Managing Stress, High BP & Aneurysms: What can we do & not do?

Hello @suz1950 and welcome to Mayo Connect. I see that you posted on May 28, my apologies for being slow to respond. I can certainly understand your concern, especially given your family history. It is good to know that your arteries are as you say, "...aren't bad (overall risk at 44th percentile) and my cholesterol and triglycerides are excellent." Given that good report, you are wise to look for ways to control stress.

On Connect, we have a discussion group on Aortic aneurysms and exercises which you might find helpful. Here is the link to that discussion, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ascending-aortic-aneurysm-and-exercise/. I would like to invite @upartist @hsminc and @mermaid1 to this conversation.

What are you currently doing to reduce stress, @suz1950?

Good morning Suz1950. It looks like you are receiving good care. That part of the "worry" should be comforting, and is foundation for you to be given control over the behavioral components to your care plan.... namely, stress control, physical activity, and nutrition. A care plan is always a package deal. Stress management always needs a "personal" design, because our daily lives/thoughts are our own. You could look at the modalities of schedule, music, sleep, simple small time-outs with sound elimination while moving or not moving. The choices are numerous in whatever helps you personally to achieve "existing in the moment of relaxation and mindfulness". I hope this helps.
UP Artist

I joined this group because my 52 year old son was diagnosed in 2014. They started surgery and decided the aneurism wasn't large enough. I am so proud of him taking care to do whatever it takes to stay healthy including giving up a job because of too much stress. He walks, watches diet, meditates and calls if he needs to talk. He raised his son on his own and has no significant other. There have been improvements in care and surgery and hopefully will be more before before surgery is unavailable.

I'm in the same situation. Recently diagnosed with 43 mm ascending aortic aneurysm. I had genetic testing and that was negative. In August I'll have another CT scan and echo. In the meantime I was told to add a beta blocker to my statin, which has further lowered my blood pressure and to keep doing cardio workout as long as I can carry on a conversation. The biggest change is weight training and lifting heavy objects. No more heavy weights or straining to lift or push objects. I've searched the Internet and found a cardiologist with an aortic aneurysm that recommends a different style of weight training called The 100. You can google it if you are interested. I'll have to wait until August to see if it is growing or staying the same.

Thanks for your reply, @hopeful33250 Right now I swim a couple of times a week and exercise using a VR game, Beat Saber. I find these helpful for reducing stress. I also do deep breathing when I feel stress getting the better of me and do reflective writing which seems to help me gain a bigger perspective on things.

I found your reply helpful and validating, @upartist. You are right, knowing that I am in good hands is a great comfort. I like the way you express how this is a foundation for gaining control over the things that I can do to positively impact my health in this situation. Taking some kind of constructive action is my "go-to" coping strategy and always makes me feel better.
I completely agree about stress management needing a personal design, and while I've done a bit of that I can see there is much more I can build upon with the components you mention (all important and personally meaningful to me).
Thanks again!
Suz1950

Thank you, @mtnyankee - love how you shared your son's story. I can strongly relate and appreciate that giving up a stressful job can provide a lot of relief from daily stressors. I recently (before my diagnosis of TAA) decided to step down from the extremely stressful administrative component of my job. I am hopeful that will help me a great deal (right now in the process of training my successor but will leave that component of my work in a couple of weeks). I feel fortunate to have put that change in motion before I knew about this.
Suz1950

@mermaid1, it's comforting to meet someone else who is in the same situation. All the best as you focus on preventive strategies and await your August appointment. Waiting is so hard, isn't it? I have my follow up in mid-July and have to work to keep myself from worrying about whether my ascending aortic aneurism is getting worse in the interim. I guess we just have to trust that we're doing everything we can to positively impact our health, ongoing.
All the best,
Suz1950

Hello again @suz1950,

It does sound like you have a lot of activities in place for stress relief and that is just great! I was especially pleased that you mention "reflective writing." I agree that writing does help to keep life's problems in perspective. Do you have a particular method of writing?

You might be interested in joining Connect's journaling discussion group. Here is the link, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/journaling-the-write-stuff-for-you/.

When is your next follow-up appointment or scan to check on the status of the aneurysm?

Hi @hopeful33250 I have an existing electronic journal focused on adapting to the challenges of aging and create new journals when I want to focus on a specific topic. The journaling group looks interesting, thanks for sharing that.
My follow-up is in mid-July, to see the results of doubling my statin dose and getting a lipid panel and cardiac C-reactive protein and Lipoprotein(A) tests in advance of that visit. In the meantime, I'm monitoring my blood pressure at home, which at times has been quite high (~170/80). But, I had a BP check yesterday with my primary care provider and BP was fine. I'm going to continue monitoring my BP at home and report back. Based on that, my BP meds may need to be adjusted.
I've always thought of myself as very adaptable but I'm finding it hard to deal with the uncertainty. Is my aneurysm getting larger? Will it suddenly rupture without warning? No way to know.
My cardio mentioned in one of the visits that he may want to do an echocardiogram. But, I guess that depends on how he assesses my risk when I see him in July. Arghh, "watchful waiting" may be the recommended strategy for dealing with aneurysms, but oh my, it can be tough on patients who feel their lives are hanging in the balance!
I remain optimistic, but it's hard not to be be anxious about this.
-suz1950