Blood pressure spikes and anxiety.

[Shreddykrugaer]

Just out of curiosity has any one noticed significant stress related blood pressure spikes? Its pretty crazy how your bp can jump up from being distressed during a panic attack or high anxiety. My last was around 155/85 today after going to the clinic it was 133/102 and 20 minutes later it was 118/82 and finding out I had strep throat

 

[TenLettersRap]

yea im always prehypertension when i go to the doctors but when i test at the machine at the pharmacy its always normal

 

[Shreddykrugaer]

yea im always prehypertension when i go to the doctors but when i test at the machine at the pharmacy its always normal

Have you ever tested extremely high? During a panic attack its tested 155 / 95 its crazy to me how far it go hopfulyl soneone finds this thread and realizes how finicky pulse and blood pressure can be

 

[TenLettersRap]

mine was 137/81 im sure ixve been higher

 

[Panxiety]

Just out of curiosity has any one noticed significant stress related blood pressure spikes? Its pretty crazy how your bp can jump up from being distressed during a panic attack or high anxiety. My last was around 155/85 today after going to the clinic it was 133/102 and 20 minutes later it was 118/82 and finding out I had strep throat

Timely post. This is my latest anxiety point. The one thing I always had perfect and could count on at every drs visit was my blood pressure being prefect. It was also a point I would use to talk myself out of panic attacks (i.e. " if there was something wrong with my heart my blood pressure wouldn't be so perfect").

Well.....2 days ago I was at my cardiologist (post-er visit due to panic attack I thought was a heart attack) and the nurse took my blood pressure and told me it was high (125/90). Of course, I haven't stopped thinking about that since and am constantly concerned that every time I feel throbbing in my head or a pain in my chest it's because my blood pressure is out of control. I've been in a heightened stage of anxiety ever since.

My cardiologist had told me to keep an eye on my blood pressure at home, so yesterday I bought a monitor. Against my better judgement, I decided to check my pressure last night before going to sleep (120/80---not even that crazy high). I already was anxious about seeing the results. When I saw the result I got worse and decided to redo it. Well, I was already on my way to a full blown panic attack and as I saw the monitor number rising fast, I tore the monitor off and proceeded to panic, which I'm sure sent my blood pressure through the roof.

I spent the next hour walking around my neighborhood trying to calm down. I had to cancel my day today and just take it easy (which I'm not good at). Feeling a little better tonight, but still concerned about my blood pressure and the effect my current state of anxiety has on it.

It even makes me concerned to get my work out in despite knowing that exercise is the best thing to reduce blood pressure and anxiety. Vicious circle.

 

[TenLettersRap]

i just did one at the grocery store 108/75

 

[TDS74]

Just out of curiosity has any one noticed significant stress related blood pressure spikes? Its pretty crazy how your bp can jump up from being distressed during a panic attack or high anxiety. My last was around 155/85 today after going to the clinic it was 133/102 and 20 minutes later it was 118/82 and finding out I had strep throat

Most definitely!!! Last month I went to my neurologist appointment to get my MRI results, my hands were shaking uncontrollably and by blood pressure was 155/ over 90 something. I was freaking out when I saw that! By the time my appt was over and they rechecked it, my BP was almost back to normal, 118/ over 72. So I can totally relate. It's crazy how much stress and anxiety can take over our heads and health

 

[Shreddykrugaer]

Most definitely!!! Last month I went to my neurologist appointment to get my MRI results, my hands were shaking uncontrollably and by blood pressure was 155/ over 90 something. I was freaking out when I saw that! By the time my appt was over and they rechecked it, my BP was almost back to normal, 118/ over 72. So I can totally relate. It's crazy how much stress and anxiety can take over our heads and health

Excatly wow 118 over 72 doing great man! Keep that health up your healthier then 90 percent of the health gurus out there already

 

[Shreddykrugaer]

Timely post. This is my latest anxiety point. The one thing I always had perfect and could count on at every drs visit was my blood pressure being prefect. It was also a point I would use to talk myself out of panic attacks (i.e. " if there was something wrong with my heart my blood pressure wouldn't be so perfect").

Well.....2 days ago I was at my cardiologist (post-er visit due to panic attack I thought was a heart attack) and the nurse took my blood pressure and told me it was high (125/90). Of course, I haven't stopped thinking about that since and am constantly concerned that every time I feel throbbing in my head or a pain in my chest it's because my blood pressure is out of control. I've been in a heightened stage of anxiety ever since.

My cardiologist had told me to keep an eye on my blood pressure at home, so yesterday I bought a monitor. Against my better judgement, I decided to check my pressure last night before going to sleep (120/80---not even that crazy high). I already was anxious about seeing the results. When I saw the result I got worse and decided to redo it. Well, I was already on my way to a full blown panic attack and as I saw the monitor number rising fast, I tore the monitor off and proceeded to panic, which I'm sure sent my blood pressure through the roof.

I spent the next hour walking around my neighborhood trying to calm down. I had to cancel my day today and just take it easy (which I'm not good at). Feeling a little better tonight, but still concerned about my blood pressure and the effect my current state of anxiety has on it.

