# White Coat Syndrome



## Stitch147 (Feb 25, 2017)

I think I definitely get it. Whenever I get my blood pressure checked at the gp surgery, either by the Dr or nurse, its always a bit raised. Wednesday when the nurse checked mine it was 137/103! So she sent me home with a testing machine and I have to test morning and evening for a week and go back to the Dr. 
Here's the results so far -
Thursday morning - 100/77 (didn't test in evening)
Friday morning - 112/76
Friday evening - 116/76
Saturday morning - 99/74 

Does anyone else get this?


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## Bubbsie (Feb 25, 2017)

Stitch147 said:


> I think I definitely get it. Whenever I get my blood pressure checked at the gp surgery, either by the Dr or nurse, its always a bit raised. Wednesday when the nurse checked mine it was 137/103! So she sent me home with a testing machine and I have to test morning and evening for a week and go back to the Dr.
> Here's the results so far -
> Thursday morning - 100/77 (didn't test in evening)
> Friday morning - 112/76
> ...


Yes all the time Stitch...did have high blood pressure...190/110...had medication for about 4/5 months...due to diet/exercise and weight loss now off that meds...I have my own BP monitor...do my readings before GP's visit...he is happy to accept them...knowing as soon as I set foot in his office/surgery my BP shots up...have you thought of getting your own monitor when you give this one back?


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## Stitch147 (Feb 25, 2017)

Bubbsie said:


> Yes all the time Stitch...did have high blood pressure...190/110...had medication for about 4/5 months...due to diet/exercise and weight loss now off that meds...I have my own BP monitor...do my readings before GP's visit...he is happy to accept them...knowing as soon as I set foot in his office/surgery my BP shots up...have you thought of getting your own monitor when you give this one back?



I don't have to give this one back! The nurse got me one from the pharmacy. She wanted me to wear one of the 24 hour monitor things but it was at least a 3 week wait, but I explained I was on holiday in 4 weeks so arranged for me to have one as it was such a high reading and didn't want me to hang around! She said normally they have some in stock in the surgery but they ran out. So wrote a prescription for me this one!


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## Manda1 (Feb 25, 2017)

Same thing happens to me as I get completely stressed when I have to see a Dr or nurse ! The anxiety starts the night before the appointment at my last appointment it was 160/118 and when I was admitted to hospital it was 220/ 130... I too take mine at home at the advice from my consultant, was told to go back to the gp if lower number goes up to 90 or upper number goes above 140 and it is usually 120/ 80 or there abouts  x


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## Bubbsie (Feb 25, 2017)

Well that's positive Stitch...so you can keep an eye on your BP...those numbers sound fine...so most likely 'White Coat' syndrome...and the tooth ache...horrid...nasty combination...sounds like it's settling down...just in time for that holiday...make sure you relax and enjoy it...coming at the perfect moment...after battling with the GP for that much needed referral...been a rough time for you.


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## grovesy (Feb 25, 2017)

Stitch147 said:


> I don't have to give this one back! The nurse got me one from the pharmacy. She wanted me to wear one of the 24 hour monitor things but it was at least a 3 week wait, but I explained I was on holiday in 4 weeks so arranged for me to have one as it was such a high reading and didn't want me to hang around! She said normally they have some in stock in the surgery but they ran out. So wrote a prescription for me this one!


It is quite common. 
I am suprised they issue on prescription.
 I have had one of my own for a number of years I normally check mine on Monday when I weigh myself aswell.


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## Bubbsie (Feb 25, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> Same thing happens to me as I get completely stressed when I have to see a Dr or nurse ! The anxiety starts the night before the appointment at my last appointment it was 160/118 and when I was admitted to hospital it was 220/ 130... I too take mine at home at the advice from my consultant, was told to go back to the gp if lower number goes up to 90 or upper number goes above 140 and it is usually 120/ 80 or there abouts  x


Perfect score Manda...much the same as mine (now)


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## Stitch147 (Feb 25, 2017)

grovesy said:


> It is quite common.
> I am suprised they issue on prescription.
> I have had one of my own for a number of years I normally check mine on Monday when I weigh myself aswell.



I was surprised too. She said they started doing it to help people monitor their blood pressure better to help people come off medication.


