Is it always a physical problem or can stress cause it to be permenant?

It's not only a physical problem, but for many sufferers, can be psychological. I had to go for a check-up recently as I'd never been to a doctor in my life and was curious. So curious, in fact, that when they examined me my heart was beating like a steam train. They then told me I had the blood pressure of an 80-year-old. I'm 29.
Anyway. I got a monitor to take home and test myself. Now, everytime I tried this, the same doomy intense grip took over my senses and the readings were off the chart. I'm self-aware enough to see that i was feeding my own anxiety, but i was still a little concerned. I want to go out in flames when the sun explodes, not an unglamourous heart attack.
Cutting a long story short, I was later diagnosed with White Coat Anxiety Disorder or something. Obviously, it means I go into an inward state of panic when I fear my mortality is being challenged.
Turns out - cutting an ever longer story short - that my blood pressure is fine, my cholestrerol is that of a twelve year old vegan and my liver is only missing one enzyme - a minor miracle, after being raised on a diet of deep-fried pizzas, fags and Buckfast.
So I gues what I'm saying is, don't believe your doctor. And no, with the right excercise, diet and mental attitude to stress, it is not a permenant state for many. For the rest, there's always pills.

Number23 said:

thanks for the info- so does treating the stress clinically help?

Evvy said:

I don't know, I'm Scottish. We beat our wives to relive stress.

Watch your sodium/salt level in your diet (i.e. keep it low). It's a big contributor to high blood pressure.

yes, like the previous poster said..it could be white coat syndrome. basically..the "idea" of getting your BP tested is what makes it go up ..& of course the anxiety.

cut back on salt & avoid stress..if thats even possible?

My son is 21 & will "probably" be on BP meds for the rest of his life. (just like hubby)

Number23 said:

I am on Lisinopril for High blood pressure. If you are not careful yes it can kill you.

IAintTheOne said:

someone said the meds make it impossible to carry a baby and they eventually destroy your organs- is that true?

Evvy said:

dont know Im not female nor pregnant

Number23 said:

I have the same thing White Coat Hypertension
I've had to have that 24 hour ambulatory cuff 3 times now - every time I was pregnant they all shit a brick because my BP was so high.

ZombieKitten said:

U have what and it does what and what do u have to do 3 times a day?

Evvy said:

my mum's been on beta blockers since she was in her 30s. I know there are special medications you can take while pregnant. My husband is under the impression that the medication could cause impotence

ocean said:

My blood pressure is 120/70, except when I go to the doctor, then it's 160/90.

To diagnose White Coat Hypertension, the patient wears this device



it inflates the cuff and takes a reading every 30 minutes over a 24 hour period, then averages the results to give you a more realistic BP.

I was pregnant 3 times. All three times I had to do this since if you have a high blood pressure during pregnancy, it could be an indicator of pre-eclampsia, which untreated could cause toxaemia and kill you.

ZombieKitten said:

So this was only while u were pregnant...u don't have to do this now?

ocean said:

nope, nobody gives a shit about my blood pressure now

ZombieKitten said:

ocean said:

oh wow-I wonder what my doc is gonna do when I go in a couple of weeks. mine was 142/97 @ the docs office last week- the nurse commented but the doc didn't- a friend took it at home after I was in bed a couple hours it was- 128/86

don't understand why the gyne didn't care so i'm going to my internal med doc- i'm not pregnant though

Evvy said:

Not sure, but my mom is on high blood pressure meds. So are two of my older brothers. They started taking them when they were in their early 40's. I'm not on them YET, but based on family history, I probably will be one day.