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I suffer badly from white coat syndrome so my GP relies mainly on measurements I take myself at home.
The weird thing is even at home the white coat syndrome still persists somewhat.
I take my BP about 9am. I always hope it isn't too high ...just like at the GPs....1st measurement is about 140/80.
I think how darn stupid, silly to get worked up. Wait 10 minutes and take it again. ..2nd measurement is usually about 130/80.
Often if I happen to see something interesting on the internet and start reading it as I take my BP it may be only 120/70.
So it appears my BP is getting a push by my anxiety about it.

Does anyone else get White Coat Syndrome with their own monitor?

I happen to have chronic sinusitis/tinnitus today which always seems to push my BP up a bit.
Given up caffeine today as well.

I feel like I could have written your message. My blood pressure bounces all over the place at home. When I'm in the doctor's office it is always about 145/80, even with medication. Then I take it at home and it ranges from 100/60 to 150/89. Like you I feel if I take it when I'm interested in something else, like watching TV, it is usually in the low range.

It really is bothering me. I so want to get off my BP meds and get pretty discouraged by these numbers. I've been McDougalling for nearly 2 years now and have gotten off cholesterol meds so I know this is the way to go. I just wish I could get this BP down. I feel like I'm being stalked by the white coat!

Linda

Oh I know.....every time I take my BP at home, I think about my BP and that makes it go up....grgrgrgr.
I know (just know) that my BP is fine, but this measuring.....makes it go up. I remember being about 18 to 20 years old and getting dizzy when I got out of bed too quick or got up to quick from kneeling down..typical sign of lower BP ......and I am getting this now.
So for me....white coat syndrom at home too, lol.

Same for me. I measure high at home too, and once I measured while surfing online it was normal, 134/81. I get freaked out when I have to measure and it's always too high as a result! Up to 159/99.

I am 36yrs old and weigh 63kgs being 1m54.

I wish there could be more guidance and information on HBP, as it's such a serious and still relatively unknown condition to GPs and doctors in terms of causes and cures.

Same problem here for 20 years Thanks to a stupid Dr frightening me I no longer allow anyone to take my bp and instead I take in my results from home. However if I haven't taken it for awhile at home I have serious anxiety and last time my systolic was 175 So I started taking it regularly again and although first reading I am still abit nervous I usually get an average of 130/70. I am in my 70's and I have no intention of going on bp meds. One Dr tried to talk me into it by saying if my bp is elevated when its taken then perhaps its spiking at other times but I guess he has no idea what extreme anxiety taking it causes me. As long as you get a good second or third reading don't worry about it and btw best way I have found to divert myself is to mentally do the newspaper crossword puzzle while taking bp, works better than anything else anneh [quote="Glenn50"]I suffer badly from white coat syndrome so my GP relies mainly on measurements I take myself at home.
The weird thing is even at home the white coat syndrome still persists somewhat.
I take my BP about 9am. I always hope it isn't too high ...just like at the GPs....1st measurement is about 140/80.
I think how darn stupid, silly to get worked up. Wait 10 minutes and take it again. ..2nd measurement is usually about 130/80.
Often if I happen to see something interesting on the internet and start reading it as I take my BP it may be only 120/70.
So it appears my BP is getting a push by my anxiety about it.

Does anyone else get White Coat Syndrome with their own monitor?

Interesting reading about "white coat syndrome" at home..... it seems to me that when I have had a high reading I feel more anxious next time I'm checking it. I have been frustrated with needing to take bp meds while on a good McDougall diet. So two weeks ago I started monitoring and found that I was, on average, about 130/75. After a week of monitoring I reduced my meds in half, still monitoring at home, and for about five days I was fine. Now (nine days after reducing my meds) I am getting higher readings - the highest was 164/90 today (but yesterday I had a reading of 132/75). It could be sodium since I ate in a restaurant yesterday and today. I have the familial type of hypertension and have been on meds since age 38 (I am now 59). Does anyone here have any experience with reducing or eliminating bp medications when there is a very strong familial history of hypertension? My diet is very good, I exercise four to five times a week, and am 5'4" and weigh 135 pounds. Any input is appreciated!

