White Coat Effect

I have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Whenever I visited doctors, they told me that my blood pressure was high, but that it was probably due to the "white coat effect".

It turns out it wasn't ... my blood pressure was high whether there was a white coat around or not. You can read this article if you want to know how I found out I really did have high blood pressure.

Word Spy defines white coat effect as:

white coat effect   n. The elevation of a patient's blood pressure readings caused by being in a doctor's office or clinic, or by being in the presence of a physician.

Competition

I think my white coat effect was due to competition.

I knew going into the doctor's office that they would be taking my blood pressure, and a good result was lower numbers ... just like when you go into a race, a good result is a lower time.

I also knew that high readings were bad ... when the doctors would tell me that my readings were bad I felt that I had somehow failed (and steeled myself for the inevitable lecture about how high blood pressure is bad.)

I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it! ... that ripping sound as they prepare the cuff, then wrap it around my arm, then the phush ... phush ... phush sound as it inflates, and the sssss sound as it deflates.

The Double Pump

The icing on the cake is when the doctor is half way through the deflating, and you hear the phush ... phush ... phush inflating sound again.

At this point in time I can't help thinking that they mustn't be able to believe my blood pressure is actually that high, and they need to double check it. The double pump up is never a good sign.

Excuses Excuses

After reading the above, it should come as no surprise that I suffer from the white coat effect.

What came as a bit of a surprise to me is that I also really do have high blood pressure. This was proved to me absolutely by needing to spend 10 days in hospital due to severe hypertension. (See the My high blood pressure story for more on that).

Monitoring

I now own a home blood pressure monitor and take my own blood pressure each day. (Well, I take it most days which is why I wrote the My Blood Pressure  software to remind me).

Now when I go to the doctor, even with a bit of white coat effect, my readings are in the normal range!

Feedback

Do you have a story about the white coat effect and blood pressure? If so, email me at support@my-blood-pressure.com and I will be happy to add your comment to this story, or add your story as a new article, or link to your webpage.