesartan.
I don’t feel any different on medication but proof that it works is that my bp is now ‘normal’
it has been highlighted to your gp so please try not to worry. 💐

What was your BP?
mine was high for the first time today. I did it in the surgery on the monitor in the waiting room. Took it 4 times in the end!

Thank you all for your replies.

It was pretty high - I think the first reading was 172/117 and was there or thereabouts three times. After I’d sat for a while, she said they’d do the other arm and it was 135/95, so much lower. The thing is, even when I do it at home, the right arm is always lower, which I’ve read tonight is a marker for heart disease too 😞.

I’ve checked my medical notes online tonight and the last time it was done was Jan 2021 and it was 166/84. It’s always high like this, but they seem to dismiss it as white coat syndrome.

I’m worried I either won’t be able to get through to the doctor at all anytime soon, or they’ll just dismiss it again. I’m 38 and overweight, so I definitely need to work on that.

I think the first time it was 172/117, and then from the second it was more like 166/107 ish. I had just walked up three flights of stairs to get there though, so I don’t know if that makes any difference!

Stop panicking! Sounds like there is a large element of white coat syndrome - it happens to me. Why not buy your own monitor and take it first thing every morning. Note the results for a week. Then drop it at the surgery and ask for an appointment if it’s high.

Ok stop and breathe. This happened to me in lockdown. I have always had naturally high BP and in my last pregnancy had medication as I was nearly 40 and they weren't happy with it.i also have white coat syndrome and it's so much worse when a nurse or doctor does it. I came off the tablets in 2017 went back on the pill and thought no more of it although I had to have the mini pill this time. In early March 202 I went for my normal nurse appointment to get my pill and my BP was sky high. The news was going crazy and the nurse looked at my kid who came with me like she was carrying the plague so I was immensely stressed. Anyway she refused my pill and sent me off to buy a blood pressure monitor and told me to take my own readings for 2 weeks and then get back in touch. At that point the whole world went insane and my BP was the least of anyone's problems. I went back to the GP who prescribed medication 50mg antenolol. I stayed on that for all of 2020 and half of 2021 and am now on 25mg. I have still never seen a doctor in person since but have lost over a stone and done a diet overhaul. I am feeling better than ever. It will be fine you are going to be okay dont panic. Do the readings first thing in the morning 3 or 4 times over the next week or so and then contact your GP.

@tootiredtospeak Thank you for this. It really helps to hear from someone else who’s been through this too.

Thank you everyone for your kind words to calm me down.

OP, I'm on drugs which cause high BP in many patients so was advised to buy my own machine to test it at home. I've noticed huge differences in readings even on the same day! Any physical activity causes it to rise and even a good laughing session on the phone with a friend will push it up. I've had the same experience as you and when it's raised, tested again and it's higher and on I go. I got so bad, I would feel panicky just getting it out of the case! I'm a few months down the line now and have learnt to only test when I've been relaxing for an hour or so, I mean resting in bed watching TV or listening to music. It's always lower then.

Mine was in the 200s at one point. I've never seen a medical professional so stressed out. I'm on three different types of medication for it which has taken a while to get balanced. They won't dismiss it don't worry but you might be asked to do 24 hour and 7 monitoring. PM me if you need any more information but most importantly don't stress out about it and speak to your doctor.

Also take your own machine into the surgery to be calibrated to ensure your home device is giving you accurate readings.

Hi OP,
I have high blood pressure. My BMI is high and I have a family history too.
I've been told the bottom number is the most important.
I've made a number of lifestyle changes which have helped a little
Totally given up caffeine in all forms (I only had a few cups of tea a day, no energy drinks, but given up tea and coffee, no chocolate)
Walk everyday, rain or shine
Tai chi is amazing for bringing down blood pressure
Weight loss (this is Extremely slow for me despite trying very hard and not deviating, but even a small amount makes a difference)
Being aware of my breathing, as I breathe in a very shallow way, I can directly improve my blood pressure reading by taking deep breath before hand
I am also going for counselling in the hope my general but severe anxiety can be addressed.

Good luck with it and pm me if you want.

Contact your gp and insist on 24 hour monitoring. It will either reassure e you or show that you need medication which will reassure you. I had one high reading and the doctor was keen to talk medication ffs.

I got my own monitor and my blood pressure is fine away from the surgery.

You need to be measuring it morning and night for a week following the instructions on the British heart foundation website. Alternatively the GP might hook you up to a device for 24 hours that monitors your BP over that period. The most important thing is that you get to the bottom of it so you can decide to start medication or not. Also have a look at the risk factors for hypertension: smoking, weight, excercise, caffeine and see if there are any immediate small changes you can make.

The BHF is the gold standard for information so I hope you find this link helpful: www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/manage-your-blood-pressure-at-home

Buy a validated machine from Amazon, under £30 and do several readings during the day when you’re relaxed etc and when you wake up etc and then you’ll have some baseline readings for the GP to go from

I'd suggest starting a magnesium supplement. Most of us are magnesium deficient due to depleted soil, and one of the effects of deficiency is hypertension. (It's a hugely important mineral for all sorts of functions in our body.) I have had a patient see good results from just magnesium and they managed to avoid medication. The BetterYou sprays are good, as it's absorbed very well through the skin.

Ask for the link to do a record of your BP morning and evening for a week. Each time sit for 5 minutes, take BP 3 times with a few minutes between readings. I've had to do this recently.

First my small advice is don't fear on your high BP level, because it will be comes into normal. But if you have more fear, then it will automatically rise into high. Be calm and follow doctor advice. Another thing, do some simple workouts and also follow healthy food diet.

You’ve all given fantastic advice - thank you so much.

So I’ve been to the GP and I have a link to fill in my blood pressure morning and night for seven days. It says to do the reading ‘at least’ three times, but as someone who has severe generalised anxiety, this loose statement is causing me to worry too! It says to keep doing it until it starts to level off (they assume it is getting lower everytime), but mine sometimes starts off normal and gets worse and then I don’t know when to stop or how many to do!

Does anyone have any advice on this please? Once you’ve done three, do you submit the third even though it might be higher, or take an average? I’m really bad at relaxing about this, as you can see 😳.

@ImFree2doasiwant did you submit the last reading of your three?

@Frogmae I did 3 readings and submitted the lowest . It was sometimes difficult to know which one to submit as the sys or dia reading could be lower.

I di do a little mindfullness in between readings and it definitely helped. Just tye ones on my fitbit app.

I've just started on ramipril so hope it helps

Do it until you get bored which is when it will lower if you’re anxious.

the bottom number is not the most important - that’s incredibly out of date thinking. In fact the opposite is pretty much true…