I'm a woman in Texas. I'm married and have a school-aged child. I have a medical background. I'm quite liberal, socially. I love helping people with medical, parenting, and social questions. Don't ask me about tech stuff or finances, because I need advice on those things myself!
Gender: Female
Location: Texas
Age: 34
Member Since: December 17, 2006
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Xenolan
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My gynecologist said that I have high blood pressure. I think that the only reason that when they take my blood pressure it's high is because I'm nervous. Anytime I go to a doctor, I get nervous, and I can tell that my blood pressure is up (I can feel that my heart is pumping faster). Anywho, how can I calm down whenever they take my blood pressure so they can get an accurate reading? (link)
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That's pretty common. A lot of people get high blood pressure when they're in the doctor's office. It's called White Coat Syndrome. What you can do is get/borrow a blood pressure machine and take your blood pressure at home every day. If it's normal, then you can tell your doctor that it's normal at home and what she's seeing is just White Coat Syndrome. That's important because if you don't have high blood pressure usually, you don't want that on your medical record.
By the way, the things at the grocery store are not reliable, but you can buy a blood pressure machine for about $30 at Walgreen's or less for a manually-operated one. Your doctor also may have a machine she can let you borrow. Alternately, she may let you sit quietly in a room for five minutes and then just push the button to take your blood pressure again with no one in the room to see if you can get a better reading.
Sabine (the voice of experience)
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