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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to ask for regular blood pressure checks at my GP surgery

69 replies

mabelinthegable · 05/10/2022 07:51

I've suspected my blood pressure was high for over a year now.

I bought a home monitor (because it's ALWAYS "sorry, emergency appointments only" when I ring my GP surgery). Checking my BP seems to give me wildly varying results, some very high and some normal despite me following the same procedure every time. I've tried to get an appointment to discuss this but to no avail, just told by receptionists to keep monitoring it at home.

I finally managed to book an appointment as I was deemed to need blood tests for something else and whilst I was there a nurse took my blood pressure several times and informed me that the average readings were 195/115 which I was told is dangerous as far as risk of stroke etc is concerned. She insisted that I see a GP there and then (which somewhat makes a mockery of the "sorry, we can ony see emergencies" parroted by the receptionists)

I've been prescribed medication to try and lower it and told to monitor it myself at home. Back at home though I continue to get wildly varying readings and really can't afford to buy another monitor, especially as now I have to pay for medication too.

Is it asking too much to ask to be able to get it checked by a HCP at the GP surgery once a week ? The nurse was concerned enough to refer me to see a GP immediately but then they're not concerned enough to keep checking me as regularly as they say I need it checking.

OP posts:

Bigsislookingforadvice · 05/10/2022 07:56

The pharmacy next to my GP offer this and gave my partner a 24 bp machine / cuff for a wider range of results. Maybe ask there if your gp cannot accommodate

Quincythequince · 05/10/2022 08:01

You do not need to see a GP to do this.
That’s a total waste of very sought after appointments.

Use the ones you can find in pharmacies, or buy a BHF accredited one from Argos!

Also, take your medication - it should improve.

What lifestyle measures are you putting in place to help yourself?

Quincythequince · 05/10/2022 08:02

Are you sitting I know a room, calm, destressed at the same time of day, and taking the readings.

Multiple readings, at least three.

You will see that the first one is usually higher (white coat syndrome, even when measured by yourself) so wait until you have at least two broadly similar ones, then take a third.

FruitPastilleNut · 05/10/2022 08:02

Although understandable, I think yabu.

Your blood pressure is high. You know this, your GP knows this and you're being treated for it. Weekly testing at your GPs won't actually change your blood pressure or give any more info other than what's already known - it's high.

BP meds take time to kick in and more time to find the right ones for you. DH had high BP and after the initial medication was sent home to monitor his own BP daily and return after a month. It took him about 4 months to get the right meds at the right level so that his BP is within an acceptable range.

Also BP readings, if you have a good machine, are pretty foolproof. Check with your pharmacy that you have a decent home monitor and are using it correctly.

HangryFeminist · 05/10/2022 08:05

Our chemist offers this service for free. Ask yours.

SparklyLeprechaun · 05/10/2022 08:06

Get it checked at the pharmacy, but really you should get to a position of being able to monitor it reliably at home. Save up for a decent monitoring device.

girlmom21 · 05/10/2022 08:08

YABU. You need to get it checked with a pharmacist.

Although you can also tell the receptionist that, actually, A&E is there for emergencies.

meateatingveggie · 05/10/2022 08:08

Totally unreasonable and selfish to want an appointment every week with a HCp to do what can be done at home.

It's no wonder they say only emergencies if that's how their patients want to use their services

EvilRingahBitch · 05/10/2022 08:11

Sit down, take a reading. Stay sitting down for 5 minutes. Take another reading. Stay there for another 5 minutes. Take a third reading. Discard the upper two and record the lowest of the three.

If you're still getting spikes at dangerous levels when doing it this way then you have a problem.

Looking at this process explains why it's a terrible imposition of time and effort for you to get your BP done properly at the surgery every time. Where would you wait in between readings?

EvilRingahBitch · 05/10/2022 08:13

However if you have genuine doubts about the veracity of your monitor then go and see your pharmacist, maybe taking your monitor with you, for a double check.

AutumnScream · 05/10/2022 08:14

Yabu sorry. As others have said the dr knows you have high bp and you are on meds for it and have access to an at home monitor.

Keep checking at home. Three times a day when calm and relaxed. Sometimes your blood pressure will read differently it can go up and down.

My dp had a heart attack and is on 15 different meds a day and his bp is still slightly on the cusp of being high and its not a problem he doesn't even use the at home monitor anymore. So if everyone wanted weekly bp tests at the drs no one would ever get an appointment.

