BP machines

[nickieb]

I know many of you use the home ones, so i could do with some advice. I was at work tonight & took my BP in my office using a little machine & the first reading was so high 153/101 so i changed arm & repeated it 121/70 & repeated again around 6 times swapping arms & all the other measurements we normal around 120/70 ish.

So i ask what caused that initial high BP?? do the machines sometimes do this? My bp has always been fine- no problems & when i saw the first reading i was like Crap but it was fine for the other readings after

nic xx

[jill]

Hi hun

The FACT that all other reading where fine says to me that your first reading was due to how it was took or when, or what you where doing the first time you sat down to take it. Are blood pressure can go up and down depending on what we are doing and even, what we are thinking, eg, if we are worried.

I have one of these myself, well, I bought it for hubby because he is on meds for high blood pressure, when he seen my reading he said "ohh you should be dead" LOL I have low blood pressure and at the time it was very low, reading 80/70.

These monitors are good, but if any worries at all, as you know, you must always contact your gp, BUT yours is just fine, spot on

Take care

LOVE JILLXXX

[tim73]

Readings are not always perfect and they do recommend you do a couple, although you should wait at least 5 minutes between readings to let your body re-adjust.

These are highly recommended now by many doctors as they avoid the "White Coat Syndrome" of getting BP checked by the GP when you are most tense.

You should take readings at a similar time or times each day to get a good picture and remember what you are looking for is a consistent reading. Spikes are not an issue. So if you have one high and the rest is low, it's no problem.

Note that "High" is generally considered consistently higher than 140 systolic and/or 90 diastolic (though people differ).

In the UK under the NHS, everything under that is "normal" (i.e. no need to spend NHS money).

In the US, if you're consistently over 120 systolic and/or 80 diastolic, it's consider pre-hypertension, which means you should do something about it or risk high BP in the long term (i.e. cough up lots of money to the US healthcare system ). Under that is "normal".

P.S. Tip. Apparently if have an empty bladder you'll get a lower reading.

[nomorepanic]

Nickie - I hope you use them right on the patients

They have to be in the right position to get a good reading.

You must know loads about blood pressure being a nurse though.