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Pointless to take my blood pressure when the result will be wildly inaccurate. I have no sooner sat on the exam table and you want to take it. The only way to have a meaningful blood pressure result is to have a consistent standard for the status of the patient and that would be totally relaxed. Being recently active could be any level from mildly elevated to still frustrated by rush hour traffic and you barely made it to the appointment on time and just walked briskly down a long hallway.
Nurse was real pissed off and at first said she had to take it -- it was required. I refused. When the cardiologist came in I told him my BP reading from the day before relaxed at home. He was fine with that.
The nurse came back at the end of the visit for a different reason after the doctor had left and I cheerfully told her "Oh by the way, my blood pressure is fine." "Oh what was it?" "117/69 when I took it at home yesterday as I reported to Dr. Nyugen." No comment.
It rubs me the wrong way to have a bunch of bogus information in my medical records even if nobody but me cares.
Sad that the test is almost universally done incorrectly despite the proper protocol -- 5 minute minimum to relax, not even talking, both feet on the floor, arm at or above heart level -- is hardly a secret but convenience wins over accuracy.
One time a dentist's nurse took my blood pressure not following protocol and with a cheesy wrist device: 172/120. I would be on the way to E.R except I knew better than to believe it.
True, all true. But I will add that probably the best thing is to take a week's worth of readings at home (am and pm), calculate averages. Then also have your BP taken at the doc's office, even (especially?) under imperfect circumstances. What some docs say is this gives them a fuller picture, how your BP behaves under ideal circumstances and accounting for circadian cycles, and also how it responds under very normal, frequent sorts of stressors.
Pointless to take my blood pressure when the result will be wildly inaccurate. I have no sooner sat on the exam table and you want to take it. The only way to have a meaningful blood pressure result is to have a consistent standard for the status of the patient and that would be totally relaxed. Being recently active could be any level from mildly elevated to still frustrated by rush hour traffic and you barely made it to the appointment on time and just walked briskly down a long hallway.
Nurse was real pissed off and at first said she had to take it -- it was required. I refused. When the cardiologist came in I told him my BP reading from the day before relaxed at home. He was fine with that.
The nurse came back at the end of the visit for a different reason after the doctor had left and I cheerfully told her "Oh by the way, my blood pressure is fine." "Oh what was it?" "117/69 when I took it at home yesterday as I reported to Dr. Nyugen." No comment.
It rubs me the wrong way to have a bunch of bogus information in my medical records even if nobody but me cares.
Sad that the test is almost universally done incorrectly despite the proper protocol -- 5 minute minimum to relax, not even talking, both feet on the floor, arm at or above heart level -- is hardly a secret but convenience wins over accuracy.
One time a dentist's nurse took my blood pressure not following protocol and with a cheesy wrist device: 172/120. I would be on the way to E.R except I knew better than to believe it.
I take mine most every morning when I wake up and I’m relaxed I get up. I slide to the edge of the bed put my feet on the floor so I’m sitting up and my readings are always and I repeat always about 115/65 Give or take 10 points. Go to the doctor? It could be as high as 150/110. They need to completely change the structure for this. I’m as healthy as they come with BP NEVER had issues with it. I do not have high blood pressure. This is how millions and millions of Americans are ending up unneeded blood pressure medication and it’s killing them. It’s dangerous. Every time I go to the doctor, though they end up talking to me about getting on blood pressure medication’s. If you have high blood pressure and you can control it by all means you should be medicated and be treated. But you need to take your long period of time several days. Weeks, and if it is, dropping 10% of your body weight and doing some exercise, I guarantee you will probably bring it back into the normal range.
I have white coat syndrome. My BP is always higher at the doctor or dentist. Usually at the doctor,they will take my BP at the start of the visit, and the end. It does come down, at the end of the visit, when I am almost out the door. LOL
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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With my 5 annual different specialist visits now after surviving cancer, I fully understand your problem. Having to wait more than 10-15 minutes past the appointment time always spikes mine. Worse though is the dentist, I hate going there and when they actually have to do a procedure they take it with a wrist monitor. It's always way too high, and they have to take it again a few minutes later and usually it's dropped to just above normal. I'm surprised that the doctor trusted your home reading though, anyone can make up a good reading, and those home models are notoriously inaccurate. We have a wrist one and an expensive arm cuff. If I take mine using one right after the other they are always different, and not even close. After getting mine done so often in the 2 years I was sick, I found some things that affect it. My best results are sitting with my feet on the floor, arm resting on my thigh, thinking pleasant thought like a stroll through the woods.
