Just wanted to see if anyone shares my phobia of actually taking my blood pressure even at home on my own!
I am on medication for blood pressure which I believe is just due to my phobia over the years but managed to control it a few months ago, was 121/81 and all blood tests came back fine but recently every time I see the monitor it stresses me out again and my readings are all over the place…..today 138/99….my normal resting heart rate is 60….when I do my BP it’s over 100….I follow all guidelines by resting, breathing techniques etc but nothing seems to work.
Very frustrating and wondered if anyone has any tips or goes through the same
Thanks
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Brookside3
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hi, my adult daughter has blood pressure phobia since having her second child. Blood pressure issue at delivery really scared her, hence phobia 3.5 years after. X
I take mine lying in bed. Considering when i had to wear one for 24hrs from hospital i had to wear it while walking, working, sleeping. Trouble is blood pressure machines, i have a bee in my bonnet. I find it one of them situations where it is hard to find what it right or wrong. I still belive that the old mercury pump up machines are the best. I use my electronic machine as just a guide to see if it is going down and is stable. But it does make me laugh that you go to the hospital or doctors and you dont have time to breath, relax, before a cuff is on you and a reading has been taken.
Me too; mine goes through the roof at doctor's or hospital. I Just say "White coat syndrome" and they either ignore the reading or do another one later
It's exactly the same for me even though I take it at home. I manage to get a reasonable reading eventually but spend so much time just keep trying. Just seeing the BP monitor starts my stress and it takes ages for me to calm down.
I used to and certainly in the doctor's its always wrong. At home I am fine, I sit down put the monitor on, relax for 5mins then take my pressure. I did that morning and evening for five days gave the data to the doctor and he stopped the BP tablets. I am due to repeat my tests in December 6 months post that last set
If you've had a scary incident regarding blood pressure, it's really understandable that your body will try to tell you that the BP monitor is a threat.
Take slow breaths, place your hand on your abdomen and spend some time thanking your body for trying to keep you safe but that you are in no danger. Ground yourself by looking around the room and naming and describing 5 things you can see.
Phobias can be overcome, google your local IAPT team and refer yourself for CBT, having a qualified CBT therapist to guide you will help immensely.
I had the same problems when doctors took my BP! When I had my catherisation my BP was beeping all the time as it was over 250!! When I went for a colonoscopy my BP was up as well, and the nurse said to do some relaxation and that helped! She also said that if it was not down in 5 minutes they would cancel the procedure. I told her that there was no way I was going through the last 24 hr, drinking the grotty stuff every 15 minutes and going to the loo lots of times, so it had better come down!! I just do some quiet slow deep breathing exercises and it reduces. good luck!
i had the same problem after a colonoscopy - sky high BP until i insisted on them using a hand pumped cuff - the result was a much lower BP, returning to normal within minutes - phew! they were going to keep me in till it was normal and i was desperate to eat!
I was the same, but only with the electronic monitors so the only sensible readings came from the manual pump up apparatus. I think it was the stress that the cuff wasn't going to stop inflating! Since buying my own monitor and seeing that it's powered by 4 small batteries that stress has gone.
With all the heart failure medication my BP is now at the other end of the scale and I struggle to get to more than 100 systolic!
i also have a problem with the automatically inflating cuffs - i have a hand pumped model and often take it with me for hospital check ups in case they only have the automatic version which automatically causes my BP to rocket!
Your post could have been written by me. It is a difficult problem, as it is self fulfilling. The anxiety around taking the BP makes it skyrocket, which is not an accurate picture.
My resting pulse is also 60. I disregard any BP reading when my pulse is 100, as that is not the norm for me. The heart is working a lot harder at 100 BPM.
The advice given below re CBT and overcoming phobias sounds right. Until then, a low pulse rate and acknowledgment that the BP medication is doing it’s job is somewhat of a comfort.
Relaxation exercises or hypnotherapy work really well. Once your heart has reacted like that it can take a good hour to go back to normal so do wait at least that long before trying again.
hi a lurker here but what works for me is to put the cuff on and then read or scroll or play something like wordle for a bit then take the reading. It helps me.
Did some readings today and although some still high I did get some lower readings, 130/90 and 125/88 so definitely work in progress.
Also, I seem to feel more at ease whilst sitting in armchair as opposed to up dining table, not sure why but my back still fully supported and feet on floor….any thoughts?
Hi. I recently started medication for elevated bp and was on 5mg of Ramipril when I had a 12 hour bp monitor. The results showed that the 5mg seemed to be controlling it somewhat but gp said to get it to perfect reading maybe we should increase meds to 7.5mg.
A month passed and I had an unrelated hospital appointment and thought I needed a blood test which causes me anxiety because I hate needles. Anyway my bp reading was very high. 198/98. So another gp suggested we increase the meds (Ramipril) up to max of 10mg.
I delayed taking any home readings cos I was very worried by now and since being on 10mg my bp is extremely high. Now I don’t know whether it’s a phobic reaction or I’m having a paradoxical reaction to the meds or a combination of both?
I haven’t been able to relax one bit since the extremely high (all over 200) readings.
You would think that even with extreme anxiety, being on 2 meds now (added Amoldipine 5mg) that it’d be a lot lower than this.
I Only have to get one high reading and the minute I try to take another it goes even higher. I now put the cuff on, lie back in a recliner and watch TV. When I think I'[m relaxed I just press the button and continue watching TV. I know I won't get an absolute true reading but if it's lower than the first one I can relax.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this phobia.
I have had issues with my bloody pressure being taken for many many years and I’m in my early 60s now. I think this goes back to an issue when my father had a heart attack when I was very young,
I am on Amlodipine 5mg but it is still high if taken in the doctors office and even at home I get ridiculous readings like 160/110 as I feel tense as soon as I use the machine.
However, if the doctor/nurse puts me on a 24 hour monitor it comes back as more or less normal. Last 24 hour average reading was 125/82 (Feb 24) this has happened 3 times.
However, doctor wants me to do more readings at home and I instantly feel tense about it so no doubt they will call me back into surgery for another 24 hour soon.
I think this is more of a phobia than normal white coat syndrome,
It's the same for Me. Just seeing the BP monitor alarms me and as soon as it starts to pump up I can feel the stress. This makes the reading high which makes me even more anxious. I get a reasonable reading eventually after several hours trying and it's such a relief for a while until it's time to do it again. I sometimes think the stress it causes does more harm than good.
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