PDA

View Full Version : Anxiety and Blood Pressure



relax
09-13-2012, 12:22 PM
Hi all,

Since February I have been going through anxiety issues, for the 3rd time since 2006. I did very well the last two times (1st on Zoloft, then on Effexor). But whenever I left the treatment after 2/3 months it seems that the anxiety issues come back again.

This time the main symptoms were/are: palm of hands constantly sweating during the day, shortness of breathe, and an uncomfortable feeling overall. Coincidence or not, recently I have been noticing that when I feel like that my blood pressure is also high.

In February I went to the doctor and he told me to go with Celexa 20mg at the morning and it did not work at all for my anxiety over the last months. Eventually I also started taking Xanax XR 1mg at the morning because I could not handle the anxiety.

I was far from feeling well, so I finally sought another doctor, and she prescribed me Zoloft (generic) (starting with lower dose, 25mg but I should go up to 100 mg eventually) and Klonopin (generic) 1mg at the night because of the longer half life.

At my first appointment the new doctor measured my blood pressure and she found it was 150/90. She asked me to keep monitoring. Since then I have been monitoring and it is usually about ~130/80 when I feel ok, but when I feel some anxiety it is about ~140/90 and sometimes ~150/90, which concerns me!!

This makes me wonder if:
1) I am anxious and because of that my blood pressure raises?
2) My blood pressure raises for something else (health problem for ex.), and because of that I get those symptoms and then it makes me believe it is anxiety?

Since I have a sort of a painful day when I am like this, I am wondering if I should take 0.5mg of Clonazepam at the morning instead. On the other hand I am obviously concerned about developing tolerance to benzos as I know the less we take the better.

I am doing my best to overcome this situation, I quit smoke, no coffee, less salty food, less alcohol, still exercise very often, but it is not being easy.

I am being followed by this new psychiatrist and so far I am confident in her work/diagnosis. I am also waiting for some blood work results that she asked and I already have an appointment for 27th with a physician because I am concerned about the blood pressure and I want to understand if it is due to anxiety or something else. But I would not like to wait for the 27th if I keep seeing the BP values that high. :(

Any comments will be appreciated.

Thank you all, hope you all have a good health.

Enduronman
09-13-2012, 12:35 PM
When your mind throws your internal systems (adrenal glands) into a panic state, your BP does go up because its forcing blood throughout your systems much more rapidily to help sustain life when the Vikings attack the village. You sound like a perfect candidate for a beta-blocker and you may be just fine. (adrenaline blocker basically, and lowers heart rate, which stops perspiration and possibly the shortness of breathe too because yer gasping for air that you dont need)..Maybe even ask for a bronchidialator too like albuterol or whatever because their all just corticocortiods (fake steroids, catabolic=break down, therefore opens more lung capacity)...:)

relax
09-13-2012, 01:41 PM
When your mind throws your internal systems (adrenal glands) into a panic state, your BP does go up because its forcing blood throughout your systems much more rapidily to help sustain life when the Vikings attack the village. You sound like a perfect candidate for a beta-blocker and you may be just fine. (adrenaline blocker basically, and lowers heart rate, which stops perspiration and possibly the shortness of breathe too because yer gasping for air that you dont need)..Maybe even ask for a bronchidialator too like albuterol or whatever because their all just corticocortiods (fake steroids, catabolic=break down, therefore opens more lung capacity)...:)

Thank you for your reply.

At this point, I am actually wondering if all this time my issue is actually related to hyper tension, which also explains those kind of symptoms that by mistake I associated with anxiety. Or if it is actually anxiety that just raises my blood pressure. I also start believing that a beta-blocker could be just what I need.

I really want to find out my correct diagnosis: I am hyper tense, or I have anxiety disorder!?

Enduronman
09-13-2012, 02:27 PM
Thats where it gets tricky..people with high BP can mistake the symptoms of high BP for anxiety, and vice versa. Either way, a $4 a month beta-blocker would probably set you straight real fast. Just dont take them in the evening as they can "alter sleep patterns". Take in the am.. You're going to be A OK!

E-Man.