Blood pressure monitor

[Deleted User]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my original posting. have now ordered an Omron machine.

One thing I didn't mention ... I've recently lost a stone in weight and am, slowly, getting fitter, and dealing with the stress of looking after elderly relatives in a more healthy way than I did previously (comfort eating & drinking). Am also experimenting with supplements - including fish oil (whilst continuing to take my medication).

The tablets are fine - and I fully understand why I need to take them - but am getting side effects (including tiredness and acid reflux).

What really amazed me was that my GP made no attempt to help me understand how the weight / stress / too much salt, etc. might be contributing to the rise in my blood pressure. It was simply "take these tablets; you'll have to take them for life" and that was that.

Hopefully, I won't ...

[Deleted User]

if taking your own BP or having it done by gp etc dont smoke for 20 mins beforehand

Biggles

woodbine wrote: »

if taking your own BP or having it done by gp etc dont smoke for 20 mins beforehand

I was told 20 years. But the advice might vary from one GP to another........

uk1

Corona wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my original posting. have now ordered an Omron machine.

One thing I didn't mention ... I've recently lost a stone in weight and am, slowly, getting fitter, and dealing with the stress of looking after elderly relatives in a more healthy way than I did previously (comfort eating & drinking). Am also experimenting with supplements - including fish oil (whilst continuing to take my medication).

The tablets are fine - and I fully understand why I need to take them - but am getting side effects (including tiredness and acid reflux).

What really amazed me was that my GP made no attempt to help me understand how the weight / stress / too much salt, etc. might be contributing to the rise in my blood pressure. It was simply "take these tablets; you'll have to take them for life" and that was that.

Hopefully, I won't ...

Well done with the lifestyle changes - that is excellent.

You should consider changing your GP.

Although the vast majoirty of patients will not have met with the success the lifestyle changes that your determination has produced, a GP's first course of action should always be to try and reduce your BP with life-style changes first, unless he monitored you for a few weeks and your BP was so dangerously high it required immediate intervention. But if this were so it would still be highly unusual and you should have been told and placed on a strict lifestyle changing regime alongside the medication at the same time.

Having reduced your blood pressure through lifestyle changes AND receiving medication prescribed on your original readings and the medication required to bring it down to target readings - you need to monitor your blood pressure in consultation with a more "interested" doctor to insure you are now not being "over medicated". It may be that a doctor could reduce your medication in order to minimise the side-effects and for you to still remain within your target.

Acquiring your meter is your first step. What you now need to do is to engage more with a doctor who will discuss with you what target BP he and you should be aiming for. The combination of your continued lifestyle changes, including wheight loss, alcohol reduction etc etc means that there are possibilities of future further medication reduction - so a productive GP relationship is vital if your own efforts are going to be reflected in your treatment. You should never adjust your medication without consulting a GP first - although it is in your own best interest to understand both hypertension and how each of the medications work and their potential side effects. One of the worst issues, is that some medication classes can cause side effects that you are not always comletely aware of including lethargy and libido etc.

Good luck and well done for getting your life under control.

[Deleted User]

uk1 wrote: »

Well done with the lifestyle changes - that is excellent.

You should consider changing your GP.

Although the vast majoirty of patients will not have met with the success the lifestyle changes that your determination has produced, a GP's first course of action should always be to try and reduce your BP with life-style changes first, unless he monitored you for a few weeks and your BP was so dangerously high it required immediate intervention. But if this were so it would still be highly unusual and you should have been told and placed on a strict lifestyle changing regime alongside the medication at the same time.

Having reduced your blood pressure through lifestyle changes AND receiving medication prescribed on your original readings and the medication required to bring it down to target readings - you need to monitor your blood pressure in consultation with a more "interested" doctor to insure you are now not being "over medicated". It may be that a doctor could reduce your medication in order to minimise the side-effects and for you to still remain within your target.

Acquiring your meter is your first step. What you now need to do is to engage more with a doctor who will discuss with you what target BP he and you should be aiming for. The combination of your continued lifestyle changes, including wheight loss, alcohol reduction etc etc means that there are possibilities of future further medication reduction - so a productive GP relationship is vital if your own efforts are going to be reflected in your treatment. You should never adjust your medication without consulting a GP first - although it is in your own best interest to understand both hypertension and how each of the medications work and their potential side effects. One of the worst issues, is that some medication classes can cause side effects that you are not always completely aware of including lethargy and libido etc.

Good luck and well done for getting your life under control.

Thank you - you're very positive. Yes, I agree with you - time to find a different GP.

And I haven't thanked you properly for the Amazon recommendation - have ordered the Omron M10-IT from them at only £31.00 including free delivery (currently £112.29 on the BOOTS website !!!) Really pleased.

uk1

Corona wrote: »

Thank you - you're very positive. Yes, I agree with you - time to find a different GP.