IMHO there's a big difference between pitching a fit/refusing if a nurse tries to take a BP reading at the wrong moment during an appointment and handling it by commenting how biased that reading may end up being and suggesting that they'll want to take it later or repeat it. Guess how bent out of shape you allow yourself to get over the situation is up to you. Which, BTW, influences a BP reading!
Though my BP isn't an issue in general and I don't take mine very often, I know from experience the reading will most likely be higher at an appointment. Either I was rushing around to get there on time, I'm a little anxious about the reason for the visit or some test or procedure I'm about to have, I just climbed a flight of steps, or I haven't had enough time to sit down or "assume the position". So, a nurse takes a reading. Big whoop! It reflects a moment in time, not a trend. Trend matters. I know BP changes from moment to moment, the nurse knows it and the doctor I'm seeing knows it. All I have to do is comment that it's higher than my normal resting state and that it bears repeating and charting. Haven't had a nurse get aggressive with me over that approach yet!
IMHO there's a big difference between pitching a fit/refusing if a nurse tries to take a BP reading at the wrong moment during an appointment and handling it by commenting how biased that reading may end up being and suggesting that they'll want to take it later or repeat it. Guess how bent out of shape you allow yourself to get over the situation is up to you. Which, BTW, influences a BP reading!
Pointless to take my blood pressure when the result will be wildly inaccurate. I have no sooner sat on the exam table and you want to take it. The only way to have a meaningful blood pressure result is to have a consistent standard for the status of the patient and that would be totally relaxed. Being recently active could be any level from mildly elevated to still frustrated by rush hour traffic and you barely made it to the appointment on time and just walked briskly down a long hallway.
Nurse was real pissed off and at first said she had to take it -- it was required. I refused. When the cardiologist came in I told him my BP reading from the day before relaxed at home. He was fine with that.
The nurse came back at the end of the visit for a different reason after the doctor had left and I cheerfully told her "Oh by the way, my blood pressure is fine." "Oh what was it?" "117/69 when I took it at home yesterday as I reported to Dr. Nyugen." No comment.
It rubs me the wrong way to have a bunch of bogus information in my medical records even if nobody but me cares.
Sad that the test is almost universally done incorrectly despite the proper protocol -- 5 minute minimum to relax, not even talking, both feet on the floor, arm at or above heart level -- is hardly a secret but convenience wins over accuracy.
One time a dentist's nurse took my blood pressure not following protocol and with a cheesy wrist device: 172/120. I would be on the way to E.R except I knew better than to believe it.
Thanks for posting this thread. I feel exactly the same way. I only had one doctor out of several in Alabama that followed apparently fairly recent new protocol: waiting 10 mins. to take a patient's blood pressure. That was at UAB Medical Center in Birmingham - a wonderful place, very professional -- and friendly and courteous, I might add.
I had one office that used antiquated equipment that consistently gave a reading forty points higher than every other office. They finally got a digital device, and guess what: it still registered at least 40 points above my normal, and every other office's reading. That is just lame. I started refusing to have my pressure taken there and insisted on them putting the usual reading in my chart. That was not met with, shall we say, enthusiasm.
And yes, I've had workers get huffy with me when I ask them to wait to take blood pressure.
The wrist BP unit is not accurate. My doctor's office always used it and my BP was always high. I mentioned it to my doctor because I didn't want BP numbers in my chart that made it look like I was going to have a stroke. He said for me to buy a cuff, one that plugs into the wall, not one that uses batteries, and keep track of it that way. Then bring in the readings when I see him every 3 months. The staff makes a digital copy and so it is in my office records. My dentist's office still uses the wrist type.
Oh boy howdy does my blood pressure spike when someone tries to take my blood pressure when I don't want them to! Why, I can feel it spiking just THINKING about it! OMG someone get me an ambulance I'm going into cardiac arrest.
OR MAYBE...
"Sure thing Nurse." followed 15 minutes later by "Oh hi Doctor, can we do my blood pressure again please? It was a little high when the nurse took it when I walked in the door, and that's a bit disappointing since I have low blood pressure."
If you just ask the doctor to take it again, chances are, he will. Especially if it was on the high side when the nurse took it when you walked in.
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