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Home blood pressure monitors
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sphexx
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I don’t think this is an exhaustive list, NHS tends to be conservative (I know
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Does grapefruit affect my medicine?
Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice can affect some medicines. In most cases, it increases the level of the medicine in your blood.
www.nhs.uk
That is correct I also take a dose (5mg) of Amlodipine and it definitely advises against taking grapefruit in any way. However, I do know that watermelon juice is good for lowering blood pressure.
Hypertension: A glass of this red refreshing fruit juice can lower blood pressure significantly
While a low-sodium diet, regular workout regime and mindfulness can contribute to hypertension management, a recent study revealed that a particular variety of fruit juice can have a calming impact on your blood pressure reading.
Thanks for the heads up about the app. I went for the paid version, all of 89p.
sphexx
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To be honest, I’ve used for so long I can’t remember if I paid. It was originally but Withings the French BP etc machine supplier. It will feed data into both Apple Health & Withings Health app (and thence into GPs AirMid & SystemOnline apps).You can export from iPhone & iPad both directions and/or export snapshot photos or Excel etc, has all worked flawlessly for me.
My BP is very erratic (everybody’s is to some extent) and I take my BP often but not regularly and the IPB app, because it calculates the Means etc for me, shows my mean BP is pretty level over the years despite swinging about wildly. I find GPs on the whole are not very interested in that though
. I do have “white coat syndrome“ at GP‘s but not in hospitals .
sphexx
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Yes some of them do and some will calculate a mean of 3 readings and send that to your phone — because (see above) my BP swings about so much I prefer to have all the data points
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Yeah my Withings one has a mode for taking 3 readings X amount of time apart then averaging them.Yes some of them do and some will calculate a mean of 3 readings and send that to your phone — because (see above) my BP swings about so much I prefer to have all the data points
I'm not overly concerned at an average 134/84 this month. I need to loose some weight, already cut coffee right down, cutting my salt right down. Glad I got the thing to be honest I love my gadgets but everything I read said it's a silent killer so does no harm keeping an eye on blood pressure.
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grapefruit juice shouldn't be taken with quite a lot of medications, calcium channel blockers for hypertension (high blood pressure) of which as mentioned amlodipine is one of them , statins for your cholesterol, anti platelet drugs, warfarin (though other anticoagulants are safer to use such as apixaban ) some cytotoxic drug and im sure there are a couple more that i cant recall off the top of my head, just as well im not on any of these meds as i love a bit of grapefruit juice
as for taking blood pressure especially in a non clinical setting as mentioned the omron will be more than adequate, i let my first year students practice on me with a "proper" sphygmomanometer so some days i get my B/P taken 20 times..even though i hate it
as for taking blood pressure especially in a non clinical setting as mentioned the omron will be more than adequate, i let my first year students practice on me with a "proper" sphygmomanometer so some days i get my B/P taken 20 times..even though i hate it
sphexx
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Make them practice on each other? Or is that not allowed any more?
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sphexx
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Just curios, how do they check it?
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I surmise, parallel checking i.e. take a measurement on both devices......in principle if the patient owned one is within acceptable variance of the clinic one it would be deemed to be 'accurate'. But unless the surgery have a technical section I suspect the patient's device cannot be calibrated. NB though how the surgery ensure their own units stay within spec, I would hope they are sent on rotation to a qualified technician!
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“Checked quite frequently“ is interesting. The manufacturers of the majority of modern automated NIBP monitors state either no servicing is required or that it should be at intervals of ~2 years. Not exactly what I would call frequent.
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Yes, Omron say 2 years and add “Please consult your local OMRON representative.”, good luck with that, maybe they have them in Japan
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I’ve done a bit of ‘research’ (ie googling) and I suspect BPMs.are never recalibrated! Mostly they just recommend “checking” against the doctor’s machine which is not calibration!
There are several firms that offer calibration (cost around the same as a new cheap machine) and are evidently aimed at doctors but none I’ve found say how they do it so I suspect (having a suspicious mind) they just check they are working, wait a few days, and send them back with a bill
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All of the low cost units are checked against a known good reference. In event of a failure they are disposed of and replacement recommended. The check, certainly on Omron units, is most often a static pressure check and a number of points across the measurement range.I’ve done a bit of ‘research’ (ie googling) and I suspect BPMs.are never recalibrated! Mostly they just recommend “checking” against the doctor’s machine which is not calibration!
