Stress Center Peer Support

Hi every one,
I am 34 years old and I am 21 weeks pregnant. I am now happily married to a very kind man after being in a bad marriage with the previous one. I am concerned because I know I have anxiety and I hate it, it makes me feel week and abnormal. Normally, if I go to work, visit a friend, stay at home I am ok, but when I go into a stressful situation like if I had to fly on an airplane, get on a busy bus, get on the subway, when I go to my religious establishment during the holidays and it is so busy it is hard to move, or sometimes even exercising and getting my heart rate up, it scares me and makes me panic. I use to have panic attacks a lot before I was pregnant. Now, I have something not quite as bad, but still intimidating. When I go into these situations my heart rate goes up and can skip a beat sometmimes, and my blood pressure goes up. It concerns me because I am pregnant. Normally, my flood pressure is perfect. Less than 120 over 80, yet at the Dr.'s office it spikes up to 150 over 81. Should I be concerned? I hate myself for this, I feel like a looser like something is wrong with me and it depresses me. I see other pregnant women and they seem so calm and here I am freaking out. I have had two miscarriages and the later one was at 15 weeks so I think this fact alone causes me to be nervous at the Dr.'s office. What doesn't help too, is that before the nurse takes my blood pressure I warn her that it will be high due to my anxiety, and when she takes it and it is 150 over 81 she looks at the reading concerned and says it is high. For a person like myself with anxiety this makes it worse, I feel like crying please help. Please note that I have purchased my own blood pressure maching the other day and the readings I am getting at home are optimal.

Hi Im 38 and I totally know what you are going threw everytime I get near a Dr. or hospital my blood pressure goes threw the roof...My Dr. nurse drives me nuts I have been going to the same Dr. for 10 years and she knows I have a bad anxiety disorder and I beg her not to take my blood pressure and she insists on it and it was 180/115 I freaked then I take it when I get home and its like 120/80.....

Hey guys don't feel bad about that bp issue. I was just talking to a friend about it too and she says they call it the white coat syndrome? Or something like that haha. Anything resembling a lab coat or scrubs..argh! My Doc is very cool about that stuff so they take my BP twice. Once when I get there and do the weigh in and stuff and then again at the end of my appt. It is always better and has gone down. Just ask them to do it twice and they always seem pretty cool about that.That's been my experience anyway. But it is very common to have it go up. I bet if you went and sat at Walmart or Walgreens for a while and then took it there when you are relaxed you could show your Dr the different numbers you got in a restful state.
It will be okay
J~

Thanks, I sometimes feel bad because I don't understand why I get so nervous at the Dr.s office and in other events, it is nice to know that I'm not along, there are others out there like me.

I have White Coat Syndrome too. It's terrible! Makes me not even want to go to the doctors.