Measuring Blood Pressure

[al_yrpal]

I'm measuring my blood pressure AM and PM as I said.
I'm struggling to understand.

I sit down and relax for ages before each reading. 8am and 8pm (ish)
Each reading is taken in the same chair, in the same position, on the same arm, and I'm in the same relaxed attitude.

Why can the reading at 8am this morning give 129 over 90, and at 8pm this evening give 113 over 74?

Perhaps anticipation or aprehension, then, after having tackled your day you are relaxed. Are you slightly wound up in the morning?

Al

[al_yrpal]

Duplicate - no delete button?

[Paulatic]

Apparently if your systolic blood pressure is consistently less than 120 your chance of heart related death is reckoned to be 25% less by some researchers. But, its the diastolic pressure that has most significance but anything less than 80 is very good.

Have I spelt nought wrong? Or is nowt the Wigan version?

Al

I reckon,

Nought/naught is zero
Nowt is nothing

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
http://www.bloodpressureuk.org/BloodPre ... Gwod3hwOrw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertension

When my BP dropped to 85 / 50 I could not even continue on my bike, this low affects your oxygen, I was on diuretics at the time to control BP but my increased exercise wasn't helping, cured by stopping the diuretics.
Was losing much weight unexpectedly, not surprisingly.

Edited as the link above did not work.

[horizon]

Why does my right arm record lower BP than my left arm?

I've heard recently that doctors use both arms to verify that there's no blockage - a higher reading one one side would indicate such. Can anyone verify this?

[Mick F]

I'm measuring my blood pressure AM and PM as I said.
I'm struggling to understand.
I sit down and relax for ages before each reading. 8am and 8pm (ish)
Each reading is taken in the same chair, in the same position, on the same arm, and I'm in the same relaxed attitude.
Why can the reading at 8am this morning give 129 over 90, and at 8pm this evening give 113 over 74?

Perhaps anticipation or aprehension, then, after having tackled your day you are relaxed. Are you slightly wound up in the morning?

No.

I used those examples for simplicity, but some of my lower readings have been in the AM or in the PM. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. Maybe because I'm analysing the stats, I'm picking up strange readings, when strange readings are normal?

Lowest so far is 97/72 in the morning of 3rd Nov.
Highest so far is 140/97 in the evening of 1st Nov, followed by 137/88 in the next morning.

See-sawing?

[Ray]

Mine varies, but not by that much. There may be a relatively simple explanation, of course. I think I'd be seeking an appointment with a consultant.

Or a better BP monitor

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Well obvious things like don't eat before you measure.
Don't expect normal after exercise etc, the rest of the day could take time for your BP to normalise.
Other meds could be affecting results.
The link I posted above gives more info.
Your results might be what is expected from someone your age with meds etc, raised BP at the hospital is why you are being monitored, all normal probably...........................

[Mick F]

Mine varies, but not by that much. There may be a relatively simple explanation, of course. I think I'd be seeking an appointment with a consultant.

Or a better BP monitor

Nowt wrong with the device, I'm sure.
I do have an appointment, and that is why I'm gathering info.
Appointment is Jan8th, and I have to take blood samples and BP records.

Not on any medication at the moment. I should be on statins, but I'm refusing to take them any more.

[Squonk]

Why does my right arm record lower BP than my left arm?

I've heard recently that doctors use both arms to verify that there's no blockage - a higher reading one one side would indicate such. Can anyone verify this?

Your right arm is further from your heart than your left so the reading will naturally be different, plus placing of the cuff on the arm can affect it slightly - blood pressure at your wrist is approx 6-8% lower than at the elbow. Anything less than 10% difference between arms is considered normal, above 20% suggests an underlying problem such as narrowed or hardened arteries.

The type of blockage suggested is a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs), this is a serious condition but would usually be associated with other symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath before any change in bp would occur as this is a late stage symptom and hopefully the chest pain would have got you to a doctor or ambulance before that stage.

[horizon]

Thanks for that Squonk and welcome to the forum - hopefully you didn't join just to say that!

My daughter heard this from a doctor when she had her BP tested so it's sort of from the horse's mouth. Makes you wonder though!

[Mick F]

As far as I can remember from my biology lessons at school, the heart is more or less central to the body, not on your left.
The shape of the heart is more bulging towards the left.

Looks like Wiki agrees with our biology teacher!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart

Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 11.37.05.png (82.79 KiB) Viewed 672 times

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Why does my right arm record lower BP than my left arm?

I've heard recently that doctors use both arms to verify that there's no blockage - a higher reading one one side would indicate such. Can anyone verify this?

Saw it whilst browsing yesterday trying to decipher my own condition.
I don't think your GP will do that unless there is some other evidence.

Measuring your BP if you have hypertension like me is important but like old Triumphs with a pressure gauge what you see sometimes brings on a sweat.

[Squonk]

As far as I can remember from my biology lessons at school, the heart is more or less central to the body, not on your left.
The shape of the heart is more bulging towards the left.

Looks like Wiki agrees with our biology teacher!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart

Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 11.37.05.png

Your biology teacher was correct, which is why chest compressions during CPR are done by pressing on the centre of the chest. The difference is the routing of the arteries which gives the blood to the right arm a marginally longer path, thereby reducing blood pressure. The difference is minimal however, and probably not significant given the margin of error in the average home blood pressure tester.

[Squonk]

Thanks for that Squonk and welcome to the forum - hopefully you didn't join just to say that!

My daughter heard this from a doctor when she had her BP tested so it's sort of from the horse's mouth. Makes you wonder though!

Thanks. The GP was correct of course, the point I was trying to make was that if you see a difference in BP between your arms it's not necessarily an indication of an impending pulmonary embolism which will kill you. If there is a difference of more than 10% bilaterally you should definitely seek medical advice, regardless of whether you have other symptoms or not.