[omni-scientist]

That pretty much describes my experiences at the doctor's office. I wanted to know if my wrist BP monitor was accurately measuring both systolic & diastolic. On the first visit, the PA measured something like 175/90. Immediately after that my monitor read 176/89. So it was tracking pretty well.

That was after I handed her a spreadsheet printout for 30 days at home that showed twice a day I was averaging 122/78.

Knowing that, on a follow-up visit I was more relaxed and confident that I didn't have a problem. So my BP was lower then at 142/88, but still elevated.

White-coat syndrome is a real thing, but it is a misnomer. It is anxiety that is self-inflicted. I liken it to going into a final exam for which 50% of your grade is dependent on. In the doctor's office you know that there will be a "grade" that determines your doctors recommendation for a more aggressive drug treatment that you probably don't want or might not need.

[Owen]

Ya, it’s very common.

People wisely say I will do what the doc says to do.

Just make sure you show the doc home measurements. They all know about White Coat Hypertension. It is very common. The standard is you measure high in the office, but you say you just measured fine at home that morning. They will say do a 2 week log at home and send it in.

Don’t quibble over a few points here and there. If you are 170 at the office systolic and you EVER see 120s at home, well, then you don’t have hardening of the arteries, because they do not unharden just because you’re at home.