Anxiety induced high blood pressure? UPDATE pg. 2

[tiggerlover]

Has anyone heard of anxiety induced high blood pressure? If you have, what kinds of treatments are there for this?

 

[horseshowmom]

Many years ago, by blood pressure was affected by stress and would go up when the stressful situations affected me. Afterwards, the BP would go back to normal. My doctor monitored it by having me check my BP daily at home. Eventually, the stress won out, my BP went up and stayed up, and I had to go on meds. While the cause of the stress is no longer a part of my life, my BP has never gone back down to normal.

 

[barkley]

anxiety can do horrendous things to your body. i have had 2 strokes that were directly related to stress/anxiety induced changes to my body (these occured at age 40).

i don't in any way want to scare you-i just want you to be aware. stress/anxiety can do things to your body you are not even aware of (until the contributing factors are addressed/eliminated and you realize how much better you feel in so many ways).

after seeking treatment from doctors, neurologists, neuro-psychiatrists...i learned that you need to initialy treat the symptoms (blood pressure meds, change in diet, whatever you can do to reduce any physical contributing factors) but overall you must determine and address whatever is causing the anxiety overall.

 

[Planogirl]

MY BP has been bumped up due to stress and since the stress was long term, it's never gone back down and I have to take meds. If you can, deal with the causes of the stress NOW and hopefully the BP won't settle at an elevated state.

 

[Pin Wizard]

http://www.webmd.com/hw/hypertension/zp3159.asp?z=1817_0000_5007_ep_02

Just a start on hypertension.

Just this morning I was thinking that I've been taking pills over 12 years now. First ran into trouble with bp when I was pregnant. Delivered DS and was placed on pills...ever since.

Found it interesting when I was in the ER once for something that the doc came in and said that every time someone came in my room, my bp went up. LOLOL! Sounds about right for me.

 

[Pin Wizard]

P.S. Check in with the doc's office. They may want a few visits to them for bp checks to see how it runs before starting any meds. I don't know of any that have started meds based on one bp check they've done. I've even had one doc make me come in 3 or 4 times when they switched meds on me.

 

[OhMari]

About 10 yrs ago, I was told I have high blood pressure. My OB-GYN told me to go to a local store where it reads your blood pressure and it was always normal. Finally I asked for a bigger band to put around my arm and that was the problem for me. The smaller band was giving out the wrong reading.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The body's natural reaction to stress is to increase power to the heart to make a getaway. This works by chemicals and neurotransmitters in the body. Someone who is stressed all the time may see an elevation in BP, however this is not the only thing that can raise it. It is such a complex process, one can never be sure of the EXACT reason it's up.

However, the important thing is that if it stays up for prolonged periods of time FOR WHATEVER REASON, it will cause your heart to work overtime, and this in the long run can damage your heart by making it get bigger to accomodate the increased workload, and also lead to a host of other problems in the heart itself and throughtout the body in the vascular system.

Has anyone heard of anxiety induced high blood pressure? If you have, what kinds of treatments are there for this?

It would always be a good idea to work on stress reduction. Also, a low salt diet is recommended. Quit smoking, of course. And if those measures don't work, medication would be important to prevent long term damage to the heart.

It is very sad to see people who come to the hospital with HUGE hearts that can no longer pump correctly because they have had hypertension for many years which has been left untreated. It is called the Silent Killer because you don't realize it's happening. HTH.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is true, Mari. Correct cuff size is important. If the cuff is too small, it will give off a higher reading. I hope you've been following it at your doctor's with the right size cuff.

 

[Snowysmom]

I have white coat hypertension. Whenever I go to see the doctor, my BP goes up. They take it when I first get there and then just before I leave. It is usually normal when I am getting ready to leave. I really hate going to the doctor!

 

[tiggerlover]

Thanks for your replies and information. My doctor has been monitoring my BP for over a month now and she really believes it is anxiety/stress related. Over the summer my father suddenly became sick and passed away within a 5 week period and I have some ongoing stress related issues at work too. And now I am dealing with my mother who is not dealing well with being alone and showing early signs of dimentia, which all equals stress. On top of all of this I am not sleeping at night which the doc says can contribute to elevated blood pressure. So now the doctor has given me some meds to help me relax at night and sleep and we will see in three weeks if the ole pressure comes down. Right now it is frightfully high, so I hope this helps.

Thanks again.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Good luck! Hope it helps. But the background does sound familiar. Pills are not the worst thing in the world. Be glad they found the problem!

 

[T1130]

I also have white coat symdrome. found this out when I was pregnant. My Ob gyn sent me to a high risk doctor who made me monitor my blood pressure at home. It was fine at home at the Doctor`s office it would soar. Now everytime I have to go to the doctor I get so nevous that it is going to be high that it usually is.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Right now it is frightfully high

May I ask what your readings are?

 

[dcentity2000]

High blood pressure is treatable by means of a family of drugs known as beta blockers, which essentially calm the heart down. Common side effects include dizziness, light-headedness and the such. Beta blockers are also used to treat anxiety and globus.



Rich::

 

[tiggerlover]

May I ask what your readings are?

165/100

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Hypertension: http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/HypertensionExercise.htm

 

[tiggerlover]

Hypertension: http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/HypertensionExercise.htm

Thanks for the link, I am printing it as I am typing.

 

[tiggerlover]

Just a quick update to say that the doc put me on some water pills and had me talk to someone about some of the stress/anxiety in my life and as of today my blood pressure is finally down to 138/82. Not perfect, but headed in the right direction. Thanks all.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Nice work!!