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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by llrrrpp on August 22, 2006, at 8:37:46
I was at a big store yesterday, and I thought maybe I should check my bloodpressure, like on those in-store monitors. Just to make sure that the meds I'm on aren't affecting my bp.
So, I'm sitting there, and the cuff is tightening. Then some women come through the aisle, and my husband, who is with, me greets them and then proceeds to introduce us (his colleagues). And my bloodpressure reading still hasn't popped on the screen yet, but the women are in perfect viewing position. What if my values are trhough the roof and they think I'm ill? What if they think I'm a freak for getting my bp taken at this machine?
pulse 98 bp 129/91
Oh SH*T!!! Now the ladies are going to know that I'm crazy! or at least that I'm ill. I wave goodbye to the ladies, and then husband takes his bp, just to make sure the machine is calibrated correctly. Of course, he's as cool as a cucumber.
pulse 60 bp 105/65
Okay, maybe I should try again. I guess it's possible that the presence of the ladies was slightly anxiety producing.
pulse 76 bp 110/70
Whew! back to my normal values. See- this is what meeting new people does to me. Do I have social anxiety? What a fun little experiment I just performed on myself Lol
-ll
Posted by Dinah on August 22, 2006, at 9:00:38
In reply to Hypertension: my fun little social experiment, posted by llrrrpp on August 22, 2006, at 8:37:46
When I was doing biofeedback, I was hooked up to all the little machines and doing my exercises. When biofeedback guy came in to review the readings, he pointed out where everything went screwy when his nurse came in and even screwier when he came in.
I understand him since he was scary, but his nurse seemed perfectly harmless.
He fussed at me like crazy, and I just didn't see the point of that. I mean, that's kind of why I was there, right?
You were anxious and your blood pressure went up. Seems reasonable to me. So I guess CBT or meds for anxiety, or perhaps biofeedback for controlling bodily functions in the face of anxiety under the theory that if you control the functions you can control the anxiety I guess.
Or acceptance that you get anxious sometimes and your blood pressure rises because your body thinks those saber tooth tigers are there, dressed in street clothes and speaking English.
:)
Posted by Phillipa on August 22, 2006, at 10:05:58
In reply to Re: Hypertension: my fun little social experiment » llrrrpp, posted by Dinah on August 22, 2006, at 9:00:38
And don't forget people take their BP for numerous reasons. I take mine just to see what it is. Love Phillipa
Posted by llrrrpp on August 22, 2006, at 17:40:11
In reply to Re: Hypertension: my fun little social experiment » llrrrpp, posted by Dinah on August 22, 2006, at 9:00:38
Well, Dinah,
I have long known that meeting new people is mildly anxiety producing. I just didn't have numbers to back it up!Oh well. Who cares if my bp is high. most people don't even know what a normal range is anyways.
the most important thing is that my 'resting bp' is in the healthy range. and I guess it's also good that 2 minutes after the ladies are gone, mine went back to normal, even though the pulse was still slightly 'up'.
i don't think i need biofeedback to learn how to control this. i have tried many different techniques for stagefright, and the only thing that works well is propanolol- although after taking it a few times a year for those circumstances, my body eventually learned NOT to be so panicked when I didn't have any available one time.
-ll
This is the end of the thread.
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