White Coat Syndrome

[Mrs. Funk]

My midwife is afraid I have hypertension. At home, my systolic reading was 25 points lower than in the office.

This is ridiculous.

[CardiacCoug]

My midwife is afraid I have hypertension. At home, my systolic reading was 25 points lower than in the office.

This is ridiculous.

Very common. My wife went through the same thing -- she just stressed out too much about the doctor visits and her BP would shoot up. Must be something that overachieving LDS women do.

If the BP is fine at home and you're feeling OK, don't worry about it and don't let them put you on BP meds.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I have noticed the same thing. I purchased a $50 electric blood pressure monitor at Wal-Mart and used a spreadsheet to track my blood pressure over time. Then you can print it out and bring it in to your next visit.

[Mrs. Funk]

I have noticed the same thing. I purchased a $50 electric blood pressure monitor at Wal-Mart and used a spreadsheet to track my blood pressure over time. Then you can print it out and bring it in to your next visit.

Yeah, I'm supposed to track it 2–3 times per day and I have another appointment in two weeks or so.

[CardiacCoug]

I have noticed the same thing. I purchased a $50 electric blood pressure monitor at Wal-Mart and used a spreadsheet to track my blood pressure over time. Then you can print it out and bring it in to your next visit.

Good advice. Seems like engineers and accountants usually do something like that and it is reassuring for the doctors.

[Mrs. Funk]

Very common. My wife went through the same thing -- she just stressed out too much about the doctor visits and her BP would shoot up. Must be something that overachieving LDS women do.

If the BP is fine at home and you're feeling OK, don't worry about it and don't let them put you on BP meds.

Gah! It's so frustrating! I don't have high blood pressure! (It's not as low as I'd like, but I'm not even "borderline.") I feel good! I exercise! I eat well!

Stressing out about it is super helpful, I realize.

[happyone]

I have the same problem - My BP is 25 - 30 points higher at his office. For a while I took it everyday, now I take it weekly, and when I took my records to my Doc he was happy

[ERCougar]

White coat hypertension is very real, and add another 10 points in the ER, but I suspect that the reason she seems extra concerned about home monitoring is that you're pregnant. Otherwise, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

[Mrs. Funk]

White coat hypertension is very real, and add another 10 points in the ER, but I suspect that the reason she seems extra concerned about home monitoring is that you're pregnant. Otherwise, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

It's a little frustrating because I've always experienced white coat hypertension (first pointed out to me when I started donating blood at 16—blood pressure went down 20 points in about 10 minutes). I know this, and told them at the office—but it doesn't change that I will freak out and get an absurdly high reading every time. My weight, salt intake, blood work, &c. are all well within healthy/acceptable limits. I ate quinoa with kiwis for breakfast, for pete's sake! (Edit: Yes, I'm on a quinoa streak. The breakfast application wasn't my favorite, but edible.)

This kid had better be AWESOME.

(Incidentally, the baby is doing great. Heartbeat clear as a bell. I just need to calm down, apparently.)

[beefytee]

Blood pressure is especially a big concern when you are pregnant with your first child because of preeclampsia. My wife who has really low blood pressure otherwise, had it so bad that she was on bed rest for a week, then in the hospital for a week being monitored, and finally delivered a month early because her condition was so bad.

There were other signs though besides her blood pressure shooting through the roof, particularly the ankle swelling.

I'm hoping you don't have to go through that. Even though everything has turned out well in the end, it was a nightmare. The good news though was that there wasn't any problems with any of her other pregnancies. It is usually only a problem on the first pregnancy.

[Eddie]

Blood pressure is especially a big concern when you are pregnant with your first child because of preeclampsia. My wife who has really low blood pressure otherwise, had it so bad that she was on bed rest for a week, then in the hospital for a week being monitored, and finally delivered a month early because her condition was so bad.

There were other signs though besides her blood pressure shooting through the roof, particularly the ankle swelling.

I'm hoping you don't have to go through that. Even though everything has turned out well in the end, it was a nightmare. The good news though was that there wasn't any problems with any of her other pregnancies. It is usually only a problem on the first pregnancy.

