Is there a doctor in the house? (blood pressure question)

[JewishAmericanPatriot]

I shouldn't expect this to be resolved here, since I've dealt with it all my life, but anyway, here goes...

I'm almost 50, and ever since my teen years I have struggled with what is called "whitecoat hypertension". This means my blood pressure is normal to low at home when I take it (or whereever it gets taken outside of a dr's office), but when I go to a doctor...ANY doctor...it shoots way up (something like 140/90-160/100), when at home its always in the 110/68-125/70 range.)

I have been very thin, then heavy, and now average size again, and my weight never had any bearing on my BP. I exercise for an hour daily, moderate to intense, have done this 5 days/wk for 8 years now, I was a runner in my teens (got heavy from age 23-41), but regardless, the BP situation stayed the same.

When I go to the Red Cross to donate blood, my BP is normal. When I take it at home with this (very expensive) digital BP machine I have, its normal. It ONLY goes high when I go to a doctor!! ARGH!!!!

Because of this, I stuck with the same dr for 20 something years because she is familiar with my weird situation. But recently I changed doctors because she is just too far away now. My new dr checked my BP, had me write down my BP at home, taking it twice or three times a day, then bring it in. Then he took my BP with his machine, and then with mine, and we compared it. Same reading, so we know my machine is working correctly.

He also sent me for an echocardiogram to see what my heart looks like. It shows no damage (he said the lower chamber would have shown damage if I truly did have uncontrolled hypertension all these years.)

SO WHY AM I CONVINCED I STILL HAVE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME??? EVERY time I get a headache, or feel dizzy, I immeidately think I have hypertension! Right now I am sick with a bad cold, and my inner ear vertigo problem is acting up, so WHY do I ALWAYS blame the hypertension I might not really have?

Could I be going crazy like this because my mom died last year (after I took care of her for a year), and having seen everything she suffered (including hypertension), I assume its going to "get me" now?

I'm also concerned because I have been stressed on a DAILY basis due to Obama! 

[Daleksfearme]

I have had the same sad problem at the doctor...Try to lie prone on the exam table and take regular breaths. Studies have shown that sitting with your feet dangling over the side of the exam table compresses your blood vessels and causes an increase in BP.

I have gotten more accurate results doing this

[Dan]

I think you nailed it right on the head... It's a combination of all those things.
'whitecoat HTN' is pretty common but should be a diagnosis of exclusion. Your Dr. proceeded the right way in having you do all those additional test to confirm it.
 It appears that you do have some issue regarding your mother's death and that impacts you daily living but it is normal to a degree to feel that way. If you wish to go deeper and get psycho analyzed it might be beneficial since it can point the trigger effects and help you better deal with it. Medications (ex. benzodizepines) is always a last resort when dealing with such condition in my book.

[q_q_]

I have never experienced it..


you could do some more tests..

have you tried taking your blood pressure after an equally long car journey to a different destination(instead of your doctor)?

have you tried driving towards your doctor but stopping halfway and checking your blood pressure..

have you tried music in your car ?

how about once you arrive at your destination, you experiment with some method to calm yourself down.. and then you go in to see the doctor.

get to know your blood pressure, don't just take it after departing to see your doctor, and on arrival..

get to know what affects it.. get to estimate it. You can do a quick estimate feeling your wrist and feeling how many beats in , say, 10 seconds..could note down the changes..

it would be interesting if that raises it.. then you'd know it really is all in your head..  you could lower it with yoga perhaps..

[JewishAmericanPatriot]

One thing that really annoys me is: I try to avoid doctors who just want to stick me on meds after one high reading...this is why I stuck with my female GP for so many years, until we moved.

Then, after our move, I inquired at the health food store if they knew of an MD who was into holistic meds. They referred me to the dr I had until very recently. He is the one who sent me for the echocardiogram, etc. He really IS a good doctor.

But I recently switched from him to my mom's former dr (also a very great guy, who does try natural remedies first, though he is more drug-oriented than my other doctor)...the reason I switched from the (very good) dr I was referred to by the health food store is because I saw an Obama lawn sign in the front of his office a few weeks before the election!! And of course having seen that made my BP shoot WAY up when I got into his office, so I never went back and just switched to my mom's old doctor.

[muman613]

I usually listen to a Rabbi Shuir while waiting in the Dr office. I always have lower BP when I go to the Dr office than when I take it at home... Just last Monday I went {on my B-day} and it was 140/70 .

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Drink pomegranate juice. Pomegranates are pretty close to a miracle food.

[q_q_]

I have heard that Pomegranate juice needs a kosher label.. I did try one, Poms.. but it was a bit sweet.
http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=42307&g2_serialNumber=5

maybe throw a blender or juicer would do the job nicely..

[Tzvi Ben Roshel1]

Easy- dont go to doctors and your blood pressure wont go up.

[q_q_]

Easy- dont go to doctors and your blood pressure wont go up.

don't want an organ going down though either.

difference between you and her, is that she is almost 50,

[mord]

Isn't Jasmina a Doctor

[nessuno]

Take your blood pressure when you are not feeling well.  Doing so will serve two purposes.  It will put your mind at ease to see your 'problem' isn't related to your BP being elevated or identify a problem.
 
In my case, my blood pressure is usually lower then normal when I have a headache.  Which always surprises me.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things - maintaining a good diet, weight control and exercise.  You also monitor your Blood Pressure.

Maintaining an average blood pressure below 120/80 has become the standard. 
That is what the American Heart Association guidelines recommend.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4623
Doctor's are trying to prevent heart attack, stroke and even kidney disease with blood pressure control.

Continue to talk to the doctor you have chosen.  Keep a record for him.  No one can force you to take medication that you don't need.
I think you should put your mind at ease a bit.  You had an echo (which was normal) and you seem to have a good handle on your 'white coat syndrome'. 
I do see the answer of a Doctor in this thread.  Up above.  We have a few doctor's in the house!

[Dr. Dan]

You might have white coat syndrome. However, if you are truely aren't feeling well on a regular basis and it has something to do with what you think is your blood pressure, I woudl wonder if there is something going on in the brain.

then again, if you have always felt this way since you were a child and it doesn't seem worse, I wouldn't try to fix what isn't broken.  You might have white coat anxiety.

[JewishAmericanPatriot]

Thanks to everyone for all your good advice, I truly appreciate all of it!

I think my problem is that I have had some bad doctors in my life, the kind who wanted to put me on meds right away after only one bad reading. I think that planted the idea in my head that I "MUST" have hypertension.

I worry about having a stroke, winding up paralyzed and unable to take care of my children, and ending up in a nursing home. I think that worry has become much more real to me over the past year because of what happened to my mother (she degenerated very quickly and died in 3/08, after I took care of her for a year, and she had hypertension among other things.)

As for pomegranate juice, I drink it a LOT, its my favorite juice other than grapefruit. I live near a big Russian supermarket and they sell about 13 different brands of pom juice, most of which are kosher!