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My doctor thinks I've got high blood pressure and unless I change my awful awful ways may be in for an early exit from existence. Or a stroke/paralysis/wheelchair. Right cheery bastard he is.
I own a blood pressure monitor, but I don't trust it. Can anyone tell me why:
1. Two consecutive readings within 30 seconds of each other can vary enormously
2. How you can measure BP through the arm. Surely the amount of muscle/fat will impact the squeezing of arteries?
I'm quite a large chap 6"1 tall and too wide to fit on a standard SouthEastern railways seat (who isn't?). Once they used a 'big' cuff on the machine which gave a totally normal reading. The normal cuff read high.
I probably do have hypertension, but there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory way of measuring it.
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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I have the same problem...it's well known that a too-small cuff will read high...a lot of medical people don't seem to know that though...I was in the hospital with a blood clot in my lung two years ago...had my BP tested by 20 different people...they all seem to do it differently...some of them knew about the cuff size, a lot of them didn't and tried to measure with the small cuff.
I do have high BP though...get headaches a lot, especially when the barometer changes, but less since I quit smoking (I was sedated for 3 weeks during my hospitalization...quitting was easy! 
High BP runs in the family...we usually die of aneurisms...it's usually pretty quick though, no strokes or wheelchairs, which is usually because of blood clotting. I take this 'Coumadin' blood thinning stuff now, so not much danger of strokes anymore (on a side note, I was getting some numbness in my left hand before my ordeal...it went away after I started taking Coumadin...the bad thing about Coumadin is I bleed like a stuck pig with the smallest cuts and it takes a long time to heal). You might want to get your blood tested for clotting factor...it's not a complicated test. I get tested every 8 weeks to check how much Coumadin I should be taking.
Can't really say how the BP reader works, unfortunately...doesn't make much sense to me, either...some kind of force feedback thing, I imagine. I meant to get my own BP reader, but it's hard to find the large cuff.
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I had the same problem with getting a blood pressure monitor with a large cuff. I bought this a few years ago and it seems to work fine for me.
Omron Auto Blood Pressure Monitor with Large Cuff[^]
The cuff is too large for my wife and the meter doesn't even register so cuff size is important.
You are right about some health care professionals trying to measure blood pressure with a cuff that is too small. When I tell them to get a larger cuff the readings are not as high.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Thanks for the link...I might just get that...dunno if I really want to know anymore, though
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DaveX86 wrote: dunno if I really want to know anymore,
High blood pressure is called the "silent killer" for a reason. 
BTW exercise and lowering your sodium intake can make a real difference unless your high blood pressure is related to a medical condition.
I am fanatical about sodium. I read every label before I buy something.
Something as simple as getting tuna fish in brine (counterintuitive) instead of olive oil can make a difference in sodium content.
Different flavors of crackers by the same manufacture can have different levels of sodium.
You must remain vigilant and lower your sodium intake, as well as exercise to bring down your blood pressure.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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If a too-small cuff will read too high, does that mean a too-large cuff will read low? This is the bit that confuses me. How can you get an accurate reading when cuff size seems all important and they only come in small, medium and large?
Well it sounds like you have it all under control.
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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Rob Philpott wrote: If a too-small cuff will read too high, does that mean a too-large cuff will read low?
Yes, my blood pressure monitor doesn't even register when my wife tried to use it with a large cuff.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Rob Philpott wrote: Here's something I found:
Thanks for the link.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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Herself was diagnosed with high BP back the late nineties, after a dentist pulled a tooth and it was still bleeding 24 hours later...turned out her BP was so high it was pushing any clots out of teh way before they could seal the hole.
The Doc put her on a mixture of drugs when we finally found a combination that worked, and she stayed on them for about ten years. During that time I changed her diet, and cut her sodium intake to nearly nothing. With the help of twice daily BP testing at home (and an Excel spreadsheet / chart) we persuaded the doctor to try no pills, and after intensive monitoring for months we ended up with no BP medication at all. Now I have to force feed her salt from time to time as her BP runs a bit on the low side... 
Try cutting sodium: it's a PITA to do, but it brings very good results!
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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I agree. Sodium is the weapon of the silent killer.
My father used to like a little food with his salt, his plate often reminded me of the Alps of a winter's day he put so much on. He died at the age of 69 of a heart attack. After the autopsy, the doctor said he must have had an incredibly strong heart because any other man with arteries that caked hard would have died years earlier!
Her indoors had high BP and since my sodium was a little high when tested and I was reducing my sodium intake anyway she went along with it. We no longer put additional salt on anything and her BP is now normal with no medication at all - and so is mine.
