I have really bad health anxiety. Yesterday I went to the doc to have a check up done. Whenever I go my blood pressure rockets up. It was 150/90 when they took it. I recently went to the cardiologist as well, when they took it there it was 160/90. 

Anyway, at yesterday’s appointment the doctor comes in and tells me “you have hypertension and we need to start you on blood pressure medication right away”. I told him that I have extreme anxiety when I come to the docs office, and that I had just visited with a cardiologist who said I probably have “white coat syndrome” and the best course of action is to get a monitor at home, test myself to see if it’s normal in a more relaxing environment, if it’s still high to try and eat healthier and lose weight, and if that doesn’t work after a few months, start medication. The doc from yesterday responded to this by saying “it doesn’t matter if you monitor it at home, you have hypertension and you’ll slowly deteriorate over time”. I was shocked by this because he’s a general practitioner and he just totally through out what my cardiac specialist said. 

I feel so defeated at this point. I’m only in my early 30’s and I’m being told I need blood pressure medication. I just feel like throwing in the towel because I know my anxiety causes a lot of this. And I’m anxious all the time, so how will this not kill me eventually? I’m scared, and now I’m so worked up I just feel like I’m causing my blood pressure to remain elevated. I’m not looking for medical advice, more so if anyone experienced the same or feels the way I do? I have nobody to talk about this with—I appreciate whoever may have read this long rant. I’m just scared. Thanks.