I've had anxiety disorder for several months now, and I've been through all the monitoring issues. For a while, I would check my pulse constantly. I managed to stop doing that, but every once in a while I still catch myself checking my pulse. I also have mild high blood pressure, so I had bought a home monitor and was checking that every day (sometimes twice a day). If my BP was a little high, it would bother me. I finally came to the conclusion that all the checking and monitoring was not helping me. I refuse to check my pulse, and I put away the blood pressure monitor. I take .5 mg Clonazepam twice daily, and I take my blood pressure meds. I run and lift weights, and I try to eat right. Beyond that, what can I really do? If my anxiety is going to act up, it will do it regardless of what I do. I have been feeling better lately, and I'm wondering if all the checking and monitoring was actually holding me back. I know it sounds simple, but those of us with anxiety know it's not that simple. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I also monitor. I have the home blood pressure monitor as well as this heart rate thing used for exercise that you hook around your chest and wear a watch to see your pulse. For a few weeks there I swear I was out of mind with the monitoring. I would take my BP every 30 minutes and write it down and look constantly at my pulse watch! It was literally making me crazy. I quit when I started xanax and now only take my BP once per day as my doctor asked me to(I also have slightly elevated BP but am on atenolol for that). I check my pulse only when I feel like my heart is skipping a lot. I also quit looking up symptoms online as that was making my anxiety worse also. I do think we as anxious people - especially health anxiety - may make it worse by doing some of the things we do to ourselves. I had to quit doing what I was doing because as I said, it was making me crazy! My pdoc thought I had OCD but since I was able to just stop doing it he ruled that out.
So like you I am taking my meds, eating healthier and waiting for my test results from my cardio before beginning to exercise again.


Tori

:bouncing: I have had my blood pressure monitor for years and its had more use than prob my GPs. I carry this around everywhere with him along with

asprin(in case I have a heart attack)
sweets(in case I feel faint)
diaxepam (in case of major attack)
herble calming drops(in case of mild attack)
personnal cd player all loaded with my relaxation tape
spare batteries
and water

You prob guessed I have this anxiety prob real bad but I just find reasurrance in my "bag". Sometimes I can take my BP every 30mins but sometimes I can go months without using it BUT its gotta be with me everywhere I go.
I think your right about over using it but Its my security blanket

I used to do the same thing. I started with checking my pulse constantly. I rarely do it now. I also would take my BP all the time. It is high at the doctor's office but my heart races there, too because I'm a nervous wreck. At home when I'm truly relaxed, my BP is fine but if I'm worried, it goes up. The last time I was at my doctors, she told me to stop taking it. Now I don't take it at all and I feel better. My focus lately has been changed from me to other things and it is amazing how different I feel. I'm on magnesium so that might be helping, too.

OCD is an anxiety dissorder, so I would think most people with an anxiety dissorder probably have some OCD tendencies as well. maybe not debilitating, but there. For instance the checking of the BP all the time seems like a compulsion because it give relief to anxiety and the thought, "I think I am having a heart attack." My compulsion for awhile was checking my blood glucose level for hypoglycemia. I did this all the time to the point that there weren't many places left on my hands to ***** for a blood sample. It was ridiculous, but I was searching for a cure.

SoccerDad,

I think you are definitely on to something. I have noticed the more I keep myslef engrossed in what I am doing the less likely I am to have anxiety. For instance I am always running at work and rarely have time to stop and think about anxiety. Anxiety for me usually sets in when I am alone and inactive. I think the number one thing you can do is get up and do something. Again, I don't believe it will alleviate all the symptoms, but it definitely helps.

wow... i can identify with a LOT of the things mentioned on this thread... lol...
i log my bp in a spreadsheet i have 3 times a day, but check it a LOT more then that...
i check my pulse all the time too...
when i go walking (for exercise... ~2miles / 30 mins / 4 times a week) i wear a heart monitor...

and yes... i agree all the "monitoring" is probably not good long term, but it DOES help me feel at ease most of the time...
sort of a small consolation or validation that i'm not dying and that i'm healthy...
that is of course, unless the bp monitor spits out results of 83 / 34 which will send me into a tailspin, then break out in a cold sweat, and end up a heap on the floor... lol...

It is so funny to read some of this stuff and realize other people are going through the same things you do. I don't monitor my blood pressure I am the complete opposite.. I freak out when I go to the doctor and I know my blood pressure is going to read high because I am anxious and then it sends me into major anxiety knowing it is high.. So I refuse to know what it is. I do check my pulse often because I have PVC's (premature Ventricle Contractions) so my heart feels like it skips a beat but it doesn't. It is just a premature beat and what I feel is the next beat. I also always carry food with me because I think my blood sugar is low all the time and in case I feel funny I eat. So now I run into the problem is it low blood sugar or just anxiety. I hate taking pills, I refuse them actually, my doctor has try to give me praxil, lexapro and some other drug and I refuse. My body is so sensitive that I hate any little feeling or side effect that isn't normal for me. I try to to handle it on my own. I bought the Attacking Anxiety and Depression from Lucinda Bassett, and I tell myself this is all in my head, I can get through this. I could write a book on my anxiety, but it just helps knowing I am not the only one going through this, it helps to talk to others.