So I went to my dr.s appt't yesterday. The night before I slept well, I used the visualization , and self -talk. I did not experience any anticipatory anxiety! I was fine all morning, even in the office until she called my name.Then the dreaded old feeling came rushing in my whole body, of course she took my BP right away. Its high...Ofcourse...150/100. Then we discussed some other things, agree to me wearing a 24 hr. monitor to get a true reading, make another app't for 3 months, off I go.
When I got in the car I started to cry...so I wrote down what it was that I was feeling. At first I thought it was relief ..that it was over, but then it came to me, I was upset because the reading wasn't perfect, that I thought since I had done everything "right" it should have been perfect. It came to me that I'm scared of having high BP, not only cause its unhealthy, but because , in some weird way, I had thought that it meant I didn't have control . And I have to give up control to some outside force. (Doctor's, pills)This is hard for me to explain, I'm not even sure if I totally understand the way I feel, I just feel like I've had a breakthrough. So what if I do have Hypertension? I'm certainly not alone with it. I try to do all the right things, and other than that I can't control it by myself. I need outside help. Just like my anxiety....I struggled for so many years trying to "conquer" it on my own ,(never worked for very long) now I'm using this program, and I take a SSRI. And I'm doing so much better, for longer than ever before!
I see now that I have a negative core belief about having High BP as something you do to yourself. This is where it gets complicated..my father had really high BP, but he had a terrible lifestyle... Smoked, drank, ate, angry,now I think Codependant, My mother and him had a love/hate relationship,she always went on and on about his faults. Nag, nag nag.
But I take good care of myself...sure, I could improve in the exercise area...but I see now that my high BP is not a sign of failure, not a sign that I'm like him, its just genetics. So be it. I'm already ok with having an anxiety issue, having high BP is just another part of my life.
I cannot explain how relieved I feel. I avoided dr's for years and years,scared of being told something that I already knew, (I have HiBP) but now, like that lightbulb, I feel like I could go to any dr. and say, "Ya, I have hypertension...my doctor and I are working on it."..just like I would say " I have this pimple".
Whew!
Getting there,
Cleo