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Spiking high blood pressure

Maxi2701
Community Member

Hi Everyone 

For the past 3 weeks my anxiety has hit new highs. Literally. My blood pressure now has a mind of it's own and is causing me more anxiety on top of anxiety. I've had lots of tests and all clear. Doctors visits, ED visits and even a stay in hospital. Has anyone else had this? I try deep breathing and counting backwards from 100 by 3's (that does work). I've tried meditation and acupuncture. Medication has too many side effects for me. Any suggestions would be good. I've just about had enough.

 

2 Replies 2

therising
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

Hi Maxi2701

 

The nervous system's such a tricky system, given that it ties into so many different energy systems in the body. Of course, once our nervous system's triggered for some reason, it can take our heart along for the ride while it madly pumps the blood around our body.

 

Trying to get a sense of what you're nervous system doesn't like could be one way to go. There'll be a lot it won't like. For example, it won't like certain sudden chemical shifts that can happen with certain foods, beverages and hormone imbalances. It won't like us thinking in certain stressful ways that put us and our vascular system under pressure. It is not thrilled with certain types of electrical glitches/charges in the brain that can set it off. My mum gets these. The neurologist reassures they're absolutely nothing to worry about. Personally, I used to experience silent migraines that would set off my nervous system. It definitely does not like sleep apnea. Severe sleep apnea can put the nervous and vascular systems through hell. Our nervous system can find it extremely difficult to cope with certain people in our lives (highly demanding people and thoughtless people who just don't care to think about how much pressure we're under). I could go on but we could be here all day.

 

What it absolutely loves are certain calming aromas/aromatherapy (perfumes, calming smells of food cooking, stopping to literally smell the roses), having a lot of tension massaged out of the body or stretching/releasing it out through yoga perhaps, practicing certain ways of breathing, certain types of music, us meditating on what's naturally calming, not being constantly triggered while we're asleep (sleep apnea), calm chemistry (a happy hormone/endocrine system and the chemistry in certain foods and beverages), us removing certain people from our life, including certain people in or life, visiting nature, us not being overworked, venting certain challenging feelings etc etc.

 

Such a challenge to be conscious of so much, that's for sure.

Mark Z.
Community Champion
Community Champion

Hi Maxi2701,

 

I’m sorry to hear that you are struggling with anxiety. It sounds like you have tried many different ways to cope with it. I'm not a professional but I have some personal experience to share:

 

Doing regular sports and going to nature works for me. I work from Monday to Friday and don’t have time to go very far, so I try to exercise almost every morning. I find that aerobic exercises that make me sweat help me feel less anxious and more focused. On weekends, I like to drive further and hike in the forest or along the beach, which also helps me find inner peace.

 

It's also worth to try journaling. It may help you express yourself better, gain insight into your emotions. When you have a better understanding of yourself, you may feel less anxious and are likely to have more ideas to cope.

 

Hope it helps a bit.

Mark