I've been through a lot of traumatic experiences when I was a kid over time I have developed a fear of doctors starting at a young age. I'm 27 now. I have really bad anxiety to the point where if I go to the doctor my heart races and then when the doctors check my pulse they look at me like something is extremely wrong because my heart rate shoots up so high and the look they give scares me even more. I'm unable to relax or take it easy when I'm there. They have tried to keep me there long enough o clam down but every time they go to check my pulse my adrenaline shoots up again and I get scared. I honestly fear I might have tachycardia or something horrible and if I did I don't know how I could go through that. My already fast heart rate would sky rocket even higher. Any advice or words of comfort would be greatly appreciated I have no clue how to handle this doctor phobia
Hi Margs1990, they call it white coat syndrome, plenty people get higher blood pressure and pulse when seeing the Dr so your not alone just a little more extreme but you don't have tachycardia. Perhaps just think it's no big deal if your pulse shoots up when having it taken as its not the end of the world just warn your GP that this happens.
What you do need is a sympathetic GP who understands.
Neil
What level does your heart race at? You can check it at home and take a note to show dr. Then it wont be racing.
Hi margs, what Anne says is correct,every time I see the doctor my blood pressure rises ,the doctor understands this,it is very common, if you need to see the doctor can you not ask someone your close to to go with you? If not when you make the appointment you could tell the receptionist that your very anxious and need assistance,I wish I lived near you, I would accompany you to help you stay calm,it won't be as bad as your imagining,your anxiety is making it worse, I'm so sorry your feeling this way,I hope you feel better soon 😃
Yeah this last ER visit made me feel worse the doctor asked me if I was doing drugs or had been drinking alcohol and didn't believe me when I said something was wrong with my eye. He ran tests and confirmed I had corneal abrasion on my left eye, but also stated my heart rate was fast and I could be treated for it or sign a waiver saying I refused treatments. I told him from the get go I was very afraid of being at the doctors he just brushed me off and thought I was a drug addict, I would love if I had a friend who understands to sit with that's would be so nice lol thanks for your advice it helped a lot
That is awful. What a horrible doctor. If you go to the doc again, tell them before they do any tests at all that you have been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and that doctors are one of your triggers. The advice above about taking your blood pressure and heart rate at home and taking a screen shot of it for them to see, will show them how they docs trigger you. There are free apps for blood pressure and heart rate for both iPhone and android phones. So sorry you had to go through this. Bless you.