My ex wife who is also suffering from advancing dementia has been having problems controlling her blood pressure using the same medications she has used successfully for years. Last week we had an episode where she took a bit too much and her heart rate was down to 36 while her blood pressure was at 235/85. Part of her dementia seems to cause her to get obsessed with certain routines the blood pressure monitoring being one of them.
I have noticed if she is upset or scared her pressure spikes quickly and will stay there until she calms down. We took her to the hospital where she was admitted until they could stabilize her heart rate and blood pressure. The Dr. settled on a medication that would also raise her heart rate. Now that she is home her heart rate seems to fast at about 110 bpm even when her blood pressure is down to about 135.
My question is this, I am suspecting that her problems with blood pressure are stemming from a high level of excitement instead of the drugs not working. Is this possible? Will a drug not work if a patient is highly upset?
My blood pressure when I’m calm normally hovers around 135/85. When I have a panic attack it goes to 200/120 (my pulse is normally around 90, but goes to 150 when I have a panic attack). I’ve met other people (online) who have the same problem, people whose blood pressure may be 110/70 but it shoots to 220/120 when they panic.
The problem I’ve noticed is that when my BP spikes when I panic, I can’t bring it down. I’ve tried various drugs and they are ineffective. I have no idea how to stop it from spiking so much when I have a panic attack.
This is exactly what I suspected. She has a fear of strokes and her dementia has turned this into almost an obsession. When she hears the word or sees her pressure spiking it sends her into a panic attack. I am wondering if stronger drugs to calm her down might be in order.
I take a couple of mild BP meds but neither can combat the effects of industrial-strength worry. As an example I began graduate school a few weeks ago. A day or three after the semester began I had a routine Dr. appointment (I have misshapen feet and need special shoes. He was merely signing off on the measurements the aide had done so the visit was nothing to get stressed over). As a matter of routine they took my vitals and were surprised to see that my BP was high. I explained to the aide that I had just started grad school. She didn’t know what that was and made a big scary note on the chart. When the doc came in I explained again that I had just been hit by an academic freight train. He gave a knowing chuckle and that was the end of it.
So for me anxiety certainly can raise BP.
For a related phenomena, Google “white coat hypertension.” Basically, people register higher BP at the doctor’s office because they are nervous about seeing the doc. It’s fairly common and shows that worry, anxiety, and the like can raise BP even in people taking meds for it.
What is happening to her right now is that she very often doesn’t know where she is and it scares her. Once she gets scared she runs right to her blood pressure machine and checks her pressure, if it is high she goes into double panic. Kind of a vicious circle.
I take two different BP meds, and had to increase the dosage of one of them following the election. Anger, worry and anxiety were having a serious effect on my kidneys, which were already functioning at less than 50%, and my nephrologist upped my prescription.