# Do you know your blood pressure? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809 "2011-09-01T01:13:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/21 "2011-09-01T12:10:04Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I can’t get over these numbers. Mine was around 175/110 with occasional spikes over 190. I have a monitor. Due to meds I’m now around 125/80 which is good. Mine was similar to yours, controlled now through medication. Funny thing, I only found out because my wife was concerned about her blood pressure, so we brought out the blood pressure monitor, and I decided to check mine too. Of course, hers had “spiked” to 120 or so, poor thing. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/22 "2011-09-01T12:29:00Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Low, usually. For some reason the numbers given here have the decimal point one figure to the left of American ones: other than that they’re equivalent. > > Last time I tried to donate blood it was taken twice, with a can of Cocacola in between; both times it came to 11.98/7.00, too low to donate. > > So far my measured record is 6/4: the pharmacy tech almost fainted, being used to lots of highs. She asked how was I even standing up, I assured her I was about to walk home very, very carefully and lie down. > > My family has low BP, in general: the record belongs to Abuelito, who came to 1.5/1 regularly and whose all-time record was 1.0/0.5 When his doctor (who was his brother and would take his BP daily) told him “I’ve got bad news: you’re clinically dead”, he answered “oh, ok, I guess that explains why I feel like shit.” Uhhh…there must be some other conversion other than “one decimal to the left,” because if that’s it, those numbers make no sense. Yours would be 119/70, which is high enough to donate, and Abuelito’s low would be 10/5…that’s just not “clinically dead,” that’s impossible. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/23 "2011-09-01T12:37:06Z")
Mine was around 110/70 last time it was checked. ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/24 "2011-09-01T12:55:36Z")
Mine is 120/72 checked last week. For some reason my dentist office always takes my blood pressure at every visit and it always runs a little high but hey - I’m at the dentist! - I gonna be a little stressed. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/25 "2011-09-01T13:01:11Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Uhhh…there must be some other conversion other than “one decimal to the left,” because if that’s it, those numbers make no sense. > > Yours would be 119/70, which is high enough to donate, and Abuelito’s low would be 10/5…that’s just not “clinically dead,” that’s impossible. 119/70 is very good. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/26 "2011-09-01T13:27:24Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Abuelito’s low would be 10/5…that’s just not “clinically dead,” that’s impossible. That’s what the head of Cardiology told my uncle. Then he went and checked it, and apologized. And in order to donate, I needed 12.00/7.00 - that’s right, I was considered too low by two freaking centesimes ☹ Remember that what’s considered “just fine” for a medical checkup may not necessarily be “good enough” when it comes to donations. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/27 "2011-09-01T13:30:19Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > 121/77. A little higher than normal. What’s happened? It used to be that anything below about 140/80 was considered normal. 121/77 strikes me as a great BP to have. FWIW, a week ago I measured 117/68 before my cataract operation and 126/64 after. But I take 3 BP drugs (a diuretic, an ACE inhibitor and something called Nifedipine, which I have no idea what it does). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/28 "2011-09-01T13:47:10Z")
I thought the ideal stats were 120/80 with 72 bp? ---
**Author:** ![Deegeea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Deegeea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deegeea)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/29 "2011-09-01T15:26:38Z")
There is some other conversion: 11.98 / 7.0 is 89.9 / 52.5 Are you sure 10/5 is impossible? Why? [http://www.etoolsage.com/Converter/Blood\_Pressure\_Conversion.asp](http://www.etoolsage.com/Converter/Blood_Pressure_Conversion.asp) According to this, normal is between 120/80 and 90/60. Nava’s just barely missed the lower cutoff. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/30 "2011-09-01T16:17:26Z")
