Whitecoat Hypertension (24m)
Looking for other people’s experience with this. I’m a healthy, 24 year old man, who lifts 3-4 days a week and am extremely strong (1100lb total). However, ever since I was 15 years old, my blood pressure skyrockets when I take it. It sounds weird but as soon as I even see the cuff, my heart starts racing, I get sweaty, and I automatically assume it’s going to be dangerously high. As a result, it usually does end up being high until I take multiple readings. I already talked with my doctor and he said he’s not concerned since I can get readings of 125/80 - 130-85 range but it’s always higher before that. I was at the hospital today for a head injury and when I got there, it was 150/84. A few hours later, I got it taken and it was 186/93 (doctor wasn’t concerned because she said she knew it was just an anxiety response). What can I do about this? I hate having to explain every time I get it taken that it’s not actually that high and the whole process (and topic in general) give me severe anxiety. I had a holter monitor as a teenager which came back normal and I had a cardiac stress test last May which was fine (the cardiologist told me my heart is healthy). I just need someone to talk and relate to about it. I drink moderately (maybe once or twice a month) and smoke cannabis daily albeit less than a gram these days but I find it calms me down. Health anxiety friggin sucks