Anxiety...what do I do with it?

[lettingoffsteam]

I know I need to keep calm to keep my bp down but I am my own worst enemy.Being diagnosed with blood pressure of 244/133 out of nowhere in March has left me constantly fearful every time my blood pressure is a little higher.I am going to a meditation class and having CBT but I am still fretting. Any ideas?

[Zazzel]

I was the same way every time my blood pressure rose, not to mention just life in general these days. Something that helped me tremendously was listening to sleep therapy. It basically retires your brain. My favorite person is Thomas Hall. You can google him on YouTube ( I’m not putting the link as there have been spammers on HU lately linking to phishing sides so avoid clicking links). In any case Thomas Hall has both a 20 minute meditation and an 8 hour sleep hypnosis for anxiety and depression. It took about a month of listening nightly, but it really trained me to stop the negative thoughts and anxiety. Exercise, good nutrition and in my case particularly prayer were beneficial. I hope you feel better soon.

[lettingoffsteam in reply to Zazzel]

Thanks Zazzel, I will look this up.Anything that helps would be wonderful.

[62moby]

I am the same. Just diagnosed this month with both high blood pressure and acute anxiety - but I have to work full time as there is no one else at home paying my rent! How to stop being anxious in order to help my blood pressure is a vicious circle ...any help would be much appreciated. I do online meditations etc. but I am anxious to have my GP take a follow up blood pressure next week!!

[lettingoffsteam in reply to 62moby]

It certainly is a vicious circle.I have suffered with anxiety for most of my life...I'm 55 now.I remember my GP saying to me in my thirties if you don't deal with this anxiety you'll make yourself ill and I did. I am trying CBT online whilst I wait to see someone face to face....enormous wait in my area (Surrey). Thing is my GP wants to cut my dose because she can see I get low BP at home but in the surgery and first readings at home are always higher.Also I get every side effect in the book! Because my BP was really high on diagnosis and so unexpected I still feel shocked and traumatised about that.I hope your GP visit goes well...I'm going on Thursday.

[Thomap in reply to lettingoffsteam]

This is so me .My reading in the surgery are very high ,I can feel my BP rising while I'm waiting in the waiting room whilst trying to control the shaking through being very anxious.I take my BP at home wkly and my first reading is high ish ,once I start to relax it comes down significantly .I do take two BP medications ,Low bisoprolol and a CCB.I also get various side effects from the medication.This anxiety is really awful and plays havoc with all aspects of my life.

[lettingoffsteam in reply to Thomap]

Absolutely..I'm an absolute wreck before they measure it.I'm on ramipril and amlodipine.I've managed to reduce the ramipril a bit but I've been referred to the hospital to see what alternative meds I could take with less side effects for me.My son's girlfriend is a pharmacist and she reckons the ones I'm on are deemed to have the least side effects so that doesn't sound very hopeful.My GP is convinced if I could nail my anxiety my bp would come right down.I tried antidepressants years ago and the side effects earned me an overnight stay in hospital as my ECG went weird so I'm a bit wary to try them again, especially as this bp has led to some heart problems as well (lvh).I hope we can find relief from our anxiety and that someone finds an effective non-addictive treatment really soon.

[Thomap in reply to lettingoffsteam]

Hi there, my Daughter teaches CBT.I have tried this unsuccessfully on my own.What does make a little difference is the 3,4 5 breathing technique, I breath in for 3 hold for 4 and breath out for 5. I try to sit and do this trying to concentrate solely on my breathing but alas when in a situation the awful anxiety overtakes everything .Trying very hard to persevere with this .Take card ,stay well.

[lettingoffsteam in reply to Thomap]

Thank you Thomap, I'll try that out.Hope you stay well too.