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## chaoticcar (Feb 25, 2017)

Mine was blue uniform (nurses ) I started to take my BP at home and took.the results in when I went to the DB clinic and they were fine I am still tested at the clinic each time I go and it is usually within normal range so I presume testing at home cured my symptoms 
  CAROL


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## Martin Canty (Feb 25, 2017)

Definitely I suffer from this...... A real pain....


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 25, 2017)

I get this too, as does my mum.


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## Hamness (Feb 25, 2017)

They always take my BP readings that I do at home cos White coat syndrome and just driving to the surgery put mine right up !


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## pav (Feb 25, 2017)

I must be a odd ball, as my BP at home is similar to what's taken at the docs, they did put me on a 24 hour monitor, but turns out I am allergic to the disinfectant they use on the cuffs. Now have to use my own meter if they want an average BP over a certain time period.


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## KookyCat (Feb 26, 2017)

I get it Stitch, if they take it I'll be 130/75 (almost like clockwork, except the time when it was very much higher than that ) but my blood pressure with a 24 hour monitor never gets above 112/60 and that's when I'm excited, except a few years ago I happened to have an appointment when wearing the 24 hour monitor, and yep the instant I stepped foot inside that surgery it popped up again.  I can feel myself start to panic when they put the cuff on.  I was actually diagnosed with low blood pressure via a 24 hour monitor, and postural hypotension so it was a useful exercise for that alone.  Did they take your blood pressure more than once?  My consultant does it three times now (for anyone with white coat issues) then they report the last figure and the average.  Apparently we white coat folk tend to relax if it's done multiple times.

I wouldn't worry too much, I think it's very common.  I use my home monitor to keep an eye as standard now so I know when to stress out about blood pressure and when not to.  They scared me half to death the first time it happened, I was staring at that blood pressure monitor every time it started to rumble.  I read an article recently about white coat hypotension actually indicating an excellent defence response (startle reflex), which in turn shows an excellent fight or flight mechanism, so maybe it's a sign we'd be good in an apocalypse


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## Stitch147 (Feb 26, 2017)

Hi kooky, yep they took it 3 times with similar results each time. Much better results at home.


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## Kaylz (Feb 26, 2017)

I get this all the time although last time I was at the Dr she checked 3 times and the machine kept erroring lol so she had to check what it was from 3 months earlier which she said was fine and let me go although this is what my diagnosis came from, as for the 24 hour ones they are awful, taking a little box and sleeping with it under your pillow having to remember its there and taking it with you if you go to the toilet lol, I had high blood pressure in 2014 and had to wear one on 2 occasions, and have a heart scan it was awful all the worry and it turned out to be for nothing thankfully, hope you continue with the lower readings and hope you are feeling better too  x


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## Barb (Feb 26, 2017)

I definitely suffer from White Coat syndrome. Whenever I go for my annual check up my blood pressure shoots through the roof. Years ago I invested in the same monitor used in the hospital/surgery and my results are fine. One of the problems seems to be that medics do two or three more readings in quick succession, without waiting the 2-3 minutes recommended in the instruction manual. Invariably the results go up rather than down! It is worrying that medications are often prescribed on the basis of these inflated readings


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## Northerner (Feb 26, 2017)

Yup, I get it too. No matter how calm and relaxed I try to be, it's always 20-30 points higher at the surgery than on my meter at home  They usually try three times with me, and I've had them use both the electronic and manual monitors, both with similar results! My GP accepts my home readings as a truer reflection though, and hasn't attempted to force more medication on me  I'm on a low dose of candesartan.


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## Manda1 (Feb 26, 2017)

I use the bp monitor from work my manager let me borrow it and I always take when at work too x how much are bp moniters to buy ?


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## grovesy (Feb 26, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> I use the bp monitor from work my manager let me borrow it and I always take when at work too x how much are bp moniters to buy ?


They vary in price. I think I paid about £40 for my last one.


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## Northerner (Feb 26, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> I use the bp monitor from work my manager let me borrow it and I always take when at work too x how much are bp moniters to buy ?


I got (an earlier version of) one of these - they are the same as used in the surgery


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## mikeyB (Feb 26, 2017)

Yes, I have an Omron. For what it's worth, Which magazine rated Omron the most reliable and accurate.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 26, 2017)

mikeyB said:


> Yes, I have an Omron. For what it's worth, Which magazine rated Omron the most reliable and accurate.



