Hi gabbycakes

Thanks for the advice. I did some googling and found the following information:
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The Link Between Blood Pressure and RSD

Pain is stressful to the body and one way that it reacts is to increase your blood pressure. RSD is believed to be a dysfunction of the sympathetic system. The sympathetic system is responsible for regulating your heart beat, blood pressure, body temperature, and respiration. Some patients need medication to control their blood pressure because RSD may keep it constantly elevated. You may have spikes in blood pressure, palpitations, and rapid heart beat especially during pain flare-ups. Know that any type of chronic pain can increase your risk of high blood pressure. Monitor your blood pressure to prevent serious complications.
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So it sounds more like my sympathetic system is constantly reacting to my RSD pain and has elevated my BP. I have had my blood pressure medication switch several times. The good news is that the pressure in my chest has gone away! I am counting on this new medication to lower my blood pressure even though the PM doc said that I can still have the block as long as my heart is okay, and it seems like it is. The bad news is that my short term memory loss is getting on my nerves!

Thanks lefty

My wife's doctor is always concerned with her bp because pain and age can cause a rise in pressure. Her bp is ok however. Your issue about taking the bp reminds me of an incident we had at Johns Hopkins. While we where in an examination room a rude nurse rushed and and grabbed at my wife's arm (who has full body RSD, especially her upper extremities) to take her bp. My wife reacted in severe pain and screamed. I calmly explained to the nurse she has RSD badly in her arms, can you take it with a wrist or ankle cuff? She stormed out and a young doctor came into the room and lectured us about being rude to the nurse. I explained the situation that we are here because my wife has been in sever agony for years with no treatment for this disease at all and to be grabbed by the arm without saying a word of warning I find it extremely unprofessional that a nurse from this facility would do this to a person with a painful neurological condition. The doctor responded my wife has 10 minutes to think about getting her bp using a cuff the traditional way, her upper arm. My wife made the decision to leave. The bill was $450.

Sorry for going off track but the mention of taking one's bp brings back bad memories and to this day I still cringe when my wife is asked by the doc for her bp. Such a simple act can be so painful for those with RSD.

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Grrrrr

That makes me mad !

I would have sweetly suggested that they hasd 10 minutes to produce their policy stating that all bp's must be taken in the arm, even when that is contraindicated by the patient's medical condition OR they could send the patient advocate down to help you contact the police and file assault charges.