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[nando]

Help please ....

Hi i was prescribed HRT in October 2015 after almost having to beg my doctor for it
never got my bp checked just got a repeat prescription end of December
had an appointment with the nurse in March to check bp she said it was high and i should not take HRT anymore
4 month on and i feel worse now that when my menopause symtoms started in 2014 
can i have HRT with high blood pressure meds ? doctor just keeps telling me no ( but she never wanted me to have in the first place )

[Taz2]

Hi nando - the same thing happened to me, coupled with the fact I am over 60, but my doc did ask me to use the surgery's home blood pressure monitor for four days to see how it was normally and not while stressed at the docs. I would suggest that you go back and ask for similar for yourself so that you can get a good idea of what your blood pressure is doing. Do you have a blood pressure machine in your doctors reception area? If so then go in three times a week for a couple of weeks and keep the print outs so that you can also show these to your doc.

Have you had a look at the blood pressure association website to see what you can do to get your blood pressure down and do you know what your reading was?

Taz x

[Taz2]

There's a bit about HRT on the blood pressure site http://www.bloodpressureuk.org/BloodPressureandyou/Yourbody/Menopause

Taz x

[nando]

Thank you Taz2 i go back on Wednesday and i will ask about the monitor,thanks for the link i will check it now 

[Dana]

IMO any knowledgeable health professional would never tell you to stop taking HRT on just one bad BP reading. It sounds like this doctor is trying to find excuses for not prescribing it, purely based on their own biased opinion, and that sounds like I doctor I wouldn't want to be using.

A lot of people suffer from "white coat syndrome", and I'm one of them. My doctor is lovely and I'm not nervous about seeing her at all, yet my BP would always be high when she takes it. After my mother passed away I kept her BP monitor and I started taking mine on a regular basis and it's perfect. I now just jot it down in a little book and show it to my GP every time I go and she's happy with that.

I'm not saying that you don't have a BP problem, but you really need to be monitoring it yourself at home where you will get much more accurate readings. They're not that expensive to buy. Just get your own and you can use it anytime you want to. You can get them at most pharmacies.

[Joyce]

I suffer with raised BP & I'm on HRT. I monitor BP at home & surgery check every 6 months. I suffer badly with white coat syndrome. As a result if reading is high at surgery they try again. It only takes moments for them to recheck.

[Dana]

The funny thing is that even doctors can suffer from white coat syndrome. My GP told me that one day she took her surgery partner's BP (he's another doctor) and they were both shocked to see how high it was. He tested it himself later and it was fine. It's a really weird syndrome that can affect anyone.

[Taz2]

When you read the instructions on the home monitoring kits it's hardly surprising that we get a higher reading at the docs. My monitor is the same one as in the surgery as recommended by my GP, so it can't be a difference in equipment,  but how many times do we arrive in the waiting room and have the cuff on our arm before we've hardly sat down let alone got both feet on the floor? 

You have to sit with your back against the chair and feet flat on the floor.
You mustn't have had tea, coffee or alcohol in the last thirty minutes.
Sit for at least five minutes before taking the blood pressure... etc.

Taz x

[nando]

Thank you very much ladies   
I`am very much prepared for my next visit now,
that is very true Taz2 most of the time I never even get a hi how have you been and its round my arm
and the fact i suffer from social anxiety i worry for 2 days about going to the appoitment in the first place,
I think that should be taking into account too

[zelda]

Ask your doc for a 24 hour monitor. I had to get one as my BP was up to 205! when tested on 24 hour monitor it was 121/75 overall and then they finally agreed I could take HRT.

[Elizabethrose]

I too have white coat syndrome, I understand it's very common. Usually surgeries will organise a 24 hour monitor before they start making rash medical decisions. I've had one before and the readings were fine at the end analysis. However, they wake you constantly through the night and are a bit of a pain!

As this is a regular problem for me, I bought a monitor and like Dana, now jot down a few readings over a few days before I visit the GP. I had a procedure under GA a few months ago and they were freaking out before they put me under as my BP was through the roof (What did they expect?!) They gave me some sort of sedative before they put me under and it dropped immediately. Haha, they asked me whether that was normal! 

[zelda]

Elizabethrose..... I even get WCS using the monitor we have at home....

[Elizabethrose]

Haha Zelda, there's no hope! The thing that always baffles them is that I appear totally calm and collected, the shock on their faces makes me laugh out loud. I was actually on the bed in the operating theatre surrounded by gowned medics who were visibly stunned!!

[zelda]

Elizabethrose ... I am always worried if I face the same situation that they won't operate. As I mentioned before mine has gone up to 205 over something or other, I can't remember what.

I am wondering if it might be worth considering maybe hypnotism or something to help?

[Mary G]

Sorry you had to fight to get your HRT, we were having this discussion on another thread and from what you have said, it would appear that many GPs are still out of date and lukewarm about prescribing HRT which is completely wrong of course.

I would not waste too much time with reluctant doctors who don't really understand HRT or seem to be looking for excuses so they don't have to prescribe it.  I would not be prepared to thrash this one out indefinitely and remember, it is you who is suffering and how long do you want to wait for HRT?  The blood pressure thing is over done and unless you consistently have very high blood pressure, there is no reason to refuse HRT and low oestrogen often causes high blood pressure anyway.

I am going to say what I always say and that is depending on how you are placed financially, why not see a private specialist who understands the menopause and HRT?  I am a patient of Professor Studd and he is brilliant but I am sure other members can recommend others private specialists too.