Podcast EP 142: Anxiety Success Stories - Donna Beats Her Blood Pressure Obsession (Feb 2021)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Donna grew up surrounded by discussion of cardiac health and blood pressure. When she started experiencing panic attacks, and the blood pressure spikes that naturally come with them, her struggle with health anxiety and an obsession with her blood pressure was ignited.
For full show notes:
theanxioustrut...
My books, podcast, and social media links:
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Music Credit: Afterglow by Ben Drake w/Permission
bendrakemusic.com
I may have to listen to this repeatedly. I have struggled with health anxiety for over 20 years. Checking blood pressure ... heart rate. So tired of this scaredy-cat life.
I thought I was the only one like this ... thank you for addressing this.
I have a slightly different compulsion. Normally, my heart is in a resting state - blood pressure is fine - but as soon as the blood pressure machine is strapped on to my arm, my heart starts pumping like a maniac. It seems to have a mind of its own.
The closest analogy I can use is if I tell you not to think of a pink elephant, you will automatically think of one. Likewise, when I tell myself to relax and slow my heartbeat down, the exact opposite happens . Does anyone else get this? Please tell me I’m not the only one😅
This is a VERY common thing in this community. Intense fear - to the point of triggering panic - of the BP cuff, having blood work done, or even just visiting a doctor at all, is something that many will be able to relate to. You're totally not alone in that!
Same bro …we’ll beat this 💪🏽💯
Same 😢
Hey i suffer from this too, you are not alone, i know exactly what you're going through. Here i am thinking im the only one experiencing this, its so hard to control
@@user-tk7yl8or4h
yes I am also suffering these scenarios these days and I am always tired
Not me sitting here with BP of 170/110 trying to turn my back on the panic thoughts cause i went to the ER 5 times last year and had a FULL cardiac workup/labs and they said my heart is strong and good.
Good Lord this is hard
You will be OK. I have lived this life
I'm living the same thing actually..how do you feel now?
Hope you can get your pressure and heart under control. Hope you can avoid the ER in 24
Mine is 183/103
@@person2821 Hope you can get your pressure down
This is me. Jesus. A month ago, i had pretty normal numbers. I'm pretty active, eat right, etc. But I have general anxiety disorder and panic attacks. I have had them since my father died. Had a panic attack and had to go to ER and it was sky high. I was so cold and shaking. Duh. Fight or flight makes all blood go to core and tremors start. Thought I was dying. Doctors didn't seem too concerned after EKG and blood test. Gave my BP meds but the only thing that started to bring it down was anxiety meds. Follow up with doctor and when they took it I felt my pulse start racing and pounding and trembling all over again. As expected high readings. Duh. Left and took CBD and when I got home I took it again it was down to around 130 over 69 which is OK. But a lot lower than doctors office.
Now, no matter what I do, the panic sets in when the cuff starts and my heart starts to pound showing high readings. I sware sometimes it goes to 190/100 and a few minutes it's down to 140/80. I sometimes tell myself that if my heart sucked, these panic attacks would have killed me. I can work in the yard and do strenuous stuff and I can do 100 plus push-ups at once without feeling too bad. Once again, if I was that bad off, could I do that? I normally can't feel my pulse, but when the anxiety kicks in...man do I ever. I can feel it go down because I'm measuring while it's happening, but I can only go so far into relaxation because the anxiety is still there. I then have to quit to relax the rest of the way and within an hour I'm back to feeling pre test.
It's miserable. I was measuring 120s over 80s before this panic episode. Now I can't put on that dumb thing without have a panic attack.
I know we all need help. If you read this and relate, feel free to contact me.
I struggle with the same thing. Wanted to give blood last week but I was turned away because of the high BP number. A few days later had a doctors appointment, same thing, Numbers were very high. I had to get a 24 hr BP test, which turned out slightly higher than should be, with an average of 129/89. I will obviously get everything checked, but in the mean time its driving me NUTS to be this afraid of something, its so frustrating. Is it worth going to theraphy?