Can you please tell me what a 'good' reading for bp is? I'm clueless but want to check mine at the pharmacy tomorrow when I get my 'supplies'


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## Northerner (Feb 26, 2017)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Can you please tell me what a 'good' reading for bp is? I'm clueless but want to check mine at the pharmacy tomorrow when I get my 'supplies'


The ideal is below 130/80 - guidelines and more information here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Managing-your-diabetes/Testing/#bloodpressure


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## Manda1 (Feb 26, 2017)

Forty quid ??! Oh my days !


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 26, 2017)

Thanks


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## mikeyB (Feb 26, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> Forty quid ??! Oh my days !


Where's the forty quid? That link takes you to Amazon where it's a penny short of £25. That is excellent value for an accurate piece of kit. You will find cheaper kits, but you get what you pay for. They just aren't as good.


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## Stitch147 (Feb 26, 2017)

I have an Omron one. And the good home readings continue. This morning was 106/73.


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## Manda1 (Feb 26, 2017)

mikeyB said:


> Where's the forty quid? That link takes you to Amazon where it's a penny short of £25. That is excellent value for an accurate piece of kit. You will find cheaper kits, but you get what you pay for. They just aren't as good.


Oh OK can probs stretch to that at a push ... Thank you x


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## Robin (Feb 26, 2017)

Our local pharmacy had an offer on the Omron ones a while ago, £15 apiece. Worth shopping around, to see who's got the loss leading offer this month. I only get my BP taken once at the surgery, because it's always around 120/70 and they look at it and say, yes that's fine . Trouble is, I'm like Kooky here, when I do it at home ( I started doing mine to encourage OH who has high BP and was reluctant to remember to test) I discovered it's often around 90/50!


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## trophywench (Feb 26, 2017)

Mine's a Pro Logic one - and the reason I bought it was, it was the one my GP recommended and that the pharmacy sold - £15.  Takes BP and pulse, doesn't have a storage facility for results though, so you have to write em down if you want to keep them.  Hardly onerous.

I did shop around before handing over the dosh - nobody else (I tried Boots, Superdrug, Lloyds, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys) had a SINGLE one either on the shelf or in their store-room that didn't have an 'XXL' cuff. 

It is getting stupid - they have extra wide chairs in the consultant's rooms now too.  I don't suggest for a minute that extra wide things shouldn't be available - but why are they becoming the NORM?


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## mikeyB (Feb 26, 2017)

Robin said:


> Our local pharmacy had an offer on the Omron ones a while ago, £15 apiece. Worth shopping around, to see who's got the loss leading offer this month. I only get my BP taken once at the surgery, because it's always around 120/70 and they look at it and say, yes that's fine . Trouble is, I'm like Kooky here, when I do it at home ( I started doing mine to encourage OH who has high BP and was reluctant to remember to test) I discovered it's often around 90/50!


That's distinctly hypotensive. If you were on an operating table the anaesthetist would pressing the panic button. And you would be falling over if you stood up quickly. So there may be something wrong with you, but the likeliest cause is the one TW mentioned. The inflation cuff is too large.


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## Robin (Feb 26, 2017)

mikeyB said:


> That's distinctly hypotensive. If you were on an operating table the anaesthetist would pressing the panic button. And you would be falling over if you stood up quickly. So there may be something wrong with you, but the likeliest cause is the one TW mentioned. The inflation cuff is too large.


Probably, though it's the same size as the one my nurse uses! It's always lowest first thing in the morning, though, and it comes and goes, I get more normal levels later in the day. I don't feel like I'm going to keel over, (though come to think of it, I always automatically get out of bed or stand up slowly because I used to feel dizzy if I did it too quickly)


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## mikeyB (Feb 26, 2017)

That's perfectly normal. Blood pressure is always lowest in the morning. That's why docs like 24 hour monitors before bunging folk on tablets. That's the ideal, anyway. Not doing that leads to old men and women falling over, specially as BP always gets higher as you get older.


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## trophywench (Feb 26, 2017)

mikeyB said:


> That's distinctly hypotensive. If you were on an operating table the anaesthetist would pressing the panic button. And you would be falling over if you stood up quickly. So there may be something wrong with you, but the likeliest cause is the one TW mentioned. The inflation cuff is too large.



