| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/19/2006 : 17:08:19
As you all know by now, I'm pretty much of a hypochondriac. Anyway, this is something new I have been worrying about: Last week I went to the psych office to pick up some samples of a different antidepressant because the lexapro has not worked. Because the new med--effexor--occasionally raises blood pressure in certain people, I expressed my reservations about it. The doc wasn't there, but the nurse took my bp and it was fairly high (147/87). Of course, at the time I was very distressed and hadn't slept well for several days. Add to this the fact that I have always had sort of a "white coat" reaction to having my bp taken and the number wasn't surprising.
Now, I know I don't REALLY have high blood pressure because under normal circumstances in doc's offices it is always normal, despite the white coat syndrome. Often, when I check my own bp on those machines in supermarkets it will be borderline but go down dramatically if I sit there for several minutes and take it several times. Sometimes not. In any case, it seems to vary considerably within a few minutes.
I remember going in for a physical 5 yrs ago. I was running late and it was hot and uncomfortable; in short, I was stressed. When they took my bp it was fairly high. This time the doc commented on it. He had me where a holter monitor for 24 hours and then reported back that my bp was "entirely normal." That reassured me but it still worries me when I occasionally see a higher number. I have watched this process for prob 30 yrs, ever since I first checked my bp in my early 20's. Ironically, I am been running marathons for years, am thin and fit, have great lipids, have absolutely no history of heart disease or hypertension on either side of the family; in fact, my father and siblings have unusually low bp.
I know I am hypersensitive and that for me, psychology is all important in terms of my bodily functioning. Anyone else have a similar story regarding blood pressure? Could this be a TMS manifestation? Thanks for your replies. |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 00:01:53
Whether hypochondria or TMS, the end result is the same. Yes, the symptoms SEEM real. It really doesn't make much difference whether they are imagined or real; one suffers.
I'm not sure what the secondary gain would be in my case. I'm not a slacker. I rarely miss a day of work. I've never collected a dime of unemployment. And this is with the additional plague of sometimes painful depression and anxiety. Obviously there is some payoff that I'm not quite aware of. Actually, I'm thinking my hypochondria gives me an excuse for not taking many risks in my life. That would be one thing.
What you said, AnneG about the symptoms disappearing after medical reassurance only to reappear as something else is certainly true for me. Each time something is ruled out I feel so relieved, but inevitibly it is not long before something replaces it. The underlying fear for me each and every time is that THIS TIME there really is something wrong. Or if it is a symptom I had before I will tell myself, see, you really do have that horrible disease after all; they just didn't find it last time! It's incredible. Nearly every day I seem to have symptoms of one kind or another. Most are not new ones, but ones that come and go, sometimes within minutes or hours.
Have any of you wondered whether coming to this site each day and reading about the symptoms of others, analyzing them, comparing them to your own symptoms...might actually perpetuate your symptoms? I've been thinking about this lately. Though I find it a great comfort as well as a source of lots of great feedback, advice, encouragement, I feel more aware of symptoms than before. Is there a danger that this board could possibly serve as secondary gain, a hindrance rather than a help? |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 03/23/2006 : 17:00:59
Yeah...what she said.
I'm not a hypochondriac.When I had a fever the other day,it was definitely a fever.When I decided it probably was necessitated by my emotional condition ,or something repressed ,I recovered faster than any of the other people in my 'sphere of influence' who all had the alleged same condition.I still drank a lot of fluids and took it easy.
It was then (at the MD's) that I noticed my BP was high....and I remembered that it was high the last time I was there,and the time before.Only then did I break out the machine and monitor it...and it's high...always.
Now,the last time it was high was 10 years ago when me and the wife were seperated.....we've been fighting like cats and dogs again and it's high again...coincidence?
I took the clonidine yesterday,and it's normal again,but I'm using the time to adjust my diet/sleeping(barely ever) and smoking (cough)...AND addressing the issues with my wife....but I'm staying very open to the fact that some sort of unresolved conflict(rage) is what is at the heart of the matter(no pun intended)
time to write and write and rage and recondition.
Not hypochondria...just the facts.
