I had my BP taken a few days ago at the nearby hospital and it was 160 over something. That’s well over my normal BP so I’m wondering if something I did just before going there might have inadvertently caused it to be high. I’m going back in a few days to re-check and want to avoid anything that might cause my BP to spike.
First of all - I walked to the hospital because it’s only about 1 km away and I need all the exercise I can get. Would taking a blood pressure reading 20-30 minutes after walking (not running) one kilometer cause such a high result?
I’m not taking any medications and didn’t eat before I went. I don’t know what else I could have done to cause such a high reading.
Of course the other possibility is that I just have high blood pressure; that’s why I’m going back again for a recheck.
Walking for 1km shouldn’t raise your blood pressure significantly unless you are really pushing it, or are seriously, seriously unfit.
A possible cause (or, at least, partial cause) for the high reading may be hinted at in the words “I need all the exercise I can get”. Not exercising is a contributory factor to hypertension. As in, yes, you may have hypertension, and not just short-term high blood pressure as the result of physical activity.
(The other possiblity, of course, is “white coat” hypertension. Some people are consciously or subconsciously stressed by hospitals, medics, etc and record high BP when measured in that environment, but lower or normal BP when they measure themselves at home.)
Several supermarkets around here that have internal pharmacies have free machines to take your blood pressure. If you have such you could test it while shopping (assuming shopping doesn’t raise your blood pressure).
If you buy a $30 - $50 dollar machine, take it to your next appointment. They can compare results. I bought one for Sam’s Club and its readings were within expected error when compared to my PCP’s readings.
I’ve tested probably 200 of them in the last 4 years, and they’ve all been within the expected error (±2 mm/Hg, I believe), at least when new. The wrist cuff kind tends to work great until suddenly it doesn’t, which causes some panic until my next visit when I verify it’s the cuff gone bad, not the patient. I have not been able to fix one once it starts reading wonky, but they’re so cheap they’re easily replaced. I’ve not had the same problem with the kind that go around the upper arm, but those are a little trickier to place on yourself without assistance.
Operator or equipment error? I find my BPs and pulse are wildly different depending on the personnel and how old their machines are. If you get another high one, ask for it to be taken again in 10 minutes.
Plus you may have been physically uncomfortable, which will raise the reading. One of my doctors has an exam room with a comfy chair, and my blood pressure reading is twenty points lower when I sit in that chair.
Update: It was 137 over something this time, although the machine took a long time to decide and it had to deflate and re-inflate… what felt like three times before it spat out a reading. Not sure how reliable that is. Still planning to get my own and monitor at home.
Oh - and I was actually quite apprehensive about something this time. I had a boil or cyst or something that I knew they were going to recommend lancing and I was dreading it. But that being on my mind didn’t seem to raise my BP.
Not sure if you fit into this category but a doctor once told me that some people are just uneasy in a medical environment and will have higher BP due to stress.
He said it doesn’t have to be a lot of stress. Some people’s BP just shoots up when they feel a little uneasy. Still, if that happens you probably need to be taking some measures to control it either through medication or exercise.
Last time I saw my doctor, we got to talking about dogs (one of my favourite subjects) and then she took my BP. Way higher than normal. Stopped talking, a couple of deep, relaxing breaths and then she rechecked - back to normal for me. Apparently I get a little excited when I talk about dogs. I was surprised at how quickly my BP went up and then back down again.
Definitely something to consider. Blood pressure readings are not very accurate at all, they depend on the operator or a machine to detect when blood flow stops and resumes. I had three very reading once, two from machines and one from a nurse before the doctor grabbed a sphagnummossometer or whatever that’s called and did it himself. Still high, but the normal high for me. Also I have fairly large arms and if they don’t get a large cuff it always reads wrong.
Somewhere I’ve seen the recommendation that a subject be seated for 10 minutes before measuring but typically it’s the first thing they do after bringing you into a room.
Aren’t dogs supposed to lower your BP? ;>) I literally just returned from my doctor’s office after a follow-up for BP medication. I also use an automatic cuff to track my BP. Normally, it is lower than what the doc gets - sometimes by as much as 20 points or more. I took it with me today to check it against his. Today it was higher by 20 points. Go figure. Anyway, he was happy with his readings and the diary I have been keeping (low-mid 120s/low 70s). Meds stay as is. No side effects, so that’s good. Take daily readings and look for the average, not single high or low readings that can happen for various reasons.
I recently had a few very high readings. It turns out they were using a cuff that was only supposed to be used on biceps up to 15 1/2" and mine is 17 1/4". When they used the correct size cuff the reading dropped a full 20 mmHg.
Another time I had a high reading was when I went for an pilot’s physical. The local practitioner who gave those physicals was also a cardiac specialist who had his office on the 13th floor of the city hospital. I was running late and there was a huge line for the elevator so I ran up 13 flights of stairs and stumbled into his office with my heart racing and sweat pouring down my face. When I walked up to the desk they said, “Oh, we’re waiting for you,” and immediately took me into an examination room where they took my blood pressure. After getting some crazy high reading I asked them to try again in 10 minutes, and when they did it was back to normal.
The nurse told me that their typical patient was there for bypass surgery so she was pretty sure they’d never had anyone climb the stairs to their office for an appointment before.