It even makes me concerned to get my work out in despite knowing that exercise is the best thing to reduce blood pressure and anxiety. Vicious circle.

Excatly i feel the same i was eating insane loads of salt hadn't had a check up in years and had been body building dirty bulking with loads of sodium etc i messed up hard and had a panick attack 185 over 102 so if you think 125 is high your bearly even elevated andthats probably stress ive stopped body building and work out sole for longevity and fitness and its routinly been 118 /80 118 /82 etc but my health anxiety and wprry over heart problems has sent it back spiking up dramatically to 155 135 so your not alone come here talk about it repost threads ask the same questions it helps im not much a fourm person but I come here alot when im on late night walks when i do have a panic attack they seem like they last forever and you need someoen around or at least watching but it does get better with practice mine just started being consistent about 3 months ago how long have you been delaing woth panic?

 

[Shreddykrugaer]

mine was 137/81 im sure ixve been higher

Right it also doesnt help that my arms stay routinly 18 inches to 16 3/4th inches they say having a large cuff is 13 inches plus and i know most of the time those things are killing me their so tight so I guess it all depends if that helps any i kmow it makes me a little easy but it also doesnt help my anxoety finds a way to believe im the one exception out of the 1,000 people

 

[Panxiety]

Excatly i feel the same i was eating insane loads of salt hadn't had a check up in years and had been body building dirty bulking with loads of sodium etc i messed up hard and had a panick attack 185 over 102 so if you think 125 is high your bearly even elevated andthats probably stress ive stopped body building and work out sole for longevity and fitness and its routinly been 118 /80 118 /82 etc but my health anxiety and wprry over heart problems has sent it back spiking up dramatically to 155 135 so your not alone come here talk about it repost threads ask the same questions it helps im not much a fourm person but I come here alot when im on late night walks when i do have a panic attack they seem like they last forever and you need someoen around or at least watching but it does get better with practice mine just started being consistent about 3 months ago how long have you been delaing woth panic?

I used to lift (nothing crazy or competitive) but sodium was never something I would take into consideration when eating (up until this week) because blood pressure was never an issue. I always had high cholesterol and triglycerides which have ways been my biggest worries and why my heart is likely a big focus of my anxiety.

My first panic attack was about 12 years ago in my late 20s. The first two years after that attack were difficult because I didn't know much about anxiety and the related symptoms (forums like this have been a huge help). Through the years as I've been able to identify them coming on I've gotten better at working through it without medication, but I like to have some xanax on hand just in case. Taking medication is something else that gives me anxiety because of the side effects, unknown long term effects, and possible dependancy that I don't want to have. I've generally chosen to make lifestyle changes which I think have helped as I can go for a couple years without any real significant anxiety symptoms or even panic attacks, but then all of a sudden something triggers an attack (I.e. an new random feeling in my body or pressure/zapping feelings in my head) and I could be in a state of noticeable general anxiety with brewing panic attacks for a few weeks or months (as I have been the last 3 weeks).

What has always been difficult to manage has been the balance between my heart concerns and exercising--which I know helps reduce anxiety. I stopped lifting after my first panic attack because I got it into my head that putting on too much muscle (not that I was ever huge) and taking all the supplements can put too much strain on my heart. I started playing a lot of basketball (in peak anxiety times I pulled myself out of lots of games because I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest). But then I tore my meniscus about 5 years ago and was a bit lost from a health standpoint for a couple of years. One day I was crawling out of my skin with anxiety and for some reason decided I had to go buy a bicycle (which I hadn't been on in almost 20 yrs) and just ride until I couldn't anymore. I walked out of my office in the middle of the day and that's what I did. I eventually sold that bike and got into road cycling a little over 2 years ago, and that has helped my anxiety a lot. It's a great workout, you can go hard or easy depending on how your heart feels that day, and no matter what, you get to be outdoors in the sun and actually go somewhere which makes it feel like you accomplished something. It's A great way to relieve stress and not be confined to a gym or a treadmill which to me can feel claustrophobic during my periods of anxiety. Since I bought that first bike, I've really been able to keep the anxiety to a minimum and have barely had any panic attacks, if any.

Anyways, the last 2 months I got a little complacent with my diet and cycling and only went out once or twice coupled with some deviations from my usually clean eating and I think that I'm now paying for it with my current bout of anxiety and panic attacks. I went for my first ride in over a month this morning and I already feel so much better. I started slow because of my heart concerns, but I grew increasingly comfortable and I ended up doing a pretty strong ride. Going to do a much longer one tomorrow. I also got much stricter about my diet the last few days and sticking to mostly veggies, fruits, and fish in normal portions.

Ultimately, I think that what has always helped me through the years is despite not always being able to control the physical symptoms, being able to talk myself into believing that it is temporary and will pass and that I'm not the only one going through this. I'm also very hard headed in that I refuse to let this stop me from doing anything that I want to do, and I sometimes put myself in uncomfortable situations just because I want to prove it to myself that I'm going to get through it, and it works. I do lose some battles, but I try them over and over until I win those too.

