Hmmm

[dreamshark]

Well, either this little machine doesn't work too well, or I have white coat hypertension. Or maybe my blood pressure really is 25 point lower in the evening than it is in the morning. I'll try it again tomorrow.

Comments

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

Does this mean you did a single reading each? Maybe I'm bent because my dad liked to do three in sucession and average them. But I don't see how you'd be unsure if you did multiple ones each time. I'm oddly intrigued.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

"Does this mean you did a single reading each?"

Oh, heck no. I played with it for a couple of hours, and again this morning. I did 6 readings on myself last night, and they ranged from 119/68 to 134/70. The bottom number was pretty consistent at around 70 (lower than my BP has ever been measured in my life). The upper number bounces around a lot more, which I think is normal. When I've been sitting still for awhile the upper number tends towards 130. I've been told that readings are usually higher in the morning, but I did 5 or 6 readings this morning and they were in the same range.

I'd really like to believe this adorable little machine, but I think it's just telling me what I want to hear. However, I'm certainly not going to start taking medication until I find out for sure that I really do have high blood pressure. Even if the machine is consistently 10 points low on both measures that still puts my BP at about 140/80, which is not that bad.

On the other hand, if it's reading 15 points low, then it's in agreement with what I see in the doctor's office, and I probably should do something about it.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

If that wasn't clear... I'm dubious about the readings on this machine because they are very much lower than any readings I have gotten at the doctor's office or when I give blood. The last few times I've been checked in a doctor's office the readings were 150+ over 90+.

[carbonel]

I bought a BP machine, and I thought all was well until I brought it into the doctor's office to try to calibrate it. Turned out it was 10 to 20 points lower than the doctor's sphygmomanometer.

So option 1 is a good shot.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Is there in fact some way to calibrate the machine? It seems like there must be, but it must be hidden inside somewhere.

[carbonel]

Mine didn't seem to have any way to do so. Very annoying. You might try contacting the manufacturer, I suppose.