High blood pressure and anxiety (my story)

Last Jan 12, 2013. We we're just watching a movie (silver linings playbook), and some scenes made me excited. Suddenly my neck began to hurt then some mild pinch on my chest. At that point I was already assuming my blood pressure was high and became anxious. When I checked my BP, I got a 145/92, now it's still a mystery if it was because I became anxious at that moment or before I checked my BP which raised it even more. After seeing the result my chest tightened but can't tell if it's already a panic or anxiety attack at that time though I never experienced one until only this Feb 8, 2013. Few minutes passed I took more readings of my BP until it went up high as 170/117 then the fear of having a stroke got into me. I tried so hard to calm myself down and my BP never went higher than that. That was when anxiety entered my life fearing the worst (kidney failure, stroke, TIA, liver cirrhosis, brain tumor, heart disease, heart attack, MS, addison's disease, parkinson's disease, paranoid schizophrenia). I also already experienced the scintillating scotoma before which I fear that something so serious is happening to me because it has something to do with the blood flow in the brain (Ischemia).

If I could remember my usual BP before that incident was ranging from something like 128/84 to 135/88. From 2007-2012, I ate a lot of salty foods and didn't have enough exercise, I also used to smoke before but already stopped it last Jan 2012 and I was overweight. Thankfully right now there are days it will stay at 113/68 through a change in lifestyle but there are days it still goes high as 134/81. I already losing a lot of weight right now but I think it is my anxiety that is causing it. I'm taking a beta-blocker 50mg 2x/day(metroprolol).

I'm not been able to go for an executive check up yet that's why my health anxiety grows more each day. I don't have enough money to go see a doctor and have those expensive tests like MRI/MRA but I badly want one. I don't want to end up a hypochondriac like Howard Hughes. So far I only had CBC and an ECG which came back normal. This week I'll be having my BUN-Creatinine test for kidney function.

I hate anxiety because it's also causing blood pressure spikes and there's not a day without constant worrying. It continues to ruin my life making me feel like everything has to be constrained especially my emotions. It seems that I'm also having agoraphobia, I only hope it'll not worsen. I'm also so focused in everything I feel than what's happening around me that sometimes I can't able to have fun with my friends especially my wife.

Each night I pray to God hoping my anxiety will eventually end, and live life with my loved ones without constant worrying that kills life itself with all of its physical symptoms. I've heard there are people who already overcome their fears and anxiety. Hope to die as one of them.

My symptoms so far:
High blood pressure (spikes when under too much stress and worry, main concern right now)
Irregular bowel movement
Belching
Chest pains
Skipped beats
Panic attacks (Feb 8-Mar 2, 2013) = somehow found a way to prevent it from happening
Chest tightening
Light headedness/Dizzy/Near fainting
Feeling weak
Vivid dreams/Nightmares
Left arm pain
Shoulder pain
Neck pain
Sore muscles around the back of my neck (because of too much tension on the day before)
Shallow breathing
Floaters
Dilated pupils
Dry eyes
Depersonalization/derealization (thought I was losing my mind)
Weight loss
Rapid heart rate (sometimes comes out of nowhere, usually happened in my panic attack days)
Pressure on my head (right temporal area, feels like there's a finger pressing on it)
Sensitive hair
Hair loss
Sudden change in temperature in arms, legs, neck and back (thinking it could be MS)
Twitching at night
Inner tremors especially when my anxiety is at its peak
Sweating
Pale skin
Adrenaline surge
Orthostatic hypotension ("blood rush", especially when turning my head from the side)
Scintillating scotoma (but I think this is not anxiety related, but I'm so scared of it)

Post Edited (Jojanxiety) : 4/13/2013 12:33:06 AM (GMT-6)

Thank you so much Scaredy Cat for the warm welcome. What a great feeling to know I'm not alone. I'll look into the resource guide you've said and hopefully the books as well.


Yeah I really hope my high blood pressure is not caused by kidney failure or any serious illness. There are times whenever I'm anxious it is as if I can feel my muscles at the back of my neck constrict or tensed out and mildly hurt. Just like what is happening to me right now. I've read that HBP doesn't often have signs or symptoms that's why I think it's anxiety that's causing the muscle tension in my neck and making it hurt (not the nerves with so much blood pressure in it/ This is what I thought before). I got a BP reading of 141/91 just now and I'm thinking it's the stress that I'm feeling at this moment that raised it. And I don't want to think negatively that it's already chronic kidney failure that's causing it though I have not been diagnose for it yet. Last month was good for me, BP ranging from 103/62 to 119/74. Starting this April 6 since I got my second episode of scintillating scotoma which is not anxiety related my BP range began to rise as I became anxious again. Hope I can go through all of this and share my success and also help other people once I have finally overcome this bad times.

Thanks again for your warm reply!

