Do you monitor your BP at home? What brand and model of BP cuff/machine do you use and do you find it accurate?
Thanks
When my skyrocketed a couple of years ago i tried, but could not find a decent cuff that was reasonably priced.
I have my chiropractor do it about once every two weeks.
At the suggestion at a physical 3-4 years ago, I bought one. It’s an Omron 7350 and looks a lot like this one, except I bought mine at Walgreens.
https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Pressure-Bluetooth-Storesup-Readings/dp/B07RX8WQ4K?ref_=ast_sto_dp
I find it accurate and close to the numbers I get when tested in the office. It has an arm cuff, which is usually more accurate than a finger or wrist cuff. Whenever I get tested with a finger cuff, the numbers are lower than what I get with an arm cuff, sometimes much lower. So, I don’t really trust those. Never tried a wrist cuff.
Can I ask what you do to lower your blood pressure if it’s too high? My son bought me a cuff to use at home, but I don’t use it because if it was high my anxiety would go up raising it even higher. So, what do you do to lower it? Take a walk, eat celery or what?
Mine has come back down, but my Dr. put me on meds because it was so high, I no longer need them.
Diet and exercise help.
There are also herbal supplements that can help.
I have about three omrons. They all vary wildly.
It’s hard to check your own BP.
If you find cuffs are not working. Train your spouse to do it manually.
Through an automated cuff. I get 160.
Manual. 110.
Oddly the wrist cuff is the most accurate for me. That’s around 120.
I got the Microlife model that they sell at Cosco for around $45. I got that after my BP was on the high side during a check-up and my doctor recommended that I monitor it. So far it has been pretty close to what it has been at the doctor’s office. Most recently I was checked-up Tuesday, and today my BP measured at home is close to that.
I agree with Wintermute that it helps to have somebody assist you. My wife does a good job with me.
For me, controlling what and how I eat is probably the main factor. We eat a large majority of our meals at home and don’t eat out very often. We’ve cut back on beef and pasta and we almost never eat fast food. We also use practically no salt. I also took up walking most days, and since it is hilly around here, it’s no Sunday stroll. We have a number loops of about 1.5-3.0 miles.
Heredity can play a part also. My wife recently had to get a stent, even though she is not at all overweight, has low cholesterol and low BP. Her father had two bypasses and her sister has had several heart issues. Those issues and an uncertain stress test caused the doc to strongly recommend it, and they found an arterial blockage of 90-95%…
I can’t recommend a particular brand, but i have had multiple medical professionals tell me the wrist ones aren’t accurate. Not sure how much better the home arm cuff ones are.
My BP has been fluctuating quite a bit and my doctor started me on a new med. I bought and arm cuff at Walgreens that has a memory of measurments. I took it in to the doctor to compare and show him the history. They told me that those cuffs are pretty accurate… It did match the doctors when I was in his office.
It depends. As I said for me they are more accurate than the arm cuffs.
The best is to do it manually, but it is hard to do by yourself.
People think BP is hard to take. It is actually really easy. You can teach someone in 5 minutes on how to do it.
Americans have become large people. The problem with most arm cuffs is that they are not large enough to get a good pressure reading.
It depends on why you have high blood pressure.
Cutting back on salt doesn’t help most people. Medication is common.
If you are just a few points off, try beet powder. That tends to lower in 10-20 points.
Make sure you are exercising. Also check for signs of edema. The more fluid you have, the higher your pressure typically.