There are several firms that offer calibration (cost around the same as a new cheap machine) and are evidently aimed at doctors but none I’ve found say how they do it so I suspect (having a suspicious mind) they just check they are working, wait a few days, and send them back with a bill
This is done using a service adapter placed in the cuff port. It block the line to the deflation valve and allows pressure to be exerted onto the transducer. A calibrated pressure gauge is tee’d in and the two values cross referenced. An additional check is carried out on the over pressure valve, though this safety device doesn’t exist on some low quality units. A final check to ensure it completes a measurement successfully is carried out.
Even modern the high end units have little in the way of calibration but can often be returned to use following the replacement of any failed elements and a “pass” against a known reference.
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I’ve done the same
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My wife was a cardiac nurse specialist up till a couple of years back so she’s well aware of what’s a good machine and what isn’t. We’ve got an Omron.
I have an Omron M2 Basic. Cheap and cheerful but does the job. I have been taken off Amlodipine because of oedema and it causing me to pass out. I was dead to the world on the bathroom floor for four hours one night apparently - at least that is what we assume happened as I have no memory of it but my glasses (EYEglesses) were found there the next morning. I am only on Ramiplril now.
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I’ve been heavily involved with the routine maintenance and repair of medical devices for close to 30 years. Calling Omron “good” is a bit of a stretch.
As with everything at the lower price points a number of design decisions have been made to meet their build costs. Omron are one of the few brands where those compromises are acceptable.
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As I said earlier, I’ve got 3 of the basic ones. They all have the same annoying fault that, like most cameras, there’s no informative indication of the battery state. There’s no actual battery check and they seem to give a “Half full”indication with batteries that test as near new voltage. I guess the answer is to use an external power supply which is fairly inconvenient
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that's the beauty of a manual monitor - no batteries required - it's almost like shooting an old fm2As I said earlier, I’ve got 3 of the basic ones. They all have the same annoying fault that, like most cameras, there’s no informative indication of the battery state. There’s no actual battery check and they seem to give a “Half full”indication with batteries that test as near new voltage. I guess the answer is to use an external power supply which is fairly inconvenient
sphexx
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I dare say some manage but it is tricky to take your own bp manually, certainly impossible for me
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I have no idea,Richard. I assume you mean their monitors not mine. They just check mine against theirs.
To be fair to SydZ the doctor probably said they check them 'regularly' rather than 'frequently which is what I wrote and it was quite a few years ago..maybe 10... so from what he, SydZ, says the modern ones only need checking every 2 years or so .
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Since the discontinuation of mercury sphygmomanometers, many years ago, aneroid ones have taken over. However, to comply with MHRA guidelines, they come with a heavier maintenance burden as they should be checked for accuracy every 6 months. That means they will be checked four times more than automatic, electronic, units.
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I’d suggest taking two readings each time, and ignore the first.
The time of day is also going to make a difference, especially if before or after food. So take them at the same time each day or take several across the day.
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It's automatic it does either 1 or 3(30, 60, 90 and 120s apart)
Time of day could be where I could improve. Straight after work after sitting down for 10 minutes or so would be easy to stick to.
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When I take my own I do 2 readings and use the second.
When the surgery asked me to take readings to determine an average, it was for a week and they said morning before breakfast, middle of the day & in the evening before going to bed.
When the surgery asked me to take readings to determine an average, it was for a week and they said morning before breakfast, middle of the day & in the evening before going to bed.
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The surgery are using a method I have not heard of in 30 years within the NHS. I would guess they are using some go / no go criteria which can only take a single value.
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Hmmmm? For clarity I was not evaluating the average, I provided the surgery a table of my weeks readings.
The HCA taking the reading when I went in for my reading was not happy about the three off tries she took (I was a tad late getting...so perhaps a bit stressed) so she asked if I had my own device. That is when she asked to do the measurements I described.
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Thanks I misunderstood the earlier description.
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I guess I’m an outlier here. I never had any particular instructions from the GP. I’ve been taking them when convenient or I think of it! I have the impression (without studying it) that the first reading tends to be high. I alway take 3 readings and try for 5 mins apart. I record them all in the IBP app and rely on it graphs for the mean BP. It also gives bar charts for max min & mean. And you can choose day/week/month/3m/6m/year and am/pm/both. One can add notes and record pulse & weight.
I think I have had various instruction from the GP more recently. I see the NHS website says to take 2 readings each am & pm but it also says “If you're measuring at home, do a few tests, a few hours apart, as your blood pressure can change a little throughout the day’ which I suppose I could claim is consistent my ‘method’
I see I have about 9 years of records in my phone currently
..