# Can anxiety alone cause high blood pressure?



## 16366 (May 28, 2006)

I just had a baby (3 months ago) and developed pregnancy induced hypertension the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy. I had never had hypertension before, and all expectations were that it would resolve once I delivered--but it has not! Birth was long and traumatic (very long 2nd stage, baby had shoulder dystocia and stopped breathing, etc.) To say I have anxiety right now is the understatement of the year--maybe even PTSD as a result of the birth and my physical injuries AND I have a personal and family history of depression.But now I am taking blood pressure meds (in addition to the psychotropic ones)--and I never had this problem in my life prior to pregnancy--can anxiety alone produce this effect, or was I just a ticking time bomb for developing high blood pressure? (I'm no spring chicken)


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## Vamplady (May 10, 2003)

YES!I must say YES! I never had high blood pressure till this past year. I had alot of anxiety due to my mom dieing and now I am also on this type of med. I want to tell you that when I was on Effexor it was alot higher and has come down quite a bit off of it. I quit taking antidepressants and antianxiety meds 8 weeks ago but the high blood pressure didn't go away. So I am on a lower dose blood pressure med and its under control.You are having alot of changes and trauma lately. Give yourself a break. Breath. Meditation also helps. Take care of yourself!Vamplady


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## 22388 (Feb 24, 2007)

I am taking effexor too and my blood pressure has gone way up! I am only 32 and my pcp told me to talk to my psych doc about lowering the dosage of Effecxor. I am on 150 mg. Is this hard to get off?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Anxiety and the stress hormones, adreniline rush, etc, can raise the blood pressure by themselves.Some drugs also have this side effect so they may want to do a drug review to see if you need to switch medications.I had to take evasive action to avoid a big accident on my way to the doctor's office. While that was terror over an actual event (rather than terror over past events, worry, etc.) it did a big number on my heart rate and blood pressure. Your body responds to the fear the same way no matter the cause.You may also be at the point in life where it was about to go up anyway, and the pregnancy and anxiety might have pushed it over the edge it was tettering over anyway.K.


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## 22388 (Feb 24, 2007)

After talking to my psych doc we decided to start slowly tapering off the effexor today. I have gone down from 150 to 112mg. Hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that this helps lower my BP and I have no major anxiety as a result from the change in dosage.


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## Jannybitt (Oct 13, 2006)

I know pain will also raise your blood pressure. I'm a 120/70 girl, but when I'm in serious pain with my back, my blood pressure goes way up.Litgirl;Did you gain a lot of weight with your pregnancy? I'm sure it's hard to control the blood pressure when the anxiety level is so high. Have you any knowledge of meditation or deep breathing relaxation techniques you could use? Those can be very helpful.Congrats on your new addition!!


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