Blood Pressure Tests. Puzzling over methods.

[miahara]

My first 5 day home monitoring (over a year ago) I was told to test twice in mornings and evenings and discard the higher of each pair of readings and then calculate the average.
When I saw my GP last week she reiterated this. However the recording sheet I was given at the surgery for a 5 day test says in the advice to whoever does the calculations, to ignore the first day readings and then simply calculate the average of the next 4 days. Seems a bit odd, though possibly the first day readings may be high due to the stress of what may be a new procedure to some patients.
When I do my own testing I just calculate the overall average.

Any views on the whys and wherefores and what method produces the most reliable result?

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I didn't like the idea of blood pressure measurements causing me to be prescribed tablets if I was battling white coat syndrome, stress and every other thing that could put the pressure up. I invested in my own 24 hour tester. You forget you are wearing it as far as stress is concerned but the buzzing every 15mins. cannot be disregarded.

The printout gives averages for everything, graphs, lists and pie charts. If I am going to get tablets then I am going down fighting.

 

[AndBreathe]

I didn't like the idea of blood pressure measurements causing me to be prescribed tablets if I was battling white coat syndrome, stress and every other thing that could put the pressure up. I invested in my own 24 hour tester. You forget you are wearing it as far as stress is concerned but the buzzing every 15mins. cannot be disregarded.

The printout gives averages for everything, graphs, lists and pie charts. If I am going to get tablets then I am going down fighting.

As a matter of interest Squire, how did you acquire the 24 hour tester, and if I could be bold, what was the cost?

 

[Squire Fulwood]

As a matter of interest Squire, how did you acquire the 24 hour tester, and if I could be bold, what was the cost?

I consulted the great God Ebay and found that you will pay £160-£180. The way it works is if you pay the top price it is Free Postage but if you pay £100 (as I did) then the postage is £60 or so.

This one looks identical to the one I bought but I don't remember which supplier was involved.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CE-Contec...939900?hash=item2cba58c17c:g:IPEAAOSwB-1YorTR

 

[Squire Fulwood]

My DN said that since I show an interest in these things then she would give me a copy of the paper on how to diagnose high blood pressure. In that paper it says that Hypertension is when you never go below 140/80. My average is far less than that but has peaks in it. I got pills.

My GP who saw all the results said that he thinks the nurses are over egging the pudding in my case and I agree with him.

Since I like wine I was interested in finding out what the effect was on my blood pressure. I used a single reading BP meter to find out but had gone to sleep before the interesting bit. I did it again using the 24 hour tester and during the bit where I fell asleep my blood pressure went down to 88/33. I presented my DN with the print out and she stopped the pills.

Apparently a low blood pressure can damage your kidneys.

So, in my opinion, the 24 hour meter is worth its money.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

While I am boring everybody rigid I found the bit of paper that says one off spikes don't count. So if you go to DN's office and she only takes one reading its validity is doubtful in my opinion.

http://emis.webmentorlibrary.com/pdffiles/pilsl543.pdf

 

[Sid Bonkers]

The way it works is if you pay the top price it is Free Postage but if you pay £100 (as I did) then the postage is £60 or so.

It used to be common for some eBay sellers to offer items at low prices but with high postage and packing as they only paid commission on the sale price p&p so were saving money but eBay realised what they were doing and now commission is charged on the full price inclusive of p&p so I dont know why these sellers still do this as they clearly dont realise the rules have been changed and that is why many sellers now offer items with free postage as its just included in the price

 

[Squire Fulwood]

It used to be common for some eBay sellers to offer items at low prices but with high postage and packing as they only paid commission on the sale price p&p so were saving money but eBay realised what they were doing and now commission is charged on the full price inclusive of p&p so I dont know why these sellers still do this as they clearly dont realise the rules have been changed and that is why many sellers now offer items with free postage as its just included in the price

My one came from China who seem to do as they please. The bottom line is that if you want one of these you will pay £160-£180 by whichever method they choose to state the cost.