Thank you so much again S.C.! My nickname is Joja BTW. :)

All I did before was talk to myself. Now I know how different it feels when someone else is talking to you especially when they're telling you that you will eventually get well like what you just did about my poll. Right now I can be calm reading other people's posts and replies. It brings TRUE comfort and now I'm starting to feel less anxious. Talking to myself before made me think I'm already losing my mind because I can't bring my anxiety down by just talking to myself with unending thoughts and worries. Some people living here around me can't fully understand what I feel. So thank you so much again!


What made me think that I'm at risk of kidney failure is because I used to eat a LOT of salty foods before, even ate instant noodles 2-3 times a day which in fact are high in sodium. I prefer salty ones than sour. I don't usually eat vegetables when I was young. I hope it's not that late to realize my choice of taste in food before was all wrong especially eating much of it. Also since 2007 I gained a lot of weight, at that time I'm not aware of my blood pressure, only used to checked my BP once every 3-4 weeks, I also thought 135/87 was normal, only to be aware lately that I was already in the pre-hypertension stage which in return can cause kidney damage. That made me think I'm at risk.


I monitor my BP at home because it fluctuates a lot since this January. I'm afraid that it will spike up again like it did last January and could cause a stroke because the fact that I'm also overweight and don't exercise daily, in short have an unhealthy lifestyle. Now I limit my sodium intake, food amount intake and do exercise if I'm able to because sometimes anxiety is just so bad it drains my strength and energy out of me. I already lost a lot of weight right now but I believe that anxiety played a big part on it.


The beta-blocker was prescribed for helping me not letting my BP reach dangerous spikes like it did last January 12. I only took it once on that day and never took it again for a week. But after a week it happened again and BP reached 155/105 this time. Since then I was told to take BB's twice a day. There are times that I can say anxiety can be the culprit but there are also times that it's a mystery to me why out of nowhere something bad is suddenly happening. It kinda helps with my anxiety too because since my first panic or anxiety attack last February (was walking home, suddenly felt weak on my legs, then a feeling I'm going to pass out, chest tightened, hard to breathe, feeling numb and cold in my chest, heart beating fast, thought of having a stroke, then sweating all over) I believe my adrenals became overactive. More but less dreaded panic attacks also happened in the next following days. Also my whole body felt weak for 5 days straight, I became a bit afraid to go out, and there's also often sweating in my palms and heels.


It's true focusing on lowering my anxiety is the best course of action for me at this time and I'm so grateful finding the best place to be! Thank you so much S.c.!!

I want to try and help with your fear of high BP. I am a 71 year old male, I do have some health concerns
but they are unique to me. My Mother passed two years ago she was 88, she was suffering from dementia.
Her life time BP reading were always over 150/80. I dont mean spikes it stayed high, she also took several
BP meds. Most of the time her BP would be 180/90. Now no one wants this kind of readings but she
had them but she never had kidney problems, any kind of stroke ect.
My BP runs about 145/85 same with me no kidney problems. I dont remember seeing your age but I'm sure
you are younger than I am, my point is the problems you are woried about are not that common and keeping
ones BP down is a protective measure for sure, but for your general health I would recommend to try and
stop worrying about all these different things. The worrying is probably worse than anything thats really
going on in your life. You need a break, give yourself one. Read SC's resources and put them into
practice. See you on the playground!
Larry ***

Dear Joja, I can see why you would be concerned, but honestly worrying cant accomplish anything except
stealing the best part of your "right now". Your Daddys way is the correct way, be elated in the joy of the
moment. We spend a lot of time worrying about the what if's when all anyone on earth has is this instant
in time. Use it wisely, we don't have to be reckless, or live foolishly, or take crazy chances, just be you
in this moment, the next moment will take care of it's self.
Above all Love, Love a flower, a tree, a puppy, the sweet young lady looking back at you in the mirror!
Spend more time sharing the side of You that makes others happy and the happy, Loving feed back will
over whelm all doubts and fears. "I will pray for your Joy"!
Larry ***

Joja, Welcome to HealingWell   and the A & P Forum. This is the place to come if you have questions or concerns about anxiety/panic, related medications and their side effects and recovery. Some of our members have been living with anxiety and related disorders for years, while others are new to this disorder.   Reading your first post I recognized many of your symptoms as ones that were caused by my own anxiety.  I was 36 when I had my first panic attack and had no idea what was happening to me.  Health anxiety has  not been a huge issue for me until this past August when I was dx with cancer.  I am learning to cope with worrying about cancer all the time and have really been working super hard at staying in the moment. Overcoming health anxiety will be much easier if you can avoid some of the most common mistakes made by people trying to do so. One of the most damaging and common mistakes you should do your very best to avoid is googling. People with health anxiety will often Google their symptoms; they will look for more information online about a particular feeling or symptom they may be suffering from. Even though this is done with good intentions, it almost always ends in disaster. This is simply because people with health anxiety will typically continue to research their symptoms until they find something that backs up their worst fears. So anything reassuring they find will be dismissed in favor of the pessimistic discoveries. To break this habit of researching your symptoms online, begin to limit how much time you allow yourself to do this. Make the reductions small to begin with, so they are easy to stick to. And then slowly, over time, reduce the amount of time to zero. You're much more likely to stick to a slow, steady reduction like this when compared to going "cold turkey." Know that we are here to support you and I hope you keep on talking with us. Blessings, Kitt