This will come and go, but it doesn't ever have to control you.

 

[Shreddykrugaer]

I used to lift (nothing crazy or competitive) but sodium was never something I would take into consideration when eating (up until this week) because blood pressure was never an issue. I always had high cholesterol and triglycerides which have ways been my biggest worries and why my heart is likely a big focus of my anxiety.

My first panic attack was about 12 years ago in my late 20s. The first two years after that attack were difficult because I didn't know much about anxiety and the related symptoms (forums like this have been a huge help). Through the years as I've been able to identify them coming on I've gotten better at working through it without medication, but I like to have some xanax on hand just in case. Taking medication is something else that gives me anxiety because of the side effects, unknown long term effects, and possible dependancy that I don't want to have. I've generally chosen to make lifestyle changes which I think have helped as I can go for a couple years without any real significant anxiety symptoms or even panic attacks, but then all of a sudden something triggers an attack (I.e. an new random feeling in my body or pressure/zapping feelings in my head) and I could be in a state of noticeable general anxiety with brewing panic attacks for a few weeks or months (as I have been the last 3 weeks).

What has always been difficult to manage has been the balance between my heart concerns and exercising--which I know helps reduce anxiety. I stopped lifting after my first panic attack because I got it into my head that putting on too much muscle (not that I was ever huge) and taking all the supplements can put too much strain on my heart. I started playing a lot of basketball (in peak anxiety times I pulled myself out of lots of games because I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest). But then I tore my meniscus about 5 years ago and was a bit lost from a health standpoint for a couple of years. One day I was crawling out of my skin with anxiety and for some reason decided I had to go buy a bicycle (which I hadn't been on in almost 20 yrs) and just ride until I couldn't anymore. I walked out of my office in the middle of the day and that's what I did. I eventually sold that bike and got into road cycling a little over 2 years ago, and that has helped my anxiety a lot. It's a great workout, you can go hard or easy depending on how your heart feels that day, and no matter what, you get to be outdoors in the sun and actually go somewhere which makes it feel like you accomplished something. It's A great way to relieve stress and not be confined to a gym or a treadmill which to me can feel claustrophobic during my periods of anxiety. Since I bought that first bike, I've really been able to keep the anxiety to a minimum and have barely had any panic attacks, if any.

Anyways, the last 2 months I got a little complacent with my diet and cycling and only went out once or twice coupled with some deviations from my usually clean eating and I think that I'm now paying for it with my current bout of anxiety and panic attacks. I went for my first ride in over a month this morning and I already feel so much better. I started slow because of my heart concerns, but I grew increasingly comfortable and I ended up doing a pretty strong ride. Going to do a much longer one tomorrow. I also got much stricter about my diet the last few days and sticking to mostly veggies, fruits, and fish in normal portions.

Ultimately, I think that what has always helped me through the years is despite not always being able to control the physical symptoms, being able to talk myself into believing that it is temporary and will pass and that I'm not the only one going through this. I'm also very hard headed in that I refuse to let this stop me from doing anything that I want to do, and I sometimes put myself in uncomfortable situations just because I want to prove it to myself that I'm going to get through it, and it works. I do lose some battles, but I try them over and over until I win those too.

This will come and go, but it doesn't ever have to control you.

Well said I have had literally all those things hapoened and even thought about buying a bike last week heavy lifting has taken a back seat not cause im worried about the muscle but im worried about losing most bad weight at the moment im trying to lose the bad weight before trying to clean bulk nothign like before but jist put inn a little bit . ive lost about 50 pounds since i quit trying to body build. Ithanks for the advice its funny your worried about heavy training and im worried about cardio over growing my cardiac system lol its funny how anxiety finds a way to make me believe i habe some rare birth defect or something that went unnoticed or something .

 

[Panxiety]

Well said I have had literally all those things hapoened and even thought about buying a bike last week heavy lifting has taken a back seat not cause im worried about the muscle but im worried about losing most bad weight at the moment im trying to lose the bad weight before trying to clean bulk nothign like before but jist put inn a little bit . ive lost about 50 pounds since i quit trying to body build. Ithanks for the advice its funny your worried about heavy training and im worried about cardio over growing my cardiac system lol its funny how anxiety finds a way to make me believe i habe some rare birth defect or something that went unnoticed or something .

I've been worried about both--as well as unoticed birth defects (hearing stories of football players dropping dead during practice always gets to me).

I eased into the cardio, after many visits to the cardiologist to make sure my heart can take it, because I figure that since the heart is a muscle I need to keep it in good shape in order to prevent all the heart problems that give me anxiety--but a high bpm can still trigger anxiety (it's crazy). It's also why I watch what I eat.

Anyways, this whole thing is crazy .

And Get on a bike. After today's ride I feel night and day from where I was just a couple of days ago fighting back panic attacks--although I'm still scared to take my blood pressure. I'll try to work up the courage tomorrow.