My wife had preeclampsia with our second. She stayed a couple of days in the hospital when diagnosed during a regular visit with her doc and then was home on bedrest for another week or so. Then it was back to the hospital for a few days before delivering - also a month before her due date.

My wife had an IV in with apparently some blood pressure medication among other things. She also had an epidural. When the anesthesiologist came in to give her a bump in the epidural, apparently there was some interaction between whatever medication they had in her IV and whatever was in the epidural that caused her blood pressure to drop and put one of the nurses in a tizzy.

Now, I don't know how dangerous or bad this really was and I don't recall how low it dropped. I know the doc downplayed it.

But at one point a nurse came flying into my wife's room, ripped the oxygen mask off the wall and stuck it on my wife's face, and then turned to me and asked me what our religion was and told me " you might want to call your ecclesiatical leader."

Note to medical personnel - while circumstances may have been dire, this really isn't the best approach to take if you don't want to panic a patient and their spouse.

I called the doc, who had an office across the street. She was there in a couple of minutes. She checked on everything, calmed our fears, and then told the nurse and her supervisor that no matter what else happened, that particular nurse was not to enter my wife's room again.

[Mrs. Funk]

My wife had preeclampsia with our second. She stayed a couple of days in the hospital when diagnosed during a regular visit with her doc and then was home on bedrest for another week or so. Then it was back to the hospital for a few days before delivering - also a month before her due date.

My wife had an IV in with apparently some blood pressure medication among other things. She also had an epidural. When the anesthesiologist came in to give her a bump in the epidural, apparently there was some interaction between whatever medication they had in her IV and whatever was in the epidural that caused her blood pressure to drop and put one of the nurses in a tizzy.

Now, I don't know how dangerous or bad this really was and I don't recall how low it dropped. I know the doc downplayed it.

But at one point a nurse came flying into my wife's room, ripped the oxygen mask off the wall and stuck it on my wife's face, and then turned to me and asked me what our religion was and told me " you might want to call your ecclesiatical leader."

Note to medical personnel - while circumstances may have been dire, this really isn't the best approach to take if you don't want to panic a patient and their spouse.

I called the doc, who had an office across the street. She was there in a couple of minutes. She checked on everything, calmed our fears, and then told the nurse and her supervisor that no matter what else happened, that particular nurse was not to enter my wife's room again.

Ugh. How awful for both you and your wife, particularly the, "Call your ecclesiastical leader" bit. Really, now? The nurse thought that was the right thing to say, without checking with a doc first?

I'm glad to hear everything turned out all right, though preeclampsia is scary stuff.

[SCcoug]

Blood pressure is especially a big concern when you are pregnant with your first child because of preeclampsia. My wife who has really low blood pressure otherwise, had it so bad that she was on bed rest for a week, then in the hospital for a week being monitored, and finally delivered a month early because her condition was so bad.

There were other signs though besides her blood pressure shooting through the roof, particularly the ankle swelling.

I'm hoping you don't have to go through that. Even though everything has turned out well in the end, it was a nightmare. The good news though was that there wasn't any problems with any of her other pregnancies. It is usually only a problem on the first pregnancy.

That stinks, during my wife's last visit the doc told her she was high risk for preeclampsia due to high blood pressure. Still no protein in the urine. She is already dreading going on bed rest.

[Eddie]

Ugh. How awful for both you and your wife, particularly the, "Call your ecclesiastical leader" bit. Really, now? The nurse thought that was the right thing to say, without checking with a doc first?

I'm glad to hear everything turned out all right, though preeclampsia is scary stuff.

That was more than 15 years ago - now we just laugh about the experience more than anything. Are worries for that particular kid have gone from will his lungs be developed enough before he is born to will we be able to teach him to back the car out of the driveway without losing the muffler in the process before he gets his license.

[Mrs. Funk]

Update: After taking two weeks of home readings always in the low 120s/70s and lower, I went into the clinic and had a 165/89 reading. White coat hypertension is the culprit. It's kind of hilarious. My morning reading before the appointment was fifty points lower on the systolic than my in-office bp.

I'm going to keep tracking at home the rest of the pregnancy and will not have to go on meds unless I am ever consistently in the 140s/90s. Whew!