Medical Professionals, riddle me this

[terrehautian]

I have had this fear I would have high blood pressure for years because my moms has it. Back in March I got the flu and went to health check. They got a normal reading (or close enough to normal to be okay) and I am happy. My wife gets a blood pressure cuff (so I can check hers when we are at home, it is a manual one, not an automatic one). She decides to check mine and it is like 145/90. It stays this way for months, sometimes a tad lower, sometimes a tiny bit higher. I go to get a normal check up yesterday and they get 115/75 the first time. I question it because of what I have been getting and they do it four more times and get more okay readings. Go home and my wife checks it and it is high again. Today, her mom checks it and it is high also. Any ideas, I don't understand how it can be normal at doctor's but not at home. Also, before anyone says it, my wife is a RN and knows how to check it. Also, we have a automatic cuff that gets high readings also. I heard of blood pressure getting high when you go to the doctor's office, never heard of it going down to normal.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Maybe your Wife is causing the High Blood Pressure???

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Calibration. I'm a test & measurement guy, and have much experience with equipment reading wrong. Also, be very particular how you put on the cuff, but since your wife is RN she should know how to do that. I would tend to believe the Dr's office over a home unit, though; the Dr has a greater interest in accuracy.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Me Evilwrench is right. Bring the home cuff with you to the doctor and have them use it and then use theirs. Have others been tested with your cuff? It may just read high on everyone. If you're the only one who tests high on it then I'd be concerned you do have hypertension at times.

also, are you checking it in the same arm as the doc's office?

 

[terrehautian]

I tested my wife with the same cuff, as for the same arm, after the appointment, I did. I do plan on taking both the manual and the automatic cuff in to the doctor's off when I get back from vacation. It was also high with my wife's mothers cuff also. It did seem as though the cuffs not at the dr.'s office seem to cut off circulation more then the one there (or atleast felt that way).

 

[9mmfan]

Tell your wife to put back on her shirt the next time she takes your blood pressure!

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Oh, man, that would make my pressure go down, 'cause so much blood would be out of circulation...

 

[pilgrim]

The size of the cuff can cause inaccurate readings if it is to small for your arm.

 

[hoosierdoc]

The size of the cuff can cause inaccurate readings if it is to small for your arm.

Or if it's too large. It needs to have the proper wrap around the arm and length of the arm covered by the cuff.

The most common error in blood pressure measurement is use of inappropriate cuff size. Considerable overestimation can occur if the cuff is too small. The bladder length recommended by the AHA is 80 percent of the patient’s arm circumference, and the ideal width is at least 40 percent. Error is minimized when the cuff width is 46 percent of the arm circumference, although for large adult and thigh cuffs this is not practical. In obese patients, longer, wider cuffs are needed to compress the brachial artery adequately. In children, cuff bladder width should be at least 40 percent of the arm circumference halfway between the olecranon and acromion; the cuff should then cover 80 percent or more of the arm circumference. Recommended cuff sizes are listed in Table 3.

Practice Guidelines: New AHA Recommendations for Blood Pressure Measurement - American Family Physician

 

[a.bentonab]

Mostly said above but I would
-be sure you/doctor is using proper size cuff
-blood pressure is the same in both arms (if substantially different you NEED to inform your doc)
-check your pressure at the grocery or pharmacy on their machine
-be sure you are seated calmly for several minutes feet on the floor prior to checking

 

[BE Mike]

I had this same thing happen to me. I took my sphygmomanometer to the doctor's office. As a. bentonab said, I think the key is that at the doctor's office, I had been sitting for several minutes before the test, but while at home and grocery store, etc. I had been walking and/ or moving around just prior to the test. BTW, Thanks for reminding me to take my blood pressure.