boogal
05-11-12, 17:54
Just got back from the practice nurse after a follow up blood pressure check. It was sky-high 2 weeks ago – 203/111, so doc put me on Amlodipine and I’ve since been keeping track of my BP every few days with my home wrist monitor. BP has been coming down nicely, sometimes reading in the normal range, 120-ish over 80-ish up to around 140-ish over 90-ish.
At the surgery just now, using an electronic arm cuff the nurse got a reading of 180 over – can’t remember now – so I took a reading with my own monitor while I was there to see if they matched. I got a reading of about 160. Nurse then – at my request – took a reading with her own wrist monitor and got a reading of 124/86. Then she did the pump-type pressure test and got 156, so I did it again with my own wrist monitor and got 144/91.
Consequently I’m none the wiser. She admitted to being baffled and took the pump reading as the true one, all of which leads me to question the reliability of the kit used in GP’s surgeries.
Moreover, what really ticked me off, was that she first took my pressure (arm cuff) before I’d been seated for more than a few seconds, having walked down the corridor and taken off my coat etc and she was talking to me and asking questions the whole time! On top of that I always get white-coat anxiety. Is it any wonder my BP was 180?
The wider issue of course is how many people get put on BP meds not because they might need them but because GP’s surgeries are using unreliable kit and/or nurses are too dense not to take a reading until the patient is at rest.
Had to get that off my chest!
At the surgery just now, using an electronic arm cuff the nurse got a reading of 180 over – can’t remember now – so I took a reading with my own monitor while I was there to see if they matched. I got a reading of about 160. Nurse then – at my request – took a reading with her own wrist monitor and got a reading of 124/86. Then she did the pump-type pressure test and got 156, so I did it again with my own wrist monitor and got 144/91.
Consequently I’m none the wiser. She admitted to being baffled and took the pump reading as the true one, all of which leads me to question the reliability of the kit used in GP’s surgeries.
Moreover, what really ticked me off, was that she first took my pressure (arm cuff) before I’d been seated for more than a few seconds, having walked down the corridor and taken off my coat etc and she was talking to me and asking questions the whole time! On top of that I always get white-coat anxiety. Is it any wonder my BP was 180?
The wider issue of course is how many people get put on BP meds not because they might need them but because GP’s surgeries are using unreliable kit and/or nurses are too dense not to take a reading until the patient is at rest.
Had to get that off my chest!