my anxiety

Hello @princesspeach and welcome to Connect!

I am glad that Lisa, @lisalucier, invited me into this discussion and blood pressure problems. I have taken blood pressure meds for a number of years and I have a different take on the subject. I have actually found that blood pressure meds actually reduce the feeling of anxiety and stress. Let me explain:

One of the blood pressure meds that I take is of medication category called an ACE inhibitor. ACE inhibitors reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels in your heart. Here is a link to an article from Mayo Clinic as to how they work,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/ace-inhibitors/art-20047480
If I forget to take my med one day I can really feel the difference. I begin to feel notably anxious and I don't understand why. So I feel that in my case the med solves a physical problem that is causing the anxiety. As a result, I have begun to take the ACE inhibitor med at bedtime. I sleep much better at night and feel better during the day.

If you care to share more about yourself, @princesspeach, are you currently taking BP meds as well? Are you noticing any difference in how you feel?
Often people with high BP also use many of the relaxation techniques that are mentioned in John's post above. What sort of relaxation techniques have you tried? Walking is a good one, there is no cost to step outside for a short walk😊 and it really helps!

@princesspeach @johnbishop John, I'm with you too. This is an informative link about anxiety and blood pressure. I went through this myself because of anxiety about spine surgery and I had a long time to worry about that. Yes, I did get through my surgery at Mayo with flying colors, but I learned so much about confronting my fear and anxiety that it changed my life, and I am still amazed by that. I had anxiety about medical procedures all my life, and my blood pressure reacted. We have a built in safety response in that when our blood pressure gets too high, the body dilates the vessels and a person faints. That happened to me a lot in the past. I chose to confront that fear and embrace the surgery and healing in order to make a positive choice for my future and avoid becoming disabled. That's a hard choice to make when fear is holding you back. There were a lot of things I did to work through it and deprogram my fears. My first steps were that I learned to lower my blood pressure using music and deep breathing slow and in time to the music. I was measuring it with a blood pressure cuff and I could drop it 10 to 15 points in 30 minutes. I did this any time I was feeling the anxiety and I still do this as a meditation every now and then. I found music that was relaxing and inspiring to me that I could get lost in when I put on the headphones and it got me to stop thinking about fear of a future event. I took it a step further with singing which also forces you to breathe slow and in time to the music. When we breathe too fast with our upper chest, it increases anxiety which is what people do when they hyperventilate. The breathing that helps is the deep low diaphramatic "belly" breathing. This is something that anyone can try, and actually measure. It's also biofeedback training.

I have had problems with anxiety and blood pressure for years. Is what it is for me. The assistant reaches for the shuddersome BP instrument of which results those sinister drugs causing even more ghoulish ends to a means-must be the month of October.

@parus Sometimes my BP is up at the Dr's office, other times, no. I tell them"it must be the excitement of being here", but I know it also has to do with the method they use (automatic cuff or manual), size of cuff (big one for me due to muscle mass), the experience and attitude of the assistant. I have been on BP meds for 14 years due to kidney issues.
Ginger

@gingerw I no longer feel alone with this. Things are so chaotic I feel guilty for interfering with their chaos. About the only time I go are for the 6 month check-ups. I go for any other reason the guilt is overwhelming for being sick. The thought of going to the doctor causes me so much stress because I know they will want me to take BP medication and seem all in such a panic because it is high. Just writing this comment about BP is stressful.

@parus Do you have a kit to monitor your BP at home? If there is a condition that is behind the high values, taking it at home at specific times may assist the professionals with a diagnosis. I take mine here at home as needed, and it is always lower, because I am in familiar surroundings. Just the stress of sitting in a waiting room can send it skyrocketing.
Ginger

@happyat76 - I’m 73 and also have suffered for years from anxiety. I’m on meds for it. So I was just looking back on a great day when out of the blue a wave of nervousness, nausea and a sense of doom washed over me. It was so scary that I actually reached for the phone to dial 911. But instead I hopped on Mayo Connect while deep breathing. Talking to all of you has my mind turned in a better direction so I’m calming down. But frightening how quickly I go from good to bad!

@gingerw No I do not have a BP kit. I have thought of doing so. It was up yesterday. While I was waiting in the exam room I sat and worked on a drawing. At the end of the exam she took my BP again and it was down by 10 points. Also having thyroid level issues so that was also discussed and we are tweaking the dose again. No BP med at this time. Yippee!

@parus I recently got into a new-to-me craft of Zentangle. And find my anxiety levels on the day's I make time for that, go way down. Yesterday's appt with the Dr showed that, after two hours of drawing. But I do keep a BP kit nearby in case.
Ginger

I made some mistakes in posting this about my problem. I take Plavix for thinning my blood, not for depression. I take Prozac for depression and I take Remeron, not Romero for sleeping. I want everyone to know that I am not taking Prozac, nor Remeron at the moment and I am doing pretty good. I am using CBD oil and it has helped me greatly.