Blood Pressure Phobia

I was a Practice Nurse before retirement. We had a lot of problems with the automatic monitors as the machines don’t know what level your bp is so pumps it up very high on the first reading which people found very uncomfortable!
I was taught by my colleague who also worked in bp research.
You need to sit comfortably for at least 5 minutes, have your arm well supported on a table , legs uncrossed, the correct size cuff ( a fatter arm needs a larger cuff) Ignore the first reading and take the average of the next two or the lowest. Taking a few deep breaths and breathing out slowly also helps
I used to despair seeing people in hospital waiting rooms with their arms floating in mid air having their bp taken
24 hour monitors are good for white coat syndrome. However your bp is a fluctuating entity and the levels at home need to be lower than surgery readings.
I realised early on that bp measurement is a fine art and needs to be done properly!
I sympathise with all you white coaters as I’m now the same!
Posters talking about reading a book while taking are a really good idea.

Thank you for your explanation gransue60 I have often wondered why the machine pumps up so hard in the surgery while mine at home does it much more gently. I have asked but never really got a satisfactory answer.

Thank you Gransue for your professional input! Nice to hear from 'the other side' so we know we are doing things correctly. My BP is finally much lower when I'm at home still hovering higher when in the surgery especially early mornings, I guess my medication hasn't kicked in properly. Plus the nurse uses my right arm and asks me questions while it's being taken!

Gransue, another factor that is almost always overlooked in GP surgeries is the chair itself. People who are not standard height and weight are often not supported comfortably by the chair. In ours, the patient uses a slippery plastic bucket chair. I am obese so I need a lower chair else the back of my legs stops my feet resting on the floor firmly (a requisite for BP readings) and by fat bottom stops me sitting back into the chair fully thus slipping forward in the chair unless I brace myself. Not only am I anxious about the reading, but I am not physically relaxed either.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Coincidentally Ihave had my BP taken at the surgery this morning.
It was 144 over 95
The nurse said, slightly high but just within normal for my age.
When I got home I took it with my monitor.
137 but cant remember lower reading.
Am quite ok with those.

Zombie thread.

I had the GP's attack dogs on my neck about an annual BP check (I'm a retired male) and I kept telling them that I even get would up testing it myself at home so a figure taken by an medical professional is bound to be high. Eventually they gave my a 24h wearable BP monitor to use. After the end of the test I took it to a practice nurse and she downloaded the data. So 'normal' was it she just said (jokingly) go home and don't waste my time! You're absolutely normal especially when you're asleep and don't know it's being tested.