Sat outside cardiology...

[Loobles]

Ok, so if there's one thing i hate it's having my blood pressure taken...and now i'm about to have a BP monitor fitted for 24 hours. Lord help me...anxiety level nearly through the roof.

Any words of wisdom?

I'll get back to chewing my nails down to the knuckle then!

 

[Bluetit1802]

Do nails raise the BS if eaten? Lol
Good luck Loobles. Ask if you can take it off at bedtime.

 

[Loobles]

Will do...don't want to be sleeping with it on.

Nails...well i reckon they'd be low carb, low GI so i reckon they could stay on the menu lol

 

[jim1951]

The first few readings will be high. When you go back, ask them to exclude those readings from the average, or give you two readings i.e., with and without.
The readings whilst you are asleep are really important as they show your blood pressure which is not being influenced mentally by you.

It is not that bad really

jim

 

[Loobles]

Hmmm i see your point Jim...i do think i have a strong mental influence over it as i panic as soon as i feel the cuff inflate! Not managed to control that yet.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Stop panicking! Just don't go shopping with it on .... when it goes off it buzzes then the inflation noise sounds like you are breaking wind. Lol. I made that mistake. Couldn't get out of the shop quick enough. Don't worry, it will be fine.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hmmm i see your point Jim...i do think i have a strong mental influence over it as i panic as soon as i feel the cuff inflate! Not managed to control that yet.

Raised blood pressure was what triggered the bloods which effectively diagnosed my diabetes. My BP was high, but the circumstances surrounding the 3 readings considered high were questionable.

In any case, I have bought my self a monitor, and started monitoring for myself, saving my readings in the machine's memory. To be fair, the initial readings were a bit elevated, but they dropped quite dramatically, along with my weight and bloods. At my one and only review since diagnosis, the nurse was happy to accept my readings as the true picture. It probably helped that everything else was also good.

I still do the odd reading. The monitor I bought is this one: http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/blood-pressure-monitor-and-cuff-16309 It was the ?Which best buy last summer, so I was confident it would be fine, even if seemingly cheap.

Good luck with it.

 

[Cath16]

I had a 24 hour monitor on last week. I was dreading it but it wasn't as bad as I feared. You have to keep it on overnight though. I really didn't expect to be able to sleep but I actually did. Overnight it only inflated once an hour instead of every half hour. I was very stressed at the start but got used to it. The advice about not shopping is good though cos I did that! Good luck with it am sure you'll be fine. Cath

 

[Loobles]

Stop panicking! Just don't go shopping with it on .... when it goes off it buzzes then the inflation noise sounds like you are breaking wind. Lol. I made that mistake. Couldn't get out of the shop quick enough. Don't worry, it will be fine.

ha! I'd love to have seen your face. It sure is noisy when it goes off.

Rather annoyingly, the results go straight to my GP in a weeks time. Was hoping I'd get to see them, but the unit even hides the reading on the display. ******. Well I guess I'd better learn to be a patient patient lol.

 

[Loobles]

Raised blood pressure was what triggered the bloods which effectively diagnosed my diabetes. My BP was high, but the circumstances surrounding the 3 readings considered high were questionable.

In any case, I have bought my self a monitor, and started monitoring for myself, saving my readings in the machine's memory. To be fair, the initial readings were a bit elevated, but they dropped quite dramatically, along with my weight and bloods. At my one and only review since diagnosis, the nurse was happy to accept my readings as the true picture. It probably helped that everything else was also good.

I still do the odd reading. The monitor I bought is this one: http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/blood-pressure-monitor-and-cuff-16309 It was the ?Which best buy last summer, so I was confident it would be fine, even if seemingly cheap.

Good luck with it.

Thanks for that recommendation. I do have a BP monitor but it's old and to be honest I question its accuracy. Therefore, I was looking at replacing it but just couldn't decide what to get. Looks like you've saved me a few hours of research, thank you. My BP has always been high-normal but lately I've noticed it creeping higher still. Trouble is, I hate having it done, even at home and so I don't know whether it's me getting anxious, or whether I really do have high BP. Given my size, I'd say it's likely I have high BP, but you never know.