And I haven't thanked you properly for the Amazon recommendation - have ordered the Omron M10-IT from them at only £31.00 including free delivery (currently £112.29 on the BOOTS website !!!) Really pleased.

Well that bought down your blood pressure!

Something at some time is going to get all of us. There are a heap of people and companies earning packs of cash worrying us all and telling us they can give us an extra 5 minutes - though they don't say it's just 5 minutes. And it is possibly just 5 minutes. Who'se to say that if you do everything and live a little longer that a double decker bus ... or cancer ... or something else we've yet to be worried about will get us instead. The reality is that if you manage to delay things by a day or two something else will actually get you. No one has yet to live to ...... anyway you get the drift. You cannot avoid EVERYTHING that is going to possibly get you. We are all going to die of death!

I very much regret the fact that society has swung so far towards constant health obsession that the time we've spent worrying could have been better spent enjoying. And nothing you have ever read or been told by a doctor or a women's magazine are actually irrefutable facts. No one actually knows. Eg red wine is bad for you .... red wine is good for you ... red wine is bad for you..... Cholestorol is bad for you ... some cholestorol is good for you ... All you can do is do the best you can REASONABLY do ..... In the end ... I won't die of high blood pressure or high cholestorol ... it will be my wife hitting me with a cast iron pan!

Anyway - thank you for your thanks - and I must repeat my admiration of you for getting the obvious stuff like wheight etc under control when you're in a situation where eating etc gives you comfort. You are worthy of considerable applause and admiration.

I've gone on long enough - and it is nice to have "known" you.

:T

[Deleted User]

uk1 wrote: »

Well that bought down your blood pressure!

All you can do is do the best you can REASONABLY do ..... .

I've gone on long enough - and it is nice to have "known" you.

:T

Couldn't agree more. I don't honestly think it does us any good at all obsessing about every little gram of fat / calorie / glass of wine, etc. There's a lot of people - including TV doctors and pharmaceutical companies, with the help of journalists desperate for a attention-grabbing headline, who are encouraging us to medicalize everything.

I'm going to say something quite controversial, I know, BUT I strongly suspect that HAPPINESS / JOY in life overcomes a lot of so-called poor lifestyle choices. Off to get some more in mine ...

Nice to have "known" you too. Thanks for the support. :A

SherbetLemon_2

Hey all,

I know this thread hasn't been used for nearly a month, but I have some advice on BP monitors.

When I was a medical student I worked with a consultant specialising in hypertension. To ensure you are getting an accurate reading from a BP monitor you should use only ones recommended by the British Hypertension Society (google them). Three BP readings should always be taken after a minimum 10 minutes resting to help prevent those with "white coat syndrome" being diagnosed with hypertension.

Regards,

Sherbet

margaretclare

Thanks for all the useful info about B/P and B/P monitors. I've just sent for the 'Rolls-Royce' of monitors from Amazon, arrives Monday. We've junked the little wrist monitor we were using - didn't realise it was less accurate, and the batteries have run out in any case. If it's that inaccurate, I have seen one used by a GP in the surgery!!

I am a great believer in - if you take any measurement, it must be accurate, a near thing isn't good enough, a waste of time and effort as well as causing wrong action to be taken.

Thanks for the suggestion about Omron and Amazon.

uk1

margaretclare wrote: »

Thanks for all the useful info about B/P and B/P monitors. I've just sent for the 'Rolls-Royce' of monitors from Amazon, arrives Monday. We've junked the little wrist monitor we were using - didn't realise it was less accurate, and the batteries have run out in any case. If it's that inaccurate, I have seen one used by a GP in the surgery!!

I am a great believer in - if you take any measurement, it must be accurate, a near thing isn't good enough, a waste of time and effort as well as causing wrong action to be taken.

Thanks for the suggestion about Omron and Amazon.

The wrist ones are notoriously inaccurate and your right - it is relatively pointless to use one.

The important thing is to "get use" to your new monitor and don't react to any measurements for a period of time after it arrives as the anticipation itself of what the measurements might be might cause your own brand of "white coat" syndrome. Once you've got use to it - take readings a few different times during the day. It's also important that once the novelty wears off - don't over measure because you might give your GP the impression you're obsessed with it but keep a full record with dates and timesso that you can discuss your readings with your GP! The top end Omron's download onto a computer programme so it's quite easy.

The other thing is that it might help you monitor the relative effects of lifestyle changes for example losing a touch of wheight and cutting down the alcohol. Quite often the measurements become possibly the only encouragement you get due to the tangible changes in your BP.

I take hypertension medication and I only take my measurements when I think of it every month or two or when I think I'm particularly stressed and I'm being inquisitive. I'm anxious not to change or increase my medication even though I'm in the area where if it were a touch higher the GP would possibly consider increasing it. However I'm balancing the side effects of medication with the risk and as it's my life, I therefore consider it my call! Having this sensible approach has made my relationship with my GP one of mutality and he respects my interest and views.

Good luck with your new Omron!