[Erica71]

This phobia is making me nuts. I feel like such a baby when I go to the doctor for anything. I had to go a little over a month ago because I wasn't feeling well....when I walked in there....I immediately felt panicky because I HATE all medical environments...because in my mind they are all about death and sickness. Anyway....as my panic grew, here she comes to slap the cuff on me and I had already told her to expect it to be high since I was feeling panicky..and sure enough it was....something like...168/88. So the Nurse Practicioner comes in and shows concern about my numbers and I can tell she's concerned....so there it goes even higher...she walks over to me and takes it again and her words were..."your blood pressure is through the roof!!"....I told her that I was feeling panicky and that she was also scaring me. It got so high that she ordered and EKG...which was fine and they took another reading after that and it had started to go down to 150 something over something. She told me that had it not started to go down that she would have had to give me something to bring it down. If she had told me that before she took that last reading....it would have shot up for sure....so I'm glad she saved those words for after. Through the years this has been an ongoing thing for me at Dr's offices and it's maddening. I always have to go through the same old song and dance about how I'm basically panicking and that's why it's high. I take my bp at home on an electronic one and a manual one..to make sure they are in kahoots with each other and so far they are....my readings at home range from 115/70- to maybe 135/85 (if I'm a little worked up about something). Anybody else experience this? Has anyone elses numbers ever gotten so high at the Dr's office? Any tips for getting over this mess? You know..I'm not even sure that its HBP that I'm afraid of....because I know that If I have it...that it can likely be brought down by taking various different avenues. I mean if it started reading high at home...I'd just go in and show them my high numbers and expect to be put on medication. I think it's all about CONTROL....in that moment when I'm having it taken...I feel so out of control. I honestly think that if they'd just let me take it myself while at the doctor's office that it would probably come down quite a bit....not home low..but low enough. Ok I'll hush now...but it sure is frustrating.

[optimize990h]

Hello Erica71!

You need to find something to relax you. Like deep breathing. A visualization of a calm scene(soaking in a warm bath and relaxing, having the tension just soak out of your body into the bathwater. Imagining the bathwater taking all the tension away as it drains out of the tub.)

try to relax with music whatever your preference. there is meditation music like the sound of the ocean, winds through the forest, and a small stream.

Ok, that's all I got for now.

[Leed]

Hi Erica ~ Bless your heart. I used to get kind of panicky with doctors, until a few of them made me so darned mad I wanted to kill them. LOL

You need to understand that they are just PEOPLE. And it isn't all about death and dying. This is about LIFE and keeping people healthy!

I think you may have a problem with authority figures. When the nurses came in, you got panicky too. These people put their pants on just like you and me. They are NO DIFFERENT than us. And they make mistakes like we do too!!! Only THEY won't admit them, which makes me so angry I could spit. LOL

If you go to the doctor with the knowledge that HE IS WORKING FOR YOU -- YOU are the boss!! YOU are paying his wages!! If you don't like what he's doing, YOU can fire him!! Think of him that way -- and you won't get so panicked! Because there might come a day when you DO have to fire a doctor. I have -- my surgeon who screwed up my spine so that now I'm disabled. His parting words were "You can't be in pain because I fixed you." HUH??? How arrogant is THAT? I've been to 3 heads of neurosurgery in 3 big hospitals and none of them will even touch me now!!! So remember that doctors make mistakes, and they're just like you and me. YOU are the boss!!!

I wish you the very best. And if this panic becomes too disabling, I'd see a therapist. Your doctor can refer you to the best one. Take good care of yourself and God bless. Hugs, Lee

[muncie]

Hi Erika71, very good advice from Leed and others. I have the same problem with doctors. It's a difficult problem to figure out. I guess it all boils down to you're afraid of them finding something wrong with you (in general) when you walk in the door, and BP is the first test. I read once that you shouldn't talk when they're taking a reading, and of course telling them up front you're nervous puts it out there. I'm sure we're not the only ones that have this problem. I read about a breathing technique easy to use when in these and similar situations. You breathe in to a count of 3, hold for a count of three and slowly exhale. Therapy is an excellent idea too, but wish someone would tell me how to find a good one. I went to several years ago and found it's hard to get a good match. Good luck Erika, don't let this fear stop you from going to the doctor when you need to. You're bigger than this, and your good health is far more important...

[BlessedRhiannon]

Originally Posted by Erica71

I always have to go through the same old song and dance about how I'm basically panicking and that's why it's high. I take my bp at home on an electronic one and a manual one..to make sure they are in kahoots with each other and so far they are....my readings at home range from 115/70- to maybe 135/85 (if I'm a little worked up about something). Anybody else experience this? Has anyone elses numbers ever gotten so high at the Dr's office? Any tips for getting over this mess?

I explained to my new doctor on my very first visit that I suffer from extreme anxiety and that my BP will always be super high in a doctor's office. She suggested that I take my BP at home the day before, when I'm nice and relaxed, and either write those numbers down or take a photo of them with my phone, and bring that in. They still have to take my BP at the office...procedure and all...but then I give my doctor the numbers that I get at home, so she can get a true idea of what my BP is like. She basically disregards the numbers they get in the office.

If your doctor won't go for having you just bring in your BP numbers, maybe ask if you can have them take your BP at the end of the appointment, when you've had a bit of time to settle in, instead of at the beginning. That might help. Also, you could ask the doctor or nurse to give you just a few minutes first, and take some slow deep breaths to calm down a bit.

[ajmich]

Good advice all around. Health care workers seem to be hyper-alert about blood pressure, forgetting that it can spike for a short while when we are uptight. I've seen the same doctor for a couple of years, familiar with the nurses, not feeling strung out around them but I still have white coat syndrome many times... I just warn them and now there isn't such a big deal made of a high reading... especially since you have a BP cuff at home and can tell them about your excellent home readings. Now that my therapy is taking me into some deep *****, I've been anxious lately and of course that's affecting my BP. You, me, doctors, nurses, people in general, everyone needs to just chill out, eh!?