 

[Loobles]

I had a 24 hour monitor on last week. I was dreading it but it wasn't as bad as I feared. You have to keep it on overnight though. I really didn't expect to be able to sleep but I actually did. Overnight it only inflated once an hour instead of every half hour. I was very stressed at the start but got used to it. The advice about not shopping is good though cos I did that! Good luck with it am sure you'll be fine. Cath

Ah ha! So, it sounds like shopping is a no-no then...just as well I ordered my groceries online and have the delivered later today...hopefully it won't go off while I'm at the door dealing with Asda. I'd like to say I'll get used to it and learn to ignore it, but it's so bloody tight it's giving me pins and needles every time I bend my arm. Looking at the cuff size, it's too small for my arm anyway. When I was a nurse, we actually took out a tape measure and measured people's arms. I'm trying to work but can't say I'm being terribly productive with this thing on my arm. Tempted to give up and take the afternoon as holiday.

 

[Bluetit1802]

ha! I'd love to have seen your face. It sure is noisy when it goes off.

Rather annoyingly, the results go straight to my GP in a weeks time. Was hoping I'd get to see them, but the unit even hides the reading on the display. ******. Well I guess I'd better learn to be a patient patient lol.

That's a shame. I was able to see my readings on the meter and wrote them all down as they happened so I could add a note about what I was doing. I was then able to tell my GP what caused any "abnormal" readings. If stress raises your BP then keeping the results back for a week or more won't help!
Good luck.

 

[Loobles]

That's a shame. I was able to see my readings on the meter and wrote them all down as they happened so I could add a note about what I was doing. I was then able to tell my GP what caused any "abnormal" readings. If stress raises your BP then keeping the results back for a week or more won't help!
Good luck.

I know, the suspense is killing me LOL. My readings at home are usually about 135-155/75-85 these days (higher when I ate carbs, more like 190/90) so my GP isn't really concerned. However, I'm unsure whether I should be concerned. On the one hand it's always been high and it's not exactly through the roof, but on the other hand it isn't exactly a healthy BP either. I'm not worried about it, just curious really...and if there is anything wrong, I'd like to understand whether it needs treatment.

 

[cold ethyl]

I was told at DESMOND that it should be under 140/80 and that your GP might want it lower than that if you are diabetic and/or have other issues. If you look at the blood pressure chart you'll see that yours is mainly falling in the pre-hypertensive range.
http://www.bloodpressureuk.org/BloodPressureandyou/Thebasics/Bloodpressurechart

Mine is always sky high at surgery and was borderline at home, but since losing nearly 3 st in weight it has come down and is now about 115-120 /68 which is best is has been for years.

 

[AndBreathe]

Thanks for that recommendation. I do have a BP monitor but it's old and to be honest I question its accuracy. Therefore, I was looking at replacing it but just couldn't decide what to get. Looks like you've saved me a few hours of research, thank you. My BP has always been high-normal but lately I've noticed it creeping higher still. Trouble is, I hate having it done, even at home and so I don't know whether it's me getting anxious, or whether I really do have high BP. Given my size, I'd say it's likely I have high BP, but you never know.

I must admit I was a little way down the line to buying a super-whizzy machine, with all manner of downloading functionality when this one came to my attention. It's perfectly adequate, with something like 200 memories. It saves 200 readings, but doesn't log the date or time the reading was taken.

The ?Which assessments considered functionality, value for money, aesthetics and so on, but the pivotal issue for me was their comparisons with a professional sphyg, where it came out on top.

I found it interesting to see how things like resting, exercise, stress and so on affected my BP.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I had to wear mine because of a suspicion my BP was dropping too much after bending down as I get brief dizziness very frequently. The strangest thing though, the lowest reading was 92/53 in the middle of a dog walk! I had always believed exercise raised BP. Hey ho. Mine averaged at 116/67 so GP and me very happy. It now turns out the dizziness is nothing to do with BP. I've got postural vertigo!

I have my own meter - an Omron.

 

[jim1951]

I've got postural vertigo!

.

snap

 

[Mud Island Dweller]

Whats the problem having bp taken Loobies

Bluetit read your bp machine was an onion..l really need to wear my glasses more

 

[phoenix]

When I was in hospital at diagnosis my BP was on the low side, I never knew when they were about to take it and wasn't being very active .
Now my BP is always 130- 140/80 when my diabetologist takes it . The guidelines here are for 120/80.
I'm usually quite stressed as it's hard to do a consultation in French. She sends me to the cardio for a 24 hour monitor every couple of years which apparently shows far more normal levels and the cardiologist is happy with them.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

How are you getting on with the monitor @Loobles ?

I use one at home as my readings are always high when nursie takes a reading. If you use your home one often enough, you may become bored of it and it will lose its power to wind you up