On 16 Nov 2003 14:06:18 -0800, (Craig) wrote:

(Pong543) wrote in message ...
I take my blood pressure at home (monitor is accurate) and it is normal, but
everytime I go to the doctor or AME I get nervous as hell and my BP goes
skyhigh. Anyone have any good tips to overcome this?

Eat lightly that morning, lay off anything with caffine for a day or
so prior, take a good book with you and arrive early. I found that I
could run my BP up twenty or more points by just running late to the
appointment. Even with the nasty schedule that I have now, I just
arrange to arrive early enough to do any paperwork they need and to
have a 20-30 minute window to unwind and relax. Most of the time the
nurses have to come over and wake me up I'm so relaxed.

My cardiologist swears that caffine doesn't have a big effect on BP,
but I can point to that being the only change that I made in a 12 week
time period, and my BP dropped a little more than 25 points in that
same time. He claims it is my imagination or just that the meds were
catching up, but at that time I had been on the exact same dosage for
a little over 18 months, so I seriously doubt it had anything to do
with the meds.

Perhaps you should get a new cardiologist. Caffeine certainly DOES raise
blood pressure -- systolic and diastolic can easily go up 10 poits after 2-3
cups of tea or coffee.

Your cardiologist may have meant to say that this should not be worrisome,
but to say there should be no effect is just straight nonsense.


Craig C.