Again, because you don’t seem to get this, you are the one who told someone not to trust a medical doctor and to come on here with bloodwork so you can help them figure it out. I explicitly stated that I, and others, are NOT qualified to answer this question - which is the exact opposite of claiming to know everything. You seem to be pretty upset about this so I’ll leave you alone, but I hope OP continues to follow up with a medical professional in a face-to-face setting and resolve his issues.
Ok. Being a medical doctor (a PCP in fact), I actively chose to stay out of this thread, to see how it developed. I knew that someone would discredit doctor’s and that others would share advice, some good and some bad. I tend to agree with @flappinit and @SkyzykS as they share a balanced perspective on the subject.
The way I see it, is that it’s very hard to give detailed advice online, since there’s so much information missing (at least in this case). Another reason being each individual different or unique, which requires some fingertip sensation.
As for assessing hypertension, I have spent several years to understand this phenomenon. Still learning by the way. This means I am a great sceptic to any “too certain” advice delivered on this subject online (here). These “certain” individuals (dudes) often tend to seek alternative explanations to almost anything medical, knowing better. If only life ever was so simple…
The best advice given early in this thread was “go see your doctor” which I believe was well received by the OP.
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Post 13, gents. I was way ahead of this.
BRB - headed to Vegas.
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Yeah. Therein lies the rub. I’m sure you and at least a hand full of docs (real ones, mind you, not like that fake endo that was ripping off people in the steroid forum) know how these things inevitably go.
Fortunately, so do at least a few other good people who manage to get in before the wingnuts decide to chime in.
Yep! 
Nailed it! 
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Just got back from my Doc… she believes it is white coat. Reading was 160/90 and I legit felt like i was having a panic attack as soon as the cuff got on. Heart rate was 120… with no caffeine all week. So she now has me taking my blood pressure twice a day for 6 weeks.
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Good news she thinks it’s white coat and good on you for using open dialogue with your PCP to figure out what’s going on. Best of luck to you with it man!
On another note, have you ever tried working on anger/anxiety as far as getting episodes under control? I can’t speak much to it because I handle mine just well enough to avoid meds, but have learned to keep them from physically affecting me. It’s always a struggle but I’m sure you can work your way through some strategies to nip it before it causes you issues.
I was just thinking about that. I have always gotten very amped up before any sporting event/test i have ever had to take. I archery hunt and one time a massive buck was walking my way… my heart was pounding that hard I legit thought I was going to pass out in my tree.
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That’s a pretty reasonable route to take.
Unfortunate about the white coat syndrome though.
On the subject of staying calm/cool- I do box breathing to bring down heart rate and blood pressure. It’s really very effective. Like within 10 minutes of doing a 45 minute cardio session ending with 1 kilometer on a rower in 5 min (not blazing fast, but strenuous enough) my bp is back down to 104/68 and pulse down to what ever is acceptable.
Meditate, learn to relax…it’s what helped with my anxiety
I agree with the premise of what you’re saying 100%. However, I will say there are definitely plenty of moron doctors out there. When I got my first professional job out of grad school and moved I got a new primary care doctor, my blood pressure was modestly high (think like 135/85) and I had major whitecoat syndrome. This lady basically scared the crap out of me and put me on a diuretic, kept bringing me in for blood work every month, etc. Well, lo and behold, the BP medication she gave me made me have a seizure one day while out getting breakfast before work (I never had a seizure in my life before or after).
I went to a neurologist, aside from the MRI he also reviewed my blood work & medication history. The guy literally said to me “Your PCP is a fucking idiot, find a new one. A first year med school student could look at your blood work and tell you were not tolerating the medication.” (Yes, he literally used the words “fucking idiot” to describe her).
Long winded way of me saying that I do completely understand why people don’t trust doctors. But to reiterate, I completely agree with the point you are making, but people like the retard doctor I described are exactly the reason skepticism exists to the extent it does today.
I don’t think his point was there aren’t poor doctors; rather that your second opinion should come from another medical doctor instead of the internet
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Oh yeah I get that, I was just providing a personal experience in an attempt to explain why that exact advice (which should be common sense) is not heeded nearly as often as it should be.
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Agreed. Ironically though, these days (in my opinion), the real reason why the distrust is so widespread is not as much people’s personal experiences with doctors as it is people reading on the internet about OTHER people’s personal experiences with doctors, which, as I said, are going to be overwhelmingly negative, because nobody goes on a message board to tell the story where “Doctor saw something, we made a small adjustment, nothing had happened before, and nothing ever ended up happening.” There are for sure terrible PCP’s who shouldn’t be practicing, but there are far more people keeping people healthy and contributing to their patients’ longevity that we’re not going to hear about, so that 5% of bad apples that I mentioned before (which is likely less than 5%), seems more like 50%.
I definitely get what you’re saying, though. Good to clarify that if something seems off or fishy about your experience with your PCP, you should change it - which is exactly what that neurologist suggested.
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I had a great experience with my first (and hopefully only) surgery I ever needed. The guy fixed me up and I was hitting new PRs a couple months later, I sent him a thank you letter and very nice bottle of wine 
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You might also want to try getting the one for the arms. The wrists are usually crap. Even something from Costco will do. .
I spent the money for the arm one. I have been measuring twice a day now since the first post. I have seen readings in the 110/50 range… up to 160/100. My diet plays a massive roll in my BP apparently. Thanksgiving morning I logged an insane workout and then went over 10 miles on a hill run. I said ok… I am going to reward myself and literally eat everything I wanted. Gorged myself with my family… and then went to her families get together and again ate like a maniac and drank a bunch of beer. I came home and felt and looked like the bloat lord. I literally went from having abs and veins to being a complete puff. The next day BP was in the 150/90 range. My doctor did not want me on meds on my last visit.
Could be from an overload of sodium
You are a human being, dude. Diet plays a massive role in everyone’s blood pressure. Getting your blood pressure taken the day after eating unhealthy amounts of food and drinking a bunch of beer is going to affect that.
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I wrote an article about this topic a few years ago. It explains why lifters sometimes have weird readings: Tip: Don't Fall Prey To This Medical Mistake