Didn't want to discharge my husband from hospital where  they'd been sorting his prostate cancer out, cos his BP was 118/ 65.  I asked what they'd been doing to stress him out so much?  Duty Doc came, and Pete pointed out they'd have to keep him there till he died probably, if they wouldn't let him go with that BP.  But also asked them to ring his consultant being as both the Urologists knew very well (and so did ALL of his patient records in the hospital since last century) his BP is permanently low - and so is his heart rate, at rest.

Mine didn't go above 118/65 - often lower hundred and teens over 50s - until I hit my mid 50s - and nobody ever batted an eyelid at that.


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## Ralph-YK (Feb 26, 2017)

The Radio 4 medical/health programme had an episode about blood pressure last year.  It's expect that it'll be higher when taken by a doctors.
They were talking about some research that included self testing BP. Discussed how to use the results, as the BP reading were likely to be lower.


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## KookyCat (Feb 27, 2017)

Mine's an Omron and seems to be very reliable.  I am distinctly hypotensive, and have postural hypotension which is why I now do regular readings outside of the medical environment.  Thank goodness for 24 hour monitors is my feeling because years ago they wanted to put me on BP medication after I cracked a 140/80 during a medical for work.  I'd just run down Oxford road in Manchester (it's a long road) in 30 degree heat wearing a polyester jacket (yuk) fearing I would be late.  Lateness is my only real stresshead thing, my feet were full of blood from the blisters, I was stressing about being late, bright red from the heat and practically at panic stations because I couldn't find the builiding and I really really needed that job!  The GP chortled after I relayed that tale when he examined the 24 hour readings, largely because he realised how hugely stressed I had to have been to get blood pressure like that when I normally hang around the lower end of the scale. If they'd have given me medication I'd have had no blood pressure at all .  I've also discovered via the 24 hour monitors that coffee pops my blood pressure quite significantly which is what prompted my no more than 2 a day policy


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## Ralph-YK (Feb 27, 2017)

I've never heard of 24 hour monitoring of BP.  I've been on tablets since early 2011.  Occational readings at GPs


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## grovesy (Feb 27, 2017)

Ralph-YK said:


> I've never heard of 24 hour monitoring of BP.  I've been on tablets since early 2011.  Occational readings at GPs


It has been available for at least 15 years, I had one before the GP decided to put me on medication.


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## AndBreathe (Feb 27, 2017)

I have outrageous White Coat syndrome.  A couple of months ago in the Endo clinic it was something like 200/110, when before going I had been 110/70.  By the time I got home again it was back at morning levels.  It's so annoying!  

I'm not normally stressed when seeing the medics, although I was before the Endo appointment because I knew I was going to have to be standing my ground over something, so I knew the numbers would be supersonic.

I too monitor myself at home.  I recently decided I'd have a fitness monitor, having listened to a very good presentation on the impacts of being sedentary.  When looking around, mindful I really didn't want to pay much (fearing it'll be a fad) I found one able to do pulse and BP as well as the other activity/calorie stuff.  I laughed, thinking it'd be very inaccurate, but it calibrates well with my Llyods BP monitor (which was also a Which? best buy).  Via Bluetooth, it reads my pulse every half hour, and my BP every hour overnight.  I can also do ad hoc BP and pulse reading at any time.

I'm sure I need to check my calibration every bow and then, and of course, I'd only use anything measuring BP at wrist level as a guide and trend tracker, in much the same way as finger prick testing helps understand blood glucose.


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## Wirrallass (Mar 20, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> I use the bp monitor from work my manager let me borrow it and I always take when at work too x how much are bp moniters to buy ?


Hi Manda. I bought an Omron M2 Basic B/P monitor from Lloyd's Pharmacy May 2016 when it was on offer for £9.99. It's reliable. This model is about in excess £25 today. Worth checking on line.

Compare UK.net/Online store

Lloyd'sPharmacy
https//www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/blood

https://snapdragon.com/products/health-heart

Hope you find the above useful.


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## mikeyB (Mar 20, 2017)

When I bought my Omron, a more expensive model, the  girl behind the counter said 'Do you need a memory?"

"Aye' I said.

I forget how much it cost.


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