Yes I suffer from this every time I go to the doctor or hospital. The minute I see a bp monitor I get anxious and I feel like I can’t breathe and heart rate elevates immediately. I can never get a decent bp reading at the hospital. Once I had a colonoscopy done and when I was finished I was still out of it from the anesthesia. My bp readings were normal because I was so out of it and I couldn’t worry or have fear. I just don’t know how to overcome this fear and obsession. Any advice would be appreciated!
@@broika7129 89 isn't bad. When I take mine my anxiety goes nuts and I get crazy numbers like 170 95 etc then it will go down to 135 75 etc after like a minute. I have bad anxiety...was diagnosed with GAD and panic disorder in my 20s. I have to convince myself I'm healthy because I will get normal numbers when I happen to be calm. It's hard to do that though.
@@Justin-qb7mkyeah. Sounds like typical anxiety. Fasting, hobbies, and getting outside are the big three for me for anxiety
I go through the exact same thing for almost 2 years now, after anxiety entered my life, bp spikes just like that
This is crazy its like I am listening to my own story right down to my dentist freaking out when my blood pressure was high.
SAME! Dentist freaking out triggered my blood pressure phobia
What makes blood pressure phobia so different from other phobias is every time you measure the outcome is different. People with this have to be comfortable with uncertainty. I've done the opposite from the guest: I don't check due to phobia, which is just as bad as the obsessions.
Yes! Some get stuck on checking, some get terrified of checking. Thank you for sharing that experience. Both are REALLY difficult to deal with!
Ive fallen into the NOT checking. I got brave today and checked around 9 am but it was sooo much anticipation my reading was 183/103. Its now almost 2am and i still think im going to dje 😂
Whats your bp normally now?
This is my struggle right now. Getting to that magical 120/80 number and if it is anything above that it is the end of the world.
My doc once told me how BP is an incredibly dynamic thing. It changes rapidly and it's changing almost all the time as we go throughout the day. Being anxious about hitting 128/80 almost guarantees that you'll be over that, but that's the system working as designed. Higher BP in the face of "threat".
I am listening to this and I am in tears this is me now had a blood pressure reading in the doctors it was high had to monitor for a week and now I am terrified I see the machine and I freak even at home panic attacks alday
Do u take medicine
Thank you for this! I am dealing with this exact same thing right now. This conversation helped me with some of the issues I am having.
This is me right now. I slowly built up my anxiety here and ended up in the ER thinking I was having a hypertensive crisis or emergency. They sent me home talking anxiety, which was really hard for me to believe. This is helping normalize things. Going back to the steps.
I’m scared to death to check my bp because I have white coat syndrome but now it’s turned into scared to check anytime
The push-pull between REALLY feeling like you should check, but being terrified to see the number. This is quite common.
I'm exactly the same way. I have always had white coat, but now I'm the whitecoat. I think this is an anxiety problem many don't know about.
@@TheAnxiousTruth also stucked here but I'm on exposure now.Thank you this blood pressured is nightmare..I literally passing through this and I can't explain how thankfull I am for posting this on you tube.Could you recommend more help on this matter.
I have to do a 7 day x2 blood pressure check I’m stressed just thinking about it I’m terrified of the high numbers 🥲
Me too!! 175 at the dentist!! 162 at the doctor 139 at home!!! And Im scared to keep looking once I get a good reading I stop ..its nutty and Im obsessed with it now ~~
Exact same for me! Right down to the numbers! I hate it
I’m constantly always checking mine, I think the biggest mistake was buying a blood pressure monitor but it’s hard to just throw it away, and I recently went to the denist to get a tooth worked on and they wouldn’t do it cause my blood pressure was really high and that triggered a bigger obsession, when I take it at home it’s always good numbers but my anxiety always make me think well what if.
The biggest thing is when the people at the denist office or at the doctors, are really concerned and asking you questions which is very understandable but at the same time for a anxious person your thinking oh shit this is it I’m about to stroke out
I check mine constantly and obviously it goes higher everytime because I am scared of the numbers
Yep.
@@zach13342000
SAME!
What work was you getting down at the dentist?
I was really inspired by hearing the lady’s success but at the same time she had a great Dr./Coach. I wish I could find someone like the Dr. to help me. I am so discouraged.
I was obsessed with my health that one day a thought came "what if I alrwdy got high blood pressure?"😮
that was where my anxiety started eith taking BP. And all my lab work and tests got affected. so sad. 😢
This is my life!!!