Mine’s usually “a hundred-something over sixty-something” because I’m not good at remembering numbers. Low BP runs in my mom’s side of the family, and I’ve occasionally had dr. visits in the past where both stayed in the 2-digit range. Most amusing result was a nurse who couldn’t find my pulse to get the initial reading: _fumble_ _fumble_ _confused look_ _fumble_ “You … you know you have to have a pulse to be sitting there alive, don’t you?” “Keep looking!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/31 "2011-09-01T16:44:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That’s what the head of Cardiology told my uncle. Then he went and checked it, and apologized. > > And in order to donate, I needed 12.00/7.00 - that’s right, I was considered too low by two freaking centesimes ☹ Remember that what’s considered “just fine” for a medical checkup may not necessarily be “good enough” when it comes to donations. Ok, it looks like the units you’re reporting in is centibars, not centimeters of mercury. The conversion to go from centibars to mmHg is 7.5 mmHg/cbar…that is to say, multiply your results by 7.5 to get what it would be in mmHg. So as **Deegeea** mentioned, your BP in mmHg is ~89.9/52, and yeah, that seems more likely to be ‘too low’ to donate…but I do agree, you were very close. And going with that proper conversion, 10/5 in cbar would be 75/37.5 in mmHg…which is still quite low for an adult…that’s even low for pediatric, but still within the realm of plausibility. Edit: Oh, and I just took my own using one of the several BP machines here in the office, and it came out to be 121/81, with a MAP of 97…that’s a tad higher than normal, I tend to be closer to 115/75 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/32 "2011-09-01T16:50:32Z")
Always normal. Usualy around 110/70. Maybe 120/70 on a bad day. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/33 "2011-09-01T16:52:24Z")
Mine was 115/55 last time, which is high for me. Pulse was 34, which was also a little high for me. But, for once, the plant nurse didn’t think I was about to keel over. (my coworkers are… not particularly healthy; she’s used to far higher numbers.) ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/34 "2011-09-01T17:01:28Z")
Got rushed to the hospital on a 200/something just last week. They managed to get it down to around 140/something with medicine, which I am still taking. Pulse was 180, the other reason for the hospital rush. It’s now around 90 bpm. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/35 "2011-09-01T17:07:48Z")
At the docs two weeks ago 120/70. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/36 "2011-09-01T20:19:37Z")
The last time I had it checked, it was 140/63. Yeah, I know, but it was before a gyno exam and I was extremely nervous. The nurse said the top number was registering my anxiety, and the lower number indicated that my BP was probably on the low side usually. So this thread reminded me, I should check my BP the next time I’m at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/37 "2011-09-01T22:24:08Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I can’t get over these numbers. Mine was around 175/110 with occasional spikes over 190. I have a monitor. Due to meds I’m now around 125/80 which is good. What meds did they put you on? I may have to get obesity surgery or baroreflex activation or something. When I’m not stressed, with the meds I’m on, my bp is still high but not extremely high. But when I get stressed it shoots up higher (but goes down in an hour or two). Getting my chronic stress under control is probably the no. 1 priority. When my stress levels are lower my bp is usually 140/90 on only 1 drug. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/38 "2011-09-01T22:46:23Z")
Unless either the nurse that measured me yesterday had a FUBARed sphygmomanometer or the doc that measured it today had a FUBARed one or my systolic went up about 20 points in less that 24 hours (it was measured twice because we had a free blood pressure clinic where I live yesterday, and coincidentally I had my annual physical today)! It was 144/96 yesterday and 160+/114 today (160+ because I don’t remember the last digit). My doctor and I were both quite shocked because I’ve never had a BP that high before to my knowledge. Needless to say I’ll be seeing him again in a couple of weeks to see if that was a fluke (and as well to see if anything “interesting” shows up in my blood tests). My record low was when I “crashed” during one of my hospital stays (they figured it may have been a reaction to the antibiotics I was on) and had a BP of 60/40. The nurses told me I was conscious the whole time, but there is an hour or two of my life wiped out of my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/39 "2011-09-01T23:55:51Z")
126/88 ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809/40 "2011-09-02T03:43:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > 126/88 Hey, me too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-your-blood-pressure/594809.md?page=3)