White coat syndrome - high blood pressure

[Becky6X]

Hi, just wondering if anyone else suffers with white coat syndrome?

I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant and an anxiety sufferer anyway. I have suffered with white coat syndrome since I was a child and always get really nervous going to drs / hospitals / dentists.

Obviously now I'm pregnant my blood pressure gets monitored at every visit. I hear comments every time such as 'wow that's high' bla bla bla which makes me even more stressed. At home however, it's always around 124/80 or lower.

My pregnancy is nearly over so thankfully this will all be over soon but lately it's really getting me down. I already dread my appts because of my anxiety but now I'm really dreading the blood pressure each time which is of course making it worse. My blood pressure there today was 162/98 which scares me a lot :-(

Does anyone else get super high blood pressure at appointments??

My mum was the same, one of her consultants used to get a nurse to do it instead!

Hi op

I did - I had my baby at home as I am terrified of hospitals etc.

My midwife used to ask me to sit outside the room and do my hypnobirthing breathing today calm myself down. Is that something you think would help?

I do and I don't understand why as I'm not bothered about going to appointments. Every time they routinely take my blood pressure it's extremely high. Last week it was 178/94. So then I get booked in to have it measured again the next day and it's back to normal. Until the next time.

I have this problem. I get really anxious when they monitor my blood pressure. I told my midwife at the beginning of my pregnancy, I bought a machine to monitor it at home and she asked me to keep daily records of it. It was absolutely fine at home, if anything a bit lower than usual. They still had to check it at my appointments, but telling her from the beginning helped me to feel a bit less stressed about it somehow, she would normally take it three times and the blood pressure was a bit lower each time.

No joke happens to me every single time. It's a thing. Maybe get a blood pressure monitor for home and take pics of it to show it's not actually sky high.

Thank you so much for your quick replies. When I first got pregnant my blood pressure actually lowered at home etc so when I did go to my hospital appts it seemed somewhat normal at 120-130/80. Now it's gone back to normal at home so looks completely sky high when I go to my appointments :-(

I've got this far so hopefully it will all soon be over! How did you guys cope in labour? It terrifies me what my blood pressure is going to be when I'm in labour in the hospital and how dangerous it can be for both me and the baby.

I am exactly the same OP, it’s such a pain! During my pregnancy my consultant told me to buy an at home monitor (I got mine on amazon) and to take at home measures 2-3 times a week. I noted them down and used to taken them to appointments with me. They would still do my BP at the hospital but liked to see the at home readings. Would doing it at home work for you?

Have you looked into hypnobirthing at all? It can help immensely to keep you focused. I am known for going off in blind panic when it comes to hospital situations so I used this to help me. I did have her at home but I had a couple of scares where I had to go in during my pregnancy.

@amymel2016 I do take my blood pressure everyday at home since being pregnant just for peace of mind! I take pictures every time too and always tell my midwife that this isn't what it's like at home.

I was originally on beta blockers for my anxiety but can't be on them during pregnancy, can't wait to get back on them they're life savers!

How much is normal for your blood pressure to shoot up during high anxiety moments, does anyone know?

@OkayGo I really should have looked into this more from the beginning! I'm now 39 + 1 so think I have left it a bit too late

It’s definitely not too late at all, have a google - there are LOADS of resources online and videos too. (Also I went to 42 weeks so you could have a wait too )

Some of it is very wishy washy but it’s just preparing yourself mentally which is helpful.

Mine isn't white coat syndrome, I have a problem with the BP cuff. I'm fine until it stars to feel tight then my BP goes nuts to the point where there is no reading. I have absolutely no idea what my normal BP is.

@OkayGo I'm going to spend my evening looking into this!! Really good idea and I will do anything to help to calm me a little! Thank you so much x

I also found it really helpful to watch hypnobirthing births on YouTube. They showed us how absolutely calm it could be in my hypnobirthing classes and honestly mine was. I managed at home with no pain relief. It was long and tiring but I managed it.

I get this! Except, weirdly, with one midwife in particular who is clearly very good at putting me at ease because my readings are always normal with her. I listen to relaxing music in the waiting room and breathe in and out slowly. I also try to get the appointments early so I'm not rushing in after struggling with parking. I also warn whoever it is that it happens so if I get a sky high reading they wait 10/15 mins and usually it goes back down after that. I had it in my first pregnancy too and after worrying the whole time about high blood pressure in labour I ended up with the complete opposite problem and it went really low! Very irritating.

Mine isn't white coat syndrome, I have a problem with the BP cuff. I'm fine until it stars to feel tight then my BP goes nuts to the point where there is no reading. I have absolutely no idea what my normal BP is

Surely that just means you have high blood pressure!