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Old 15th May 2006, 12:45   #38 (permalink)
Daede1
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: London
Age: 39
Posts: 87
Also:

''A wrist monitor might be useful if as Primary Care says, properly calibrated, used correctly, and, ideally, cross-checked with a "proper" measuring instrument - which for blood pressure is a mercury sphygomanometer or similar with the correct size of cuff. If these conditions are met then terrific, yes, but Female Wannabe's experience shows how easy it can be to get wildly inaccurate results, which - as in this case - could be highly alarming.''

Bugger any kind of monitor that isnt the cuff type. Wrist ones can be manipulated very easily. If you tense your wrist, your bp comes out higher. It is also testing the bp at the bottom of an appendage - if you hold your hand in the air, it lowers your bp (less blood in the arm/hand due to gravity).

Dont waste your money on these home testing things, as you get neurotic, and test yourself every five seconds - trust me, i used to walk up the stairs, test it and see it was high, panic and lay down where i was! then wonder back down stairs, check it , cr@p my pants and lay on the living room floor for another 30 mins until it dropped.
Get down to see the nurse, takes 2 minutes, they give you a reading and then you know from a professional.

Also, the whole 'my b/p always rises when i see a doc' is a pointless argument. Thats a bit like saying ' when i get cut up driving, my b/p rises'. The key point is that your BP elevates in day to day situations, and therefore you probably go through the day with raised blood pressure.


And more to the goddamned point, what, really does it matter if you have a high bp? its better to know and get it treated, than to go your whole life and have a stroke at 50. Im saying this from experience as my dad was 50 when he died of an aortic anuerisym, caused by high blood pressure - he never went to the docs, and never got it tested, and therefore never received treatment.
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