measuring bp
Posted , 7 users are following.
ok, little rant here, but i really dont understand the way bp is measured and this seems to be an opinion shared by some doctors.
The instructions like no talking, no music, 30 mins after caffine, rest for 5 mins, arm at certain height etc are just ridculous. No one’s day to day life is like that.
if high bp is dangerous it shouldnt matter what you are doing with a few exceptions like exercising at gym.
I can understand doing it to establish a level to check whether trend is up or down but to determine your actual bp it all seems at bit false to me.
Certainly at the doctors they bever do that and when you wear a 24hr ambulatory device you are exoected to go about your day to day activities which makes sense to me.
0 likes, 20 replies
joanna17875 infraction
Posted
Hi there,
I have never heard any of the above other than making sure you take your bp above your heart. From what I have read your bp will naturally differ dependant on the time of day regardless of what you are doing. Personally I am anti gp's as I rang my surgery to discuss my medication and dizziness, all he did was lecture me at length about salt intake, something I have never added to cooking or add over food!
Well said in my opinion and I hope you make some sense of it all.
Good luck and keep well.
jx41870 infraction
Posted
Hey infraction, I'm with you on this and more. Of course the trick is to get a baseline you can compare over time, etc. A little high BP is perfectly natural when you're working hard, and that's why doctors are often kind of slow to worry about it when you report even 160/100 at rest.
You want more to rant about, who says that squeezing your arm is a good way to measure BP? What about differences in blood viscosity depending on hydration and whatnot? And, robot versus old sphygmomanometer? I believe the robot 200% of the time. I don't trust anything taken in the doctor's office if done the old way, although at least a nurse is more likely to get it right than most doctors.
Don't even get me started …
mike92384 jx41870
Posted
jx41870...first of all...it's not really a matter of squeezing the arm, it's measuring how the blood flow is in the artery. It's true; people aren't supposed to talk while taking a reading, they are not supposed to eat, drink caffeine, exercise, bath, shower, etc. 30min prior to a reading. We only get one reading in the Dr. office., not an average. People should sit up straight, feet flat on the floor, the cuff approx. 1 1/2" above the bend in the elbow, with the tube running straight down the center of the inner arm, meeting the middle finger. The arm should rest with the cuff level with the heart. At least three readings, each approx. 2 min apart should be taken. Then average those readings...that gives the bp. Actually, the very first reading should be disregarded because it's likely inaccurate. Nurses being more accurate at taking readings?...hardly.
Don't get me started.
jx41870 mike92384
Posted
Mike, I know what some nurses tell me - and I have my own experience.
I've also never found the first reading to be any less accurate, and why should it be?
Even at its best repeat readings can vary by five or ten points, and that's a lot.
You'd think some little doppler tricorder widget could be invented … and I suppose someday it will be.
will2390 infraction
Posted
The reason for that is that your blood pressure will fluctuate during the day depending what you're doing and the time of the day, the only way to diagnose Hypertension is by measuring blood pressure while you are resting and relaxed, if it's constantly stays high during a period of time then the doctor can make a proper diagnose and the severity of it.
infraction will2390
Posted
If I wear a 24 monitor I am nearly always 153 -180 / 110 - 112.
So does this mean Im not got bp urgency/crisis because Im not at rest?
With the at rest figure I wont necs be given meds, yet in real life situation my heart is having to work overtime so surely Im damaging it?
Now I dont know if my dr will give me meds, i havent been so far because measuring at rest has totally missed the high bp i suffer during the day.
This is my problem with measuring at rest.
jx41870 infraction
Posted
infraction jx41870
Posted
infraction
Posted
however an ambulatory 24 gives me 153/111
my monitor matches the 24 hr monitor when taken at same time not at rest
So if i never had the 24 hour thing my dr would think my bp was ok if slightly high.
Whereas the 24 thing says i have stage 2.
This us why i think its really not a good way to judge because noone spends their time at rest.
And this is supposed to decide whether I spend the rest if my life on drugs with serious side effects!
I just dont find it scientific. As an engineer we test in real world situations not just perfect conditions.
Also the 24 ambulatory test does not expect you to be at rest so why not the same for home monitoring.
personally i feel everyone should have a 24 hour ambulatory test before being given meds.
jx41870 infraction
Posted
@infraction, the more data the merrier, but I'd expect your doctor to be smart enough to compare baseline to baseline and active to active. 130/95 is a tad high, of course more the 95 than the 130, so you'd want to compile another few baselines over several days to get an estimate.
What really fries me is when the doctor takes a measure just in his office and thinks that is a good sample - and then discounts for "white coat hypertension". I seem to have *lower* readings in the doctor's office, and when I bring in my machine it tends to agree with theirs, more or less. But they don't like to hear any of that.
Jazzydee infraction
Posted
I had a BP of 140/95
They gave me a 24bp monitor which was pathetic as my job made it impossible to give correct readings!
Anyway after the results the GP and nurse on separate occasions prescribed and recommended I take 2mg of rhimaparol!
I refused! Eat properly as much as you can!
Joined a gym and I do a run maybe once a week!
My BP is now 130/80 on average with regular monitoring!
To summarize you can lower your BP by not eating s**t! We all no if you eat more calories than you burn your Gona get overweight!!
If you don't want to exercise stop eating foods with sugar or carbs or face the consequences!
Finally if your BP is 160/90+
Then you should definitely take doctor's advice!
Jazzydee infraction
Posted
I had a BP of 140/95
They gave me a 24bp monitor which was pathetic as my job made it impossible to give correct readings!
Anyway after the results the GP and nurse on separate occasions prescribed and recommended I take 2mg of rhimaparol!
I refused! Eat properly as much as you can!
Joined a gym and I do a run maybe once a week!
My BP is now 130/80 on average with regular monitoring!
To summarize you can lower your BP by not eating s**t! We all no if you eat more calories than you burn your Gona get overweight!!
If you don't want to exercise stop eating foods with sugar or carbs or face the consequences!
Finally if your BP is 160/90+
Then you should definitely take doctor's advice!
jx41870 Jazzydee
Posted
If you have some weight you can lose, lose it and almost certainly it will help your BP.
OTOH not all BP pills are that bad … some are bad, some are OK-ish.
mike92384 Jazzydee
Posted
Jazzydee...you're right in some of the things you say. Eating garbage food isn't good for bp..or the entire body for that matter. Exercise is important too. Losing weight most definitely helps lower bp. Even at 160/90, a person can lower that by exercising a few times/week & by losing weight, lowering stress levels, etc. Age is a big factor also.
eming infraction
Posted
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