I just got my BUN-Creatinine results. My results of BUN is 11.79 mg/dl and Crea 0.9 mg/dl. Normal ranges are BUN (7-20 mg/dl) and Crea (0.6-1.3 mg/dl). BUN-to-creatinine ratio seems normal 13.1:1. GFR is 108 mL/min/1.73 m2. My kidneys seems to be functioning well! What a relief for me. Gave me a peace of mind that nothing more serious is making my blood pressure high.

Got to focus now on my anxiety before it gets worse. I've been feeling mild inner tremors and feeling heat within my legs lately. Have to take out all bad thoughts like "I think I'm starting to develop edema at my fingers. Is there really something wrong with me!" which I observe and look at each day.

Well its 2:22am here in Texas, I have been laying in bed filled with anxiety, I got up and came in here
to my computer, when I feel odd I come to this forum and see if there is anyone I can help, it always
calm's me down. Joja you have been eating your self alive with anxiety and worry, its time to become
your own best friend. I can think of no one I would rather have helping me then Scaredy Cat and StKitt,
they have both been through this war of the subconscious mind and as you can see they are both stronger, and very wise. We may seem to have everything under control but believe me we have all had our bad days and in some cases years. Everything they recommend they have used, in the process of their recovery they have experienced every fear you are now. You will not be the first person in history to fail to get well, everyone on this forum will be there to help, Pray, talk. After all we are all together.
Larry ***

Your a cool guy, the sharing is what makes this thing called life worthwhile!

Your Friend

Larry ***

Jojo,

It must be the week for us with anxiety to have some flare ups..............on Tuesday I had my lab work done and my Cancer tumor marker value jumped out of the normal range. My oncologist is concerned and I stayed calm until I got home and then i flipped out.......... more test, more waiting and more worries.

I am scheduled for a CT can on Tuesday...............  Yikes !  The scan is easy it is wondering what the results will be that is messing with my brain and the what if thinking?

While we can't always control what happens to us, we can always control what we say to ourselves. It's important to keep things in perspective. Talk to yourself in reasonable ways. Ask yourself "how likely is my fear?" Remind yourself that you have coped before during other challenging times. Don't just dwell on the negative but consciously look for things you can appreciate every day.

When I was first dx with hypertyension I, too, bought the BP cuff and checked my BP 4-5 times a day until one day I just go sick of the whole routine.  I know that BP's can flucuate all the time so why was I bound I was going to catch any high readings ?   I was obsessing on my BP.  That cuff went in the garbage; slam, dunk!  I do take meds for my BP but anytime I am at the clinic and they get a higher reading then my normal........I just push the thought from my mind as it is just a fluke.

Keep working on not getting caught up in analysing each episode of anxiety and face the fear, walk through it and leave the thoughts behind you, my friend.

Kindly,

Kitt

 

Also thanks to Larry and L.P!

Hello guys out there. I just had a moderate panic attack awhile ago. This time I can't think of anything that could have caused it. I was just sitting and OUT OF NOWHERE there's the feeling that my heart suddenly stopped and I couldn't breathe at all for I guess 4 secs. The tightness around my chest thing. Again I thought I was dying so I stood up immediately. My BP was 162/93 when I checked with 90 bpm. This time I'm glad my heart didn't pound so hard and didn't reach 100+ bpm! Since "out-of-nowhere" doesn't usually happen to me alot it scared me so much. Most of the time I can feel a panic attack that's about to happen and sometimes I'm able to prevent one from happening or being a full blown attack by breathing properly and deeply. But this time I was just on the chair then suddenly, without the early recognizable signs that it's going to happen, the "dreaded" feeling striked me!

I think this one was on my subconscious level.

Larry does it also feel like you can't breathe all of a sudden? Like your heart stopped from beating? I just experienced what other people had been saying like they can't breathe and there's like someone is squeezing their necks. My problem lately was it came out of nowhere and wasn't prepared for it and couldn't do the breathing techniques properly because I can't even breathe at all. What I did was I jumped out of my chair and felt like my heart started beating again. It never went beating harder and faster but my pressure surely went high. After 15 mins gladly my BP went back to normal. I'm also thinking could it be because of too much gas in my stomach that it could actually put pressure on my heart and make it beat abnormally? I'm also been having gases lately like there's a motorcycle muffler inside of me. It's like I'm farting inside my stomach.

Post Edited (Jojanxiety) : 5/5/2013 6:13:12 AM (GMT-6)