Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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mlgamer 01/22/2018

Hello folks. Male age 60. I've had panic and anxiety that comes and goes since age 18. Lots of fun as people with these conditions know.

For the last couple of years I developed white coat syndorme BP. In any medical setting it would be exactly 160/100 (anxiety) every time and around 115/75 at home.

Now I am having the same anxiety at home over the past six weeks or so. I probably average 175/105 in all settings now. The problem was actually getting worse because I was becoming more frustrated about it which was sending my BP higher.

This is almost certainly anxiety and panic as my heart rate jumps up to around 100 when I get my BP checked and I can feel the panic setting in.

My doctor is letting me take a low dose beta blocker (and I do have Xanax as needed) to try to calm things down. But, I have found my panic is stronger than the beta blocker when taking my BP.

I am trying to desensitize my self to the BP machine and doing relaxation (deep breathing) to try and get it somewhat normal again. So far not much success but I have just got started in the past couple of weeks.

The whole situation is ridiculous, but that's how anxiety works.

Thanks for letting me share and best wishes to you who have similiar problems.

- Mike

Ghostdancer 01/22/2018

A vicious beast is what anxiety and panic are. They brew a muddled mess of get ready, fight or flight juice that never gets used so it then adds more and more till it’s at a toxic level to us. To me that adds up to a gr8 opportunity to spike BP as well as pulse and let’s toss in some good heartburn too. If this describes you then it’s vital to, one; recognize the signs your mind and body send to you indicating readiness to respond physically and two; what tool you will utilize as a distraction. Any meds for anxiety typically carry some side effects that can exacerbate BP and a chance of diabetes. Take care of you, ground yourself and emotions to a safe place just as the panic sends them into the opposite state. You’re in control, stay safe.

briggy1 01/22/2018

Being close in age I understand completely. My bp is under control with meds. But when anxiety rears its ugly head, it will go off the charts. The Xanax usually brings it back to normal. Good luck in your journey.

cachetteen1 01/22/2018

do u try any visualization techniques? for example when u test your bp u might be imagining it or fearing it go higher, what if instead u put on a song u like, or focus on a happy memory that takes your mind away.. my heart rate also goes up due to anxiety, in fact, I have ptsd so aside from daily triggers, when I wake up every single morning my bpm is elevated in the 160 range or higher, I cant breathe and I have to 'bring myself back down', just so I can get out of bed and function in the world. Its a challenge every day. Visualization really helps, and also trying to keep your baseline anxiety level down prior to the stress factor helps for me.

mlgamer 01/22/2018

Thanks for the comments everyone. I may have made a break through today. I was able to "relax" my BP back down to as low as 121/87 without taking any meds. I sure anxiety is the problem and not an underlying BP issue.

Yes, cacheteen1 I have started listening to music and trying other distractions which has probably helped. Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like you've been where I've been briggy1. I hear you Ghostdancer.

The key for me has always been having little successes that build confidence. I have solved anxiety in other areas only to have it pop up somewhere else. This time it's BP. Still lots of work ahead, but I think I might be getting a handle on it.

I'll be hanging around. If we could just channel this anxiety into physical strength we'd all be tossing cars around with our bare hands. :)

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