I would continue to monitor it at home for a few months. You could be stressing because you fear a high reading. Also, are you taking magnesium (not mag oxide) this helps as most people are low. anneh

Anneh, can you tell me more about the magnesium for hypertension? How much, and what kind? The research that I have read showed no strong benefit. Do you know if Dr. McDougall recommends magnesium? I currently take no supplements but am open to the idea if it will help my bp. Thanks so much!
VeganCarolyn

I started taking chelated magnesium after I was recommended this book by one of my countries leading BP specialists.
It only costs just over $4 and explains a lot about which magnesium, how much and how often.
http://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Solutio ... 0757002552

I've been checking my BP at home for decades now and know all sorts of reasons why it may go up. A cold room, a hot room, not enough sleep, yawning during a reading, listening to something interesting on the tv or radio during a reading, fast music during a reading, wanting to speed up the reading because you have a zillion things to do, reading something upsetting just before a reading.

It's like I have to trick myself each morning when I take my BP. I have to keep something neutral on the tv or radio, like the weather and traffic station or some soothing music, the room temp has to be as close to 70 - 75 as possible, even if I have to wear a sweat shirt, nothing to drink but water in the times before taking it and nothing at all for at least a half hour before. I then take readings in both arms (mine are at least 10 points different in each reading), wait a few minutes and retake if unusually high or low.

I keep a simple chart in Excel that my son set up for me and bring this to the doc each time I go. I start a new chart after the visit, with the reading at the office as the first reading. The last column in my chart is for comments, and it's there I note any special conditions, like when I was up half the night coughing and sneezing with this cold recently, or a salty meal the night before. The doc loves to see those little comments because he gets a glimpse into my life in general and sees things I may have forgotten to mention during the visit, like last year when I was busy running around with an elderly relative who eventually wound up in a nursing home, then needed major surgery a month later. Naturally, my BP was up during all that and if I didn't mention the daily happenings in my BP chart he would have just seen my BP was high those days and think it was a trend and there was a medical reason for it and give me different meds. Instead he stressed to me how important it is to find stress relievers during that time and was instrumental in helping us get her the care she needed, first at home and then at the nursing home and hospital (His practice cares for her, too).

So keep that chart of at-home BP readings, and just relax about it. Do all you can to make it a routine thing in comfort rather than a rushed annoyance when you're at your worst and those readings will come down.

And do NOT take any supplements! Not unless you've had lab work done and it showed you have a deficiency in anything. Too much magnesium in your blood can throw your electrolytes off and cause sudden death from cardiac arrest, did you know that? Google it. Let your doctor do the prescribing, not a message forum or magazine article.

VeggieSue, your input is so helpful; thanks. I just started monitoring a few weeks ago and will set up something to track it (rather than my sheet of paper....lol). One thing I just read last night was that your feet need to be flat on the floor when you measure bp. I didn't know that and was measuring it sitting up in bed with my feet on the bed! This morning I took it sitting at a table, arm supported, and got a good reading (for me) of 132/76. I am starting to relax more with each reading, and not panic. I try to look at it as data that will be helpful to me and my doctor.
Carolyn

Good info. Btw magnesium is safe to take, too much can cause loose stools but other than that no problems at regular doses. I take 2 Magnesium Glycinate or 2 Magnesium Taurate. Btw coconut water is a great source of potassium and other minerals anneh

Our "former" Dr/friend prescribed a magnesium drip while my husband was in the ER with a heart attack. I was unhappy about the modern medical establishment before I read your comment veggie sue,(about magnesium causing cardiac arrest), but now, OMG!

what a quagmire....

Kris

http://www.wellnesstalkradio.com

Amen to this.

Please people, have a care in this thread. I would not take supplements or any other substance based on a casual anonymous recommendation, however well-meaning it might be. Just because something is available over-the-counter by no means makes it safe. Let Dr McDougall, JeffN or your own doctor do the recommending.

Yes often used in the ER for heart issues. Please read cardiologist Dr Stephen Sinatra's book Metabolic Cardiology to learn about magnesium and its safety. anneh