Does anyone else have "white coat hypertension"?

Question

Everytime I go to the doctor I have high blood pressure. But I don't normally have high blood pressure, my mother in law calls it white coat hypertension. She a nurse and swears it's real. And just thinking about going makes me really really anxious. Does anyone else have this? How do I overcome it?

Answer 1

I have it. I don't know if you can overcome it or not....I take medications to regulate my blood pressure, but in the doctor's office, it's still high.

Answer 2

I personally do not have "white coat hypertension," but I can attest that it is real. It is simply caused by stress or anxiety of being examined. It is fairly common and should be no cause for alarm as long as you can have your blood pressure taken at some point and it be normal.

Some simple things that I can suggest to over come the stress:
1.) Go to a doctor/ office that you are familiar with if possible
2.) Practice simple relaxation exercises like diaphragmatic breathing, visualization, or meditation to calm yourself before you are examined or during the exam if necessary
3.) If you know you often have high BP readings, tell the nurse/doctor and have her take your blood pressure last during your exam, after you have had time to calm down.

White coat hypertension is not serious if true hypertension is not present. Just work on relaxing and the hypertension should decrease at the doctors office.

Answer 3

The anxiety of the office encounter can elevate your blood pressure. You can take your pressure at many local pharmacies, but I can't swear by the accuracy. Buy a reliable BP apparatus (sphygmomanometer and cuff), be sure you have the proper sized cuff for your arm size, and have a doctor or nurse teach you how to take your own blood pressure. It's not rocket science, and in many cases averts unnecessary medication or problems with insurance applications.

Answer 4

Just relax. An increase in blood pressure is a response to stress to increase the amount of blood reaching your brain and muscles, part of the "fight or flight" response. If you think your blood pressure is normal have your mother take it at home a few times and take these numbers in to your doctor.

Answer 5

yes it is real, and it is reflecting your anxiety. so go to chech ur blood pressure when you are calm, have the reading several times when you are relaxed several time, 5 minutes apart. it is also possible to get these results at home by ur self by self monitoring machine. in ost of cases it does reflect anxity, however it may turn to be persistent hypertension over time. so if high values (> 140/90) are always there check ur dr.

Answer 6

It is real and you can advise your doctor and request he have someone take your BP or he can do it, and repeat at end of visit and by that time you will have calmed down.