Tasty hint: If you go to a fast food outlet such as McD or BK ask for your chips (french fries if you are American) with no salt.
1. Once you get used to the unsalted flavour there is no going back and you might just live a little longer.
2. They usually have to make fresh chips for you so, although you might have to wait a couple of minutes extra, you always get fresh chips rather than the sometimes weird mixture of over over-salted, hot top layer from the bucket to the cold, greasy, hours-old chips from the bottom of the bucket. This doesn't apply to regular Fish & Chip shops as they usually are fresh anyway.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Yep - and the stuff is everywhere - mostly because it's a very cheap flavour enhancer.
If you ever fancy a laugh, look at the sodium content on a packet of crisps (chips to our colonial friends).
The Chicken flavour variety has a higher sodium content than the Ready Salted type! 
It took me about six months to work out a bread recipe that didn't include any salt - and I had to fine tune it each time I bought a new batch of flour...
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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Begs the question, does it not, why a person with dietary restrictions would even eat in such a place?
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Cos it's tasty! 
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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True enough, I do heap the salt on...the really good 'sea salt' kind to boot...you can never over-salt anything with that
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Quote: you can never over-salt anything with that
You will die younger than you hoped.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I have got hypertension, and on meds for it.
I use a Omron R7 wrist monitor http://www.amazon.co.uk/Omron-Wrist-Blood-Pressure-Monitor/dp/B000SM0M44[^] appears to work quite well.
BP can vary massively in response to circumstance. Also, white coat syndrome can throw it off massively.
When I was first diagnosed, I use to take 3 readings a day, morning, afternoon and evening and then trend this over time to give you a better reflection of what is going on.
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I've got an Omron wrist type, and a cuff type, and they never agree. I've taken to picking the reading I like best and going with that. That way I get to keep eating bacon. 
Will Rogers never met me.
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Quote: but I don't trust it. Can anyone tell me why:
You can also control your blood pressure so it is not a very good way of measuring "health."
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I have it also and am taking medication which seems to control it well. Last test at the surgery showed mine to be in the 'normal' range. My wife has a home monitor and gets similar results to those you see. You need to take a lot of measurements over a 3 to 4 week period and then try a straight line graph between them. But it is always best to get it checked by the doctor or practice nurse for proper measurement, especially using the old fashioned mercury machines.
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Readings can vary due to a number of factors. Muscle tenseness, heart rate, how hydrated you are, body position, whether you just too k a deep breath or even time of day.
A properly applied cuff and of course using the right size can result in good reading. Digital BP meters can vary and are not generally as accurate as the manual mercury or aneroid sphygmomanometers but they are easier to use . However, one reading does not provide an accurate picture of vascular health, a record of BP measurements provides a better picture because BP can spike when someone is stressed or has just finished exercising. An overall record of higher readings can indicate hypertension.
Measuring BP on the upper arm is more readable than say the leg or forearm because of the size of the arteries as they enter the arm, mainly the brachial artery on the inside of the arm which is closer to the surface. In any case is probably more safe than say wrapping a cuff around your neck.
If you want accurate readings you can insist on having an intravenous pressure bulb placed into one of your arteries, but that can cause some discomfort.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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Try this monitor Omron Auto Blood Pressure Monitor with Large Cuff[^]
I don't know why two sucessive readings can be so different but I do observe that also. My readings usually come down after waiting a few minutes. Maybe I am not relaxed enough when I first take them but waiting a few minutes without any physical activity usually results in a lower reading.
The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
I'm on-line therefore I am.
JimmyRopes
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The instructions say take the average of three consecutive readings from the same machine, using the same seating position, and same time of day and then plot those across time to look for the trend, down or up. Them most important thing is to trend down if you are high, not to know what it is.
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I have a machine that will give the average of the last three readings - but that's not really sufficient to get the true value. You need to keep taking reading every few minutes until the value stabilizes. This is usually a lower number than the earlier readings. The remainder of your comments is correct. I've been told that ideally the arm with the cuff is held to the same level as your heart. Easy if someone's holding it for you - not so much if you're doing it yourself. Using the same chair (=chair arm support) gives me consistency.
Hint: don't have the TV or Radio on, particularly with the news: you systolic reading could spike quite easily based upon what insanity you just heard.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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6 fit 4, 260 lbs, sw enginer, late 40s, till a few months back a smoker, non sporting, basically, a slob, and last year I had my BP taken as part of a check up, 104 over 57. I don't know why it read low, perhaps I was feeling relaxed at the time, but my lifestyle doesn't merit it that's for sure!
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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