blood pressure ?s (Read 954 times)

and a little interesting factoid I found out about during a recent stress test....your blood pressure (at least mine) takes off during excercise. I was pushing a little over 200 on the top end towards the end of the test. It may remain slightly elavated after stopping excercise so taking the BP right after may lead to false indications too. I am on bp meds and I was actually able to at least cut mine in half after losing some weight and getting excercise. BP tends to go up with age which may be why once you go on the meds, you can't ever get off....... I am not a real doctor either....

Systolic should increase linearly with exercise intensity - readings of up to 220mmHg at maximum exertion are not uncommon. Diastolic should not increase or decrease by more than 15 from your normal base average reading - if it does, there's a problem.

I wouldn't get to worked up about machines at drug stores, they aren't that accurate and even digital machines can be somewhat off, you need to get the kind with the a pump up and a stethoscope; machines are only so good but they vary greatly, they will give you a general reading which can be a good sign that you may be stressed out but its like running shoes there is good but there is better.

When your blood pressure is taken you should have already been sitting still for at least 5 minutes and the part of your arm where the cuff squeezes needs to be raised to the same vertical level as your heart, preferably in a horizontal orientation. I've seen nurses on several occasions take blood pressure immediately after walking the patent to their room and sitting them down... make sure your nurse or doc uses the proper protocol to take your bp or you might as well be doing it yourself! Also, all bp measuring devices are prone to mechanical drift and need calibration. Depending on the mechanisim some need it more often than others - especially if they are mercury based like those used in many GP offices. It might be a good idea to ask your doc how often their equipment receives calibration. Ideally there should be a calibration chart present that you can look at yourself to find the answer while waiting on your doc to enter the room, but life isn't always that perfect.