what to do next

Your bp will fluctuate a bit throughout the day so sit comfortably for 5 minutes before you take it. Breathe deeply and make a note of what you were doing before you measured it (I.e. eating, gardening, watching tv).Maybe start off with a reading every 2-3 hours.

I believe it is possible to get a bit obsessive with BP readings & this in turn creates anxiety.  Anxiety will elevate BP & this defeats the purpose of the exercise.  In this case I would take BP around mid morning at least an hour after eating.  Take three measurements as they can vary & record the best of three.  If your BP is still markedly higher than the recommended 120/80 after one week make another GP appt & take your readings along for the doctor or nurse to review.  BP can be reduced through medication or lifestyle changes.  If your BP is excessively high, medication is the way to go but lifestyle changes are possible to reduce marginally raised BP. 

Hi Maggie,

I take my BP first thing in the morning, before breakfast and before doing any housework, or other exercise eg gardening.  I sit quietly and relax and then take my BP twice.  I leave 4-5 minutes between the two readings.  I record both the readings, and count the lower of the two as the 'accurate' one.  Usually my second reading is the lower one.

I repeat the whole exercise late at night, before I go to bed.  Usually after I've been watching TV or working on my computer, and have relaxed.  I make sure that I haven't had anything to eat or drink (except water) in the previous hour or so.  Repeat the two BP readings, and record the lower of the two readings.  Again, the second reading is usually the lower one.

I purchased my own BP monitor which is the same as that used in my GP surgery.  HTH 

 

I would check for a few days (few times a day, random times) before getting excited.  You may be experiencing what is 'white coat syndrome' where your anxiety of being in a Dr.'s office gives you a higher reading.

If you still get the high readings I'd make another appointment and discuss with your Dr. what might be a good course of action for you.

I experience an elevated reading when in the Dr.s office but have a normally low reading when home.  For me, I'm more concerned with how I apparently deal with anxiety... :-O

Hi Maggie,

I agree with BTJ. Check your BP a couple of times a day but don't get too obsessive about it. I too check mine twice a day most days - and not immediately after eating - and record the results on a spreadsheet so I can keep track of any trends. I also sometimes check immediately after coming in from a brisk walk - usually about an hour-and-a-half in my case - and always find it's lower then, which cheers me up!

If you're someone who uses a lot of salt, you can usually bring about an immediate reduction in BP by cutting back to the minimum. And if you're overweight, losing just a few pounds can improve things too.

Hey there

I had the same thing and also decided to buy a bp machine from amazon.my pressure reduced very quickly once i had re strted my 2 days a week of fasting and cutting down on alchohol and no salt.its not as low as suggested but a massive improvement and i only began 3 weeks agon. started at 180 over 114 now averaging at 142 over 85. be careful not to obsess over taking readings because i did at first now i just do an 8.30 am and a 6 pm reading.the machines usually come with a little chart you can fill in good luck and dont worry to much

What the surgery waiting list is for is a 24 hour ambulatory monitor that costs around £1800 so they usually only have two. I'm surprised at 'depends on when people bring them back'  as they are very strict on you only having it for 24 hours and the cuffs need to be sterilsed before the next patient.  I'm always given a precise future date and time to collect one and to return it.

This will give your doctor a better picture than than your home readings as it does one every 30 minutes during the day and hourly during the night.

When you get your own one don't take a reading first thing in the morning as that is when everyones BP is highest. BP rises again during the late afternoon. As others have said it goes down after walking or exercise (shows that it is good for you)

If you bought a decent machine and you take three morning readings it will also average them for you and have the facility to upload them to a spread sheet as a program comes with it. Some also beep out your heart beats or show an irregular heart beat symbol that my present and previous GP surgery ones don't do. They all come with an instruction manual.

Take blood pressure and pulse readimgs as often as you likemake sure monitor is above your heart. Eat a heart healthy diet..low salt low cholesterol Mediterranean diet is bestmake an appointment to get blood pressure medicine

Take blood pressure and pulse readimgs as often as you likemake sure monitor is above your heart. Eat a heart healthy diet..low salt low cholesterol Mediterranean diet is bestmake an appointment to get blood pressure medicine

I'm actually quite surprised at this advice, there are some advantages in using a BP machine but they are not an absolute necessity. Normally recording a high BP on several visits is a good enough indication for some intervention. I suspect if the level stays at this level they will recommend drug treatment and they will continue to monitor it until they feel its reasonably controlled.

Go see your Dr and discuss it with him, its nonsense having to wait for a monitor to do anything, they only really come into their own when control is difficult.