When my friend Brad told my about his anxiety and high blood pressure symptoms I told him to visit his doctor. While I am suffering from high blood pressure since years and know some about it, I am not the person to ask for advice. So Brad went to the doctor and here is what he said.

Brad is not too old yet, just 31 but he is obese. He weighs 290 lbs and is only 5'09. He has various symptoms which make him nervous. He is afraid of having too high blood pressure and clogged arteries. He recently went on diet to loose some weight but the symptoms got even worse.

Twice a day he has periods of shallow breathing that take some hours and is noisy. He also feels some pressure on his chest followed by tingling in his face and arms. He is doing fine while asleep, the problems are just during the day.

He is already taking some Remeron for depression since years and wonders if this has something to do with his symptoms. The doctor said that since he is male and obese that he these two risk factors alone should be monitored. However, a heart or problem would cause him to breath deep and rapid and not shallow.

At his age it is also not too likely to have clogged arteries already that are dangerous already. He advised Brad to make an echocardiogram if he is really worried. This cost about thousand Dollars. The doctor said that the symptoms Brad described could come from simply overbreathing. Exhaling carbon dioxide too fast makes the blood alkaline and the nerves tingle.

Since Brad is taking medication for depression anxiety the doctor he told Brad to watch his thoughts and count his breaths per minute to find out if he is just overbreathing.

Of course, obesity is always bad for blood pressure. The doctor advised Brad to loose weight if possible, stop smoking and do some exercise regularly.