At the clinic, i have anxiety over what my bp may end up being and its always high. At home its low and normal.
I obsess about mine when it's high (155/99 ) and low (96/62) .. about 6 years ago I always was on the higher end now it completely changed and I think I have a unknown heart problem or a blockage which runs in my immediate family although I've have heart tests. ☹️
I am running through the same situation right now. Could you please help me with this?
@@danishsajid4382 I still struggle 😪
Sameeeee I could have literally written your comment to a T
Hope you figure it out and get your pressure stabilized and heart healthy. I only deal w/ white coat hypertension but my numbers have been going up over the years as I have gotten older even w/ home readings.
I get very anxious when checking my blood pressure and pulse now with the machine. I’m already scared of doctors but going there because i was panicking of a panic attack made it worse. It was high. I was shaking from fear and my mom said they didn’t do anything yet, they just put me in the room. Now I’m too scared to check my blood pressure and pulse at home. I want check, but then I start overthinking of different scenarios and it gets high.
this is me! bp anxiety! health anxiety, checking my pulse! since my early 30s off and on
That's what is disturbing me. I am even scared to visit hospital. I wasn't having anxiety not until 3 years back. Just yesterday I had panic attack and I checked my BP and the diastolic was high but systolic was okay
Your BP will be high during a panic attack. That's your body doing what bodies are supposed to do in that situation.
Systolic will usually be the one that rises the most during panic. I had crazy reading like 170 over 85 and I feel it because it's pounding in chest and neck and then I feel it cone back down to where I don't feel it anymore. I'm like. Ok. I'll check it now. I'm calm. The moment that freaking cuff starts inflating, I feel the pounding start and the cycle continues. Them I'm like, am I OK or not?
It's like I don't even trust how my body feels
Has anyone ever get a one off erratic super high or extreme low reading but feel fine then check immediately after and its normal but seeing the erratic reading fuels more blood pressure anxiety? on automatic machine arm cuff
Does anyone have low blood pressure from anxiety? And not high? And how do we dictate dizziness from blood pressure or if it’s anxiety?
The best person to ask about blood pressure would be your doctor. Start there.
Nice so now Donna what happens when you go to doctor now, after coming out of obsession ???
So do we all take medicine or stop it or is it mostly anxiety
I think I have similar issue, but I always wonder what’s it’s like coming out of this constant need to check blood pressure - once we are out of this? Does that mean we can go to doctor without any fear and get normal BP in those environments?
Yes, people that work through this particular fear often find that once they make their way through the fear and learn that it wasn't really the BP but the fear of the BP, they often have a very normal relationship with their blood pressure and doctors going forward. I hope this helps.
I wish I can overcome this
After running all necessary test, but they can't figure anything out. And to think I'm trying to conceive.
I belive a Lot thing didnt became clear at the end can axiety cause high blood pressure? And let it high for long periods of time? Im 22 and went to the doc Very afraid and my bp was on 167, and healthy alredy want tô put me on meds, before that I will do this 24hours monitoring exame, but i worry that during that I will be tense the whole time. Because she didnt spoke about numbers i cant understand If it could bê because of anxiety
I can only point out that you have been to a doctor but are now in the comments section of a TH-cam video made my two total strangers asking for assurance about your blood pressure. Have you asked the doc this question? How much time have you spent online trying to find answers to this question - maybe after you've heard the question answered already quite a few times? I know you want numbers here, but I can be more valuable by pointing out how this kind of anxiety will drive sometimes counterproductive questioning. I hope this helps in some way.
@@TheAnxiousTruth i see, im on this journey for 4 years now, i understand How It works and the mechanisms of it. Its now being hard to disregard beacuse this time a autority seems tô be also afraid with my health, thats why its have been difficult to handle the fear all other times i kind of knew It was not real but this time there are big chances of being real. You have for sure helped as always, i need to learning to accept even if its realy, but its kind of very hard. Thank you very much anyway for the answer!
Has anyone ever get a one off erratic super high or extreme low reading but feel fine then check immediately after and its normal but seeing the erratic reading fuels more blood pressure anxiety? on automatic machine arm cuff