Also, some people have so-called White coat hypertension. Basically, a medical appointment stresses them enough that they present with HBP even though they are, in fact, healthy.

To mitigate this, frequent measurements at home or at work should be taken. Those give you much more information about your status.

But isn’t it very common to account for the white coat syndrome?

I was recently diagnosed with HBP and the process went like this: - doctor took the measurement, was very high

- asked me to measure at home, call if it was still high (it was, but much lower)

- invited me over, I got a blood pressure monitor for 24h. That showed a borderline 130/85) higher BP. For comparison, he was reading 160/100 at his office..

This is just to illustrate that doctors should know about the white coat syndrome and shouldn’t diagnose you based on readings in their office only.

Competent and caring doctors know about it and mind it, yes. Finding those that do have free patient slots is quite a quest, though. Especially outside large urban centers.

You will always find a great cardiologist or dentist in Prague. Ostrava is already much more challenging and Bruntál means playing it on hard mode :)

Yes, I confirm that. I was always found to be hypertensive when I had my blood pressure taken by a nurse, but when I took it myself it was usually only a bit elevated (between 120-135) or normal (between 110-120). As a result I was diagnosed with white coat hypertension.

Same, then after my systolic climbed to to 180-200 they got around to diagnosing me with kidney disease. I ended up with permanent vision and kidney damage because other than that, I was an apparently healthy young person.

Even mild hypertension can be a serious indicator of potentially life threatening, or at least altering, issues. If you measure high at the doctor, measure yourself at home and keep a log.

Sorry to hear that. Yes, I'm keeping a log, and so far all is well. I went from 164/83 in late June, when I started taking measurements, to 114/59 last week, without making any dietary or lifestyle changes. I'm quite convinced it was all psychological.

What was the underlying issue?

A congenital autoimmune disorder that led to renal hypertension in my late teens. This is my first year in remission.

And many nurses don't know how to take it. Half the time they turn the automated machine up to 200. It takes so long to pump up and then vent down that my arm will get tingley and I can feel my blood pulse get stronger.

Well, I have an MD in the household. But I get anxious when measuring blood pressure because I'm scared it will be to high. My dad has it, and I'm always afraid I'll get it too. When she ambushes me and measures it when I don't have the time to panic, it is usually fine.

On the other hand, I had a regular blood test several weeks ago, and my blood sugar was borderline high for a fasting period. I just went out and bought a glucometer and tracked it for days later, it was much lower. It just happened on that one reading at the lab. The only explanation is that I was fasting for too long (close to 16 hours) and the lab was not the first thing I went in the morning, I had one more place to visit before. So my body was already fully woken up and/or my liver started doing its thing and produced glucose from fat or whatever.

Just want to expand on how I feel this alone is most of the reason why accessing the right healthcare is such a pain. This quick fix culture of "let's get you assessed and we'll have you on some kind of pills in no time. Oh look, it's time for my lunch break!"

Similarly, I've noticed dogma in psychiatry discouraging of "self-diagnosis" and the consequence of that: individuals with stories of spending years experiencing their state of mind, many hours researching it yet still having to go through multiple professionals to arrive at the "right" diagnosis (despite often spoonfeeding the professional the answer on a silver platter yet meeting resistance)

> This quick fix culture of "let's get you assessed and we'll have you on some kind of pills in no time. Oh look, it's time for my lunch break!"

That's what you get when wrong incentives are in place. Additionally, I believe it would be better to have a separate market for diagnosis (as in, technicians selling their services, not attached to any doctor or hospital) so that you can get tested whenever you want (at your expenses, or partially reimbursed by your insurer, whichever system works best) instead of having a gate-keeper for everything.

My friend is a practicing doctor and we’ve talked a lot about medicine. The “quick fix” culture is one of his biggest complaints; from his perspective, it mostly comes from profit-seeking hospitals forcing larger and larger case loads. But also, if you’re treating the general public, you’ll encounter a lot of superstition, woo, and “Facebook M.D.s”, so as a patient be prepared to be persistent.