Discussion»Questions»Health and Wellness» If worrying about things increases your blood pressure then worrying about your blood pressure will increase it. By how much for how long?
Worrying about blood pressure can really drive it up.
If you're a truck driver you have to have a physical every one to two years and your blood pressure has to be below 140/90. My husband was a long distance truck driver before we got married and that was always a problem for him.
His blood pressure was always normal until it was time to take the physical so he always had to get a note from his own doctor saying that his blood pressure was normal when he went to his own doctor.
Now that he quit driving trucks for a living he still maintains his Class A driver's license but now when he takes the physical his blood pressure is always normal.
To answer your question about how much for how long, my hubby's blood pressure is consistently between 110/70 and 120/80 but when his job was dependent on having blood pressure below 140/90 worrying about it raised it to around 180/110 which is why he always had to have documentation from his own doctor that it was normal. For my husband it dropped back to normal within 30 minutes after leaving the physical.
I also have a Class A driver's license and in my case it's dependent on where I have the physical done. My blood pressure is normally between 100/60 and 110/70. When I got my first driving job they let me choose where I got the physical done so I went to the easy going doctor and my blood pressure never increased.
My current employer tells us where to get the physical done and I'll just say they're not very pleasant but I just can't use the word I call them on this website. My blood pressure usually goes to around 125/85 but goes back to normal as soon as I leave.
This post was edited by Livvie at November 7, 2017 7:00 AM MST
This is a superbly informative and very comprehensive reply to my question Livvie for which I thank you a lot. I think it's called the "white coat" syndrome. You go to the doc and the nurse takes your blood pressure and it's way higher than normal. You wait awhile and they take it again and it can drop significantly. It happens to me from time to time and I just wondered how it would affect others. Your examples of you and your husband shows how critical it can be to your profession. Thanks again for all the information m'dear and Happy Tuesday! :)