 

[AndBreathe]

I consulted the great God Ebay and found that you will pay £160-£180. The way it works is if you pay the top price it is Free Postage but if you pay £100 (as I did) then the postage is £60 or so.

This one looks identical to the one I bought but I don't remember which supplier was involved.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CE-Contec...939900?hash=item2cba58c17c:g:IPEAAOSwB-1YorTR

Thanks Squire - After reading your post, I went clicking around t'internet, exploring 24-hour monitors, and found the one you showed there. Whilst I didn't buy it, I did find myself buying a smart watch/activity monitor that also does BP (albeit I'm sure it's going to be nowhere are accurate as yours), including overnight as it monitors sleep.

Did I need a smart watch? Well, no. But then, I am a gurl.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Did I need a smart watch? Well, no. But then, I am a gurl.

Well of course you need a smart watch. I can't imagine how you've coped without one up till now.

 

[Daibell]

I think much of this high blood pressure thing is OTT. Low blood pressure can be just as bad as if it's too high and the Germany understands this. My wife has low blood pressure but no medic cares. I recently looked online at the graphs of BP against age and the graphs stop at around age 65 (I'm 72). They rise linearly with age and extrapolation says 140/80 is good for me and I'm below that even with my 1.25 mg Ramipril which I'm going to stop. The assumption that 'everyone' needs to be below 140/80 means all us oldies, like statins, would be on BP drugs which can't be right. There is a lot more research needed on BP just like cholesterol. My GP did a quick test a few years back and I was just over 140/80 so slapped me on Ramipril despite white-coat issues. Having a 'high' BP affects travel insurance so being prescribed the tablets increases my premiums - great.

 

[EllsKBells]

That's definitely true @Daibell with regard to the low blood pressure thing. I have a condition called POTS, so when I stand up my blood pressure drops to about 40/20, and my heart rate leaps up to around 200 - 250 - obviously, this has to be medicated, because otherwise I can't stand, walk, etc., I'm basically bed bound on my really bad days.

Something which does occur to me re the in office testing is whether they do it 'manually', with the cuff and the squeezing, or if they use the automatic one. When mine gets measured, there is without fail a difference of about 20 systolic and 15 diastolic between the two, and I wonder if the physical stress of feeling the automatic one close around you so you can feel your pulse might artificially raise it?

 

[Bluetit1802]

I also wonder what notice is taken of pulse rates. These should be between 60 and 100bmp. Mine has always been at the higher end of this range. My resting BP is stable at around 116/70 and I measure at home quite often, but my pulse can be in the 90's. OK this is within standard, but I don't like it being up there! It has never been picked up on any of my checks yet my poor heart is working too hard!

 

[noblehead]

When I do my own testing I just calculate the overall average.

On the Omron monitors there's an average bp feature taking into account the last 3 readings, I use this feature when recording my bp in a dairy.

 

[dancer]

At the diabetes centre, the BP monitor often fails to get a reading at the first attempt. I hate when it starts pumping up the cuff again, as I know it will hurt and most likely won't get a reading at the second attempt. The next time it pumps up, the cuff gets even tighter and I have even held my breath because of the pain. That can't be good for the BP. No wonder I have high readings! (I also have white coat syndrome.)

 

[ME_Valentijn]

I hate when it starts pumping up the cuff again, as I know it will hurt and most likely won't get a reading at the second attempt. The next time it pumps up, the cuff gets even tighter and I have even held my breath because of the pain.

Make sure they wait at least a minute before re-inflating. Doing it immediately will gave inaccurate readings. But yeah, I usually come out of those with streaks of red dots on my arm where the cuff was

 

[dancer]

The monitor automatically re-inflates, so I can't do anything about it. Once, when it re-inflated a 4th time I was going to tell them what they could do with their BP equipment, but it actually gave a reading that time, but my arm was red and painful for ages afterwards.