Ok, I know this topic has been addressed before and I know there are a number of us who suffer from skyrocketing anxiety-driven high blood pressure due to peri-menopause driven anxiety.

But last week, when I went to my ob/gyn for my annual check-up, it was quite high and he told me I can't just blame it on anxiety anymore as it has been high the last few years (for the record, it was 144/99)...

Ok, so I try to explain to him my rising health anxiety to the point that I'm freaking out over dental cleaning and he still told me "no, no, no, it's high, so you need to go to your gp and get it looked into..."

I explained how within the month, I had a store machine (which reg doctor told me to do intermintently, as they are realiable) read it at 117/71 and then today, it was 133/84 and 123/71 in a row, this following a very hectic morning of running errands before family showed up for a picnic this afternoon.....

So, my question is, has anyone else run into the white coat syndrome and did they eventually discover they truly were dealing with hypertension?

I know my doctor of 31 years has my best interest and records on my bp over the years, but I don't think he really understood how ANXIOUS I get going to the doctor/dds for ANY reason anymore!!!!!!!!

And I'm sure my bp is high as I write this post just thinking about it....

momz this is my latest concern tooooo!
My doctor told me to take it at home so I buy the wrist cup and have try to trick myself into taking it like setting here for awhile.
But still high> I see that cup and get anxious!

What are we afraid of?
I think I'm afraid of taking the BP medication.

Yes, I think I'm afraid of the meds and the problems with the right dose and type and remembering TO take it and all that.....and maybe some of the "unknown" as they pump it and you wait and wait to see the numbers!!!!!

Yes, he did tell me to go and get a home cuff that is digital to keep record of it at home beofre I go to the doctors which is why I take it at store machines almost everytime I'm able to....

I tend to think the anxiety when takng it is as bad on my system as having to high bp!!!!

I have had white coat hypertension since I was 13...(start of that hormone roller coaster, maybe). I have had work-ups for it in the past several times and no one ever found anything wrong. I am 45 and no one has pushed bp medicine yet.

I find it defuses the situation if I say to the nurse--it is going to be high! when I see that cuff my bp goes through the roof! chuckle chuckle. It also helped that I bought a very good cuff at home and took my measurements a lot--made me less scared of the device.

yep, I have this problem too. I can't figure it out. I just wrote a while back about my bad bladder infection and I went in and my BP was 150/100. I have been monitoring my BP for about 4 1/2 years now and it has never been that high. My GP was a little concerned but I told him I just went to my OB and it was 130/78 (which is good at the doctor's office but my OB is so nice and calm) Anyway, so i have been keeping track at home and when I go out to different machines. All have been great numbers. In fact, at home they can be as low as 110/66. I took it at a Walmart machine and it was 124/64. Loglis machine 127/79 So, I am NOT going on meds right now unless it starts staying up all the time. I too get afraid as I don't want to be on any meds. I am one of those people that has a hard time with medication. I can't even take a lot of antibiotics. So, if I end up on medicine, it is going to be tricky and I have a feeling I will be having a lot of allergic reactions. No fun.

Mopsy

It is so frustrating. I have been sent to the heart doctor 3 times now. Full work ups. Holter monitors, EKG/ECGs, EBA, stress test...finally the heart doctor told ME not to let my GP send me back!! White coat is real and it is frustrating to not be able to control it. My blood pressure is FINE, my heart is FINE. I just am prone to NERVOUSNESS especially when I'm at the doctor's office.

I don't have "white coat syndrome" but my husband sure does! He does have high BP though and has been on BP meds for several years now. The meds keep it well under control, and he has a machine to monitor it at home. But every time he has to go into the dr., he gets completely freaked out and his BP is always very high at the dr's office. The dr. wanted to increase his meds, but hubby kept a record of his BP for a month, and showed the dr. that it is very well under control with the current meds.

So I guess it isn't just a woman's problem! Try doing what my husband did and keep a record of your daily BP for a month to show your dr. That way you will have a better idea of what your normal BP is, too.

Yes, buy a good arm monitor, not wrist. Keep track of your bp at home. Do it over time and keep track.