-BB65
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/23/2006 : 01:31:34
I used to think of myself as a hypochondriac, but my take on this now is - the word hypochondria has connotations of imagined diseases, pain and related conditions. As a hypochondriac (self-described and considered so by family and friends), I knew that the pain, at least, was not imagined, but that it tended to disappear when a medical diagnosis ruled out my latest 'disease.'
Usually, something else, equally painful and distressing, set in to replace whatever had been ruled out.
Now, we know that what I describe is TMS - the crucial difference between TMS and hypochondria is that Dr Sarno recognised and documented so well, that these painful conditions are not imagined, but all too real.
The word hypochondria has such negative connotations - self-obsession, taking up doctors' time unnecessarily, being work-shy and our old friend secondary gain. That's how hypochondriacs are viewed.
As one, I was all too aware of how I was perceived, but I knew my pain was real. When I ditched the hypochondria label and thought of myself as a TMS sufferer, or a somatizer, I was allowing myself to start my recovery. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 08:22:47
wrldtrv
Thanks for responding to my questions.
You wrote:
"As for the 2nd question (who would I be w/out the thought "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac"), well, I imagine I would be more relaxed, less fearful, except that I would probably be obsessive in a different area of life."
Ok, so without the thought that "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac" would make you more relaxed and less fearful, then give me one peaceful reason to hold unto the thought that I "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac."
When we indentify with our thoughts without questioning them it can be a source of great suffering.
As for your statement that without the thought that "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac" you "would probably be obsessive in a different area of life," I once again ask the qeustion:
Is that true? Can your absolutley know that iit is true. And, how do you react when you think the thought that without the thought that "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac I would probably be obsessive in a different area of life?"
And finally who would you be without the belief about yourself that without the thought that "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac I would probably be obsessive in a different area of life?"
Question and challenge your thinking. Your mind is lying to you, but only 100% of the time.
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| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/21/2006 : 22:58:57
Peter,
I'll try to answer your questions (how do I react when I think the thought "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac" and who would I be w/out that thought?). First, I don't like feeling like a hypochondriac, but I find it vastly preferable than actually having the diseases in question. Actually, nobody has told me I'm a hypochondriac; I've come to this conclusion on my own over the last few yrs because of a series of physical symptoms that were never clinically identified and that eventually disappeared, reappeared, disappeared... And the fact that I have been obsessived about researching symptoms, being sensitive to the mildest symptoms, assuming the worst case...
As for the 2nd question (who would I be w/out the thought "I'm pretty much a hypochondriac"), well, I imagine I would be more relaxed, less fearful, except that I would probably be obsessive in a different area of life. |
| FlyByNight |
Posted - 03/21/2006 : 00:19:01
ACtually I can insure you that buyuing a BP machine is not such a good idea. I did it a couple of years ago and I was constantly taking it.... it was becoming very obsessive . and guess what it was always high ......
the only way I was able to take it objectively was while using a machine that was not telling me the BP numbers ( a 48 hours holter) ..
trust youself . trust your intuitions ... its probably right ...
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| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 20:19:35
Baseball, glad you're okay. Thanks for the info about bp machine, but I think AnneG might be right; hold off. I'm not sure taking the step of getting a bp machine is such a good idea for a hypochondriac. I can just see myself testing myself constantly.
But I am glad to see I am not the only one with normal bp who occasionally tests high. Actually, I think I read somewhere once that it is not good to have extremely variable pressure, even if it is generally normal because, I suppose, it could go to dangerous levels with a great shock. Who knows. |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 15:31:25
I was actually having sharp chest pain on Friday AM that I was CERTAIN was stress related(bigtime domestic issues)...in fact,it sort of felt like TMS of the pectoral muscle...like a spasm.
None the less I went to the MD's on my lunch break just to get checked.They ended up running a ton of tests...and except for the higher BP,I was fine.The Doctor Herself told me it was probably stress related
However....the last two times I've been to that clinic, the Dr's I've seen have been two different very attractive Female Dr.s around my same age...
I wonder if that could subconsciously cause me to have a rash of TMS like episodes ???
ouch....
"I think my back hurts"
"I think my stomach hurts"
"I think I might have pulled something"
...just kidding.
