I think that I finally have some actual evidence that driving around rush hour with crappy drivers makes me ragey! The last two times I've had my blood pressure taken at the clinic, my systolic has been between 145 and 150. Normally, my BP is in the low 130's, so I was pretty shocked to see how high it was. After today's appointment, my doctor took my BP again just before I left, and it had dropped down to 125! I've started to make the correlation that driving from work in Champlin, all the way to Maplewood while crunched for time with bad drivers surrounding me causes my blood pressure to definitely increase! Next appointment, I'll try to get there a little bit early, and maybe read for a bit before going in and see if that makes a difference.
Update- I've been thinking about this more and more and I really think that my first experience with the clinic has been a cause of my high blood pressure. The three times I stepped foot in Partner's OB, I was riding the miscarriage roller coaster. Now, every time I go in, I am so worried that something might be wrong with the baby, and I get all anxious until I hear the heartbeat (this plus having to drive in traffic). Once I hear that wonderful thumping sound, I relax completely. When I go in again in two weeks, I'm going to discuss this with my doctor and see if there is anyway I can see her first and have her use the Doppler before having the lab tech take my BP and see if that makes a difference. In the meantime, I am to check my BP a couple times at the drugstore to make sure it isn't getting high.
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Hi blood pressure can be a scary thing! A good trick to remember is "belly-breathing". Most of our daily breathing is done moving our chest upward, breathing with our ribs. Belly-breathing is a consious effort to breath with your diaphram, the kind of breathing that pushes your belly out and in. Imagine you're filling your belly with air. This triggers the body's parasympathetic nervous system and begins the calming process, pulling you away from the adrenaline based "fight or flight". Take a moment when your heartrate is high to try this belly-breathing, I tend to need a few belly-breaths after dealing with rude people or when I start to get upset about little, unimportant things.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps!
Love,
Lauren
I'll definitely give this a try next week before my appointment! I checked my BP at CVS the other day (right after driving) and the systolic was 123, so I'm really thinking that it's just awful pre-appointment anxiety.
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