Thanks all. Nice to know, again, i'm not all alone. Took bp again this week and it came up 134/77 and 130/71....going to get a cuff of my own and maybe the more I take it and it's low, the less freaked out I'll get at the doctors although the doctor office issue is more just my fear of doctors and diagnosis' and the unknown than my bp....it just shoots up accordingly!!!! I'm a hypochrondriac who hates going to the doctors..now THERE'S a dilemma!!!!

when my anxiety lever is high i do get high blood pressure in doctors office, then again at home when i take it its normal. Yes white coat syndrome does this.And no use trying to explain it to dr. they still want to put you on a bp pill.

I went thru this exact same thing, with my doctor convinced I had high BP and wanting to put me on meds. I KNEW it was only high when I was super stressed, but he didn't believe it. He is a good guy, don't get me wrong. He put me on a 24 hour holter monitor and I was surprised at how much your BP changes over the course of a day!!

So I did as has been suggested. I got my own monitor....took it to the hospital and compared the readings to their machines and it was within a very few points. Anyways, bottom line...my BP at home averages 112/74. So I do NOT have high BP and do NOT need meds.

I have ahd terrible WC syndrom. Chicken when it came to taking my bp. This has been going on for years. I finally just got the guts to get a bp monitor at home. I love it! My bp can be way below 120/80 even without the meds.

It goes high when I am stressed out. But I am realizing that being around emotionally unhealthy people upsets me and then it goes up. So this is a lesson for me to control who I am with and how much I allow of that person to affect me.

When you have a monitor, you can actually see the times it is up and what is actually going on in your life at the time. Another time it was up was the day after eating at a Mexican Restaurant.
Cant say for sure if the food did it, but it is something to watch.

If you get your own monitor, take your bp in the place that you feel the safest and most comfortable. Like where you sit to watch tv.

The first time I took it, I freaked. My pulse was like 130. but to my surprise, my bp wasnt that bad? Like 126/84 or so. I was like "hmmm. ok?" Little by little my fear has subsided. My bp has been quite uneventful, which is great, of course.

I am on my monthly right now, and it is up some. I am grouchy too and stressed. I am ticked at my husband, etc. You know how it goes. I am not worried though. It settles down

Your dr. is full of you-know-what. White coat syndrome is well-documented. And anxiety/panic can DEFINITELY raise your BP. My BP was running high and my doc put me on meds (mine was running about what yours is). I finally destressed somewhat (moved out of Houston and into the woods of East Texas for one thing). I've relaxed to the point that my BP went down 20 points and I am no longer on BP meds. Tell your dr to jump in a lake and keep track of your pressure yourself. It IS possible that you have high BP, but I wouldn't trust the diagnosis until I'd tracked it myself. Good luck!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH.......Webalina.....can I come and stay with you out there in the woods? ....lol....... (and yes, by the way......white coat syndrome is very well documented, I'm LOADED with it!!!!! ) .........

yes, darlin'. For years my blood pressure ran at about 120/90 and I thought it was just the pace of life and white coat, etc. until i was at my gyno's laughing and talking trash with his nurse. i've know them for over 20 years. she told me my blood pressure was too high and i was totally relaxed at the time...not even thinking about being in the doctor's office. so i reported all this to my gp and he put me on benicar. it's been a godsend to me. now my pressure runs at about 100/70 (except at the gastro's. still white coating it all over the place there! but it's only once a year.

so, yeah, i poo-pooed the idea of hypertension myself until i couldn't anymore. as a aside, i had been treated for hypertension in my 20's never realizing that it was the birth control pill that was causing my blood pressure and migraines! when i got off the pill, but problems went away and i dropped the beta blocker. i knew i wouldn't get through life without blood pressure problems. they run on both sides of the family.

hope you can resolve this issue, honey. this is just my experience. yours may be different.

Oh, yes...I think it is because the weight scales always weigh you in 5lb heavier! I went to a new doc one time, and I weighed 9lbs over. Their scales were off. Then the nurse announced that it was time to take my blood pressure. It was off the charts! No wonder....new doctor and all of a sudden, I was fat!

The doctor came in....spent less than one minute with me. He then went out of the room and brought back two scripts! One for cholest. and one for high blood pressure. I was angry! I never filled the scripts nor did I go back. My blood pressure usually runs a bit low. Could you imagine what would have happened to me if I just blindly took the meds?

I borrowed an accurate bp machine and took my blood pressure for 1 week...5-6 times a day. It was fine. It still is fine...
Keep a watch on it, and don't panic.

Shebee