-piggy |
| Susie |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 14:58:31
wrldtrv, I am completely phobic about having my bloodpressure taken at the doctor. It started around 8 years ago when I was in the middle of a big tms attack(of course, I didn't know it at that time)and my pressure was thru the roof. I also bought a home pressure test and my pressure is like 115/70 at home. The last time I was at the doctor it was 205/110. I'm afraid I'll have a stroke just getting it taken. Now I just ask them not to take it as I test at home and it is very normal. I'm really not sure if the high blood pressure at the office started the mild panic attacks or vice versa. I periodicaly take it at home and it is always ok. The nurses say thw white coat syndrome is very common.
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| n/a |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 08:37:57
wrldtrv
You stated "I'm pretty much of a hypochondriac.."
Of course, if you believe that about yourself it would seem that the natural outcome would be indeed high blood pressure. When we believe the thoughts that enter our minds and then re-act to those thoughts they can have real physical consequences, such as anxiety, anger, guilt, fear, sorrow etc... We never think to actually question those thoughts and see if they are actually true or not.
How do you react when you think the thought that "I'm pretty much of a hypochondriac.."?
Who would you be without the thought that "I'm pretty much of a hypochondriac.."?
Best wishes.
Peter |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 06:24:52
quote:
Originally posted by wrldtrv
Baseball--Is the machine as reliable as the ones they use in doc's offices? Is it one you can use by yourself or do you need an assistant? Thanks.
Yes,it's very consistent.You have to sit really still and make sure the only movement is YOU pumping the little handle.You don't need any assistance.
Make sure and read the cuff size on the box.I have 15" biceps and should have bought the larger cuff,but didn't realize they come in sizes until afterwards..they come in S/M/L...I have to squeeze every last drop of air out to make it fit around my arm.
I think it was like 36.95
-piggy
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/20/2006 : 01:58:25
Hi Wrldtrv,
I've been on HBP meds for fifteen years. I own a machine and use it by myself. The way I check it is - I take it to my doctor's each time I have to go for a routine check - twice a year. He uses his own machine, then I use mine, in front of him - the reading when I do it has always tallied when we check, so I guess it's pretty accurate.
This whole raised BP thing is something of a minefield - white coat hypertension is so common. So many factors make it go up and down. Since I have dealt with TMS pretty successfully and have a different outlook on all things medical, my BP doesn't seem to be a problem. Admittedly I'm still on meds. My grandmother died at sixty of a stroke after years of hypertension, my mother, has it also, so it's not something I'm going to chance treating as TMS.
Your case sounds completely different to mine. Maybe it's not such a good idea for you to buy a machine at the moment and to avoid the supermarket ones for a while. You say yourself that worrying about your blood pressure is something new for you, so it may be that the worrying is another manifestation of your TMS. Checking all the time can be enough to cause you to worry even more - raising you BP - so you check more - and the whole thing escalates into an even bigger worry.
Best wishes
Anne
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| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/19/2006 : 23:01:23
Flybynight--I'd like to hear the details of your hbp story if you don't mind. Thanks. |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 03/19/2006 : 22:24:08
Baseball--Is the machine as reliable as the ones they use in doc's offices? Is it one you can use by yourself or do you need an assistant? Thanks.
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| Baseball65 |
Posted - 03/19/2006 : 20:31:35
I don't remember where I read it,but there was an article published regarding this very topic.It was mostly with elderly people for whom High BP can be much more sensitive of an issue.
They noted that about a third of the patients actually didn't need any BP meds,as they only had elevated pressures in the office.....but they had to give them their own machines to check it at regular intervals and compare them with in office checks.
If it really concerns you,buy your own machine.I have one of my own from when I had to kick Narcotics (withdrawals send it through the roof.)...mine is actually lower in the office...probably the only place where I actually sit still for more than an hour.
I have noticed that lack of sleep is the single most important factor.If I have been sleeping well it is almost always 115/75...if I haven't it can routinely be 150/95...
You can get a decent machine for 40 bucks. |
| FlyByNight |
Posted - 03/19/2006 : 20:25:49
I have the same exact probleme you do my friend ! exact same history...
I had to do an ambulatory monitoring for my BP during 48 hours to convince me it was normal
To my modest opinion, your story falls easily in the psychosomatic HBP category ... and please do not forget that HBP is only 'one' risk factor that explains cardiac and vascular problems... if the lipids and history are fine, you shouldnt worry about too much ....
P, |
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