Suggest Treatment For Severe Anxiety In A Hypertensive Person

Posted on Fri, 27 Jan 2017

Question: I am a 44 year old XXXXXXX XXXXXXX male who and have often times suffer from anxiety and stress. I didn't sleep well last night due to a stomach bug. I decided to check my blood pressure this morning and it was 149/96 that scared me and I tried to relax and take it again after getting ready to go to work. By then it was 179/112. I'm scared to death of developing high blood pressure and worry about it all the time. Should I head to the emergency room?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

I understand your concern and would explain that two consecutive blood pressure values can not determine the presence of high blood pressure.

They could be related to anxiety or caffeine intake.

Coming to this point, I would recommend to closely monitor your blood pressure values frequently in the next week (in sitting position after 10 minutes of total relax) and refer them to your doctor.

If your blood pressure values are above 140/90 mm Hg most of the time, further tests are needed to investigate for secondary causes of high blood pressure:

- a resting ECG
- a chest X ray study
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- liver and kidney function tests
- PCR, ESR for inflammation
- fasting glucose for diabetes.

Meanwhile, I would recommend some lifestyle changes to help maintain a normal blood pressure:

- avoid salt and caffeine intake
- perform a lot of physical activity ( walking, running, aerobics, etc.)
- try to lose some pounds if you are overweight.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr.Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ilir Sharka (35 minutes later)

Dr.Iliri,

Thank you so much. I'm a bundle of nerves. My biggest fear is developing high blood pressure. I just recently had my blood work and physical and the only issue that i had was my tryglicerides were 289. All other levels in my system were great.

So I calm down now? I appreciate you so much.
XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
There is nothing to worry about!

Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX

Considering your performed normal tests, the situation doesn't seem concerning.

So try to calm down because being anxious is not going to help ( in contrary it causes spikes in blood pressure).

Nevertheless, I recommend you to closely monitor your blood pressure values during the next week as above mentioned.

Hope you will find this answer helpful!

Best wishes,

Dr.Iliri

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T