Beseen22 · 05/10/2022 08:17

You should be booked in for a follow up in due course (giving your tablets time to take effect). But realistically if your readings are so high with the nurse and more stable at home it's likely you have white coat syndrome and your BP will be artificially raised if checked routinely in the GP. This can become an issue because you could have your antihypertensive titrated to too high a dose on the basis of false readings which could mean that when your BP is at its lowest at home you could be dropping too low and have dizziness/fainting as a result. It's more common to treat based on a chart of twice daily readings over the course of a week at home. Does the cuff fit well? Are you well hydrated? Make sure you are not in any pain or anything prior to the readings. You'll want to see it trending down a bit compared to your previous readings towards 130/80. It's generally more of a long term chronic management to reduce risks associated with hypertension in clinics rather than regular blood pressure checks.

Bouledeneige · 05/10/2022 08:17

Go to your community pharmacy - it's a very common service offered by them.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/10/2022 08:24

It's not even necessarily going to be more consistent at the GP surgery, as you're still going to have the same variations/stresses or possibly more <remembers the time I left work early, leaving things undone to get stuck in rush hour traffic to get to a doctors appointment, got there just in time only to be find that they were unapologetically running 40 minutes behind>.

And yet they seemed surprised and concerned that my blood pressure was higher than it should be.

Good quality blood pressure monitors can be bought for about £30. That seems to me a small price to pay to avoid having to get and get to regular GP appointments. (yes I know, some people have no money, etc etc).

Novum · 05/10/2022 08:35

really can't afford to buy another monitor, especially as now I have to pay for medication too.

Do you have a prescription prepayment certificate? You can save money that way if you have a lot of prescription charges to pay.

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 05/10/2022 08:42

Prescription prepayment cert and get BP checked at pharmacy.
Neither of your issues are GP issues.

bruffin · 05/10/2022 08:42

There is a form online at our GP website

I was in similar situation to you op but nurse didnt send me to GP , she prescribed me BP medication for me to pick up at the chemist straightaway. I was going away on Holiday on monday so had to take my bp machine with me.
I recorded it on my Samsung Health app and printed it out for when i went back to see her. My watch also does blood pressure, but is less accurate.

I had to change medication and was asked to submit a weeks worth of readings online which I did and nurse text me to say happy with results.

BP can be affected by if you just eaten, if your tired or stressed the position your sat in so its bound to vary quite a lot anyway. Agree with the other posters. I always take the 3rd reading

But that sort of reading is an emergency

Crazycrazylady · 05/10/2022 08:49

Op
Looking for a weekly appointment just to measure blood pressure will realistically not be accommodated.
The fact that you're on medication is positive and it will work, you just need to relax a little about it I think.

Zebedee55 · 05/10/2022 08:54

My DH has chronic heart disease, and takes meds for BP. He also has a pacemaker He checks his 3 BP times a day, (Morning, noon and evening). and the GP has said to contact them (by EForm). if it's consistently high over a couple of days.

Everyone's BP bounces up and down over a day,

Sceptre86 · 05/10/2022 08:55

I would phone your local pharmacies and see if any offer bp checks as a free service, often its not meant to be as an ongoing service to a patient. For example you have high BP diagnosed via a gp, have a BP machine. The service is normally for people who don't have high blood pressure diagnosed but may have symptoms, some pharmacies will do BP readings needed to be submitted as part of a pill check (so patient can submit to their gp to get their pill) but the actual service wasn't designed for this reason. It comes down to pharmacists discretion.

You should be having a follow up with your gp in a few months to check your BP and consider dosing changes. If you are having symptoms and they are getting progressively worse then you need to book in with the Gp as soon as possible.

Snailsaresweet · 05/10/2022 09:05

One of the reasons for checking your own blood pressure is that you can do it several times a day, and start to get an average over a period of time. My surgery started doing this a few years ago, and it means they get a much more accurate idea of your BP. If you're not happy with your particular monitor, it might be worth asking if you can borrow one from your surgery for a few weeks - and then you'll have an idea of which one to buy in the longer term? Also keep an eye out for other initiatives where you are - our library is currently running a "borrow a BP monitor scheme" .

RagzRebooted · 05/10/2022 09:06

GP surgeries cannot accommodate this, but they should let you bring your monitor in and check it against theirs (once) just to make sure. Though if it's a decent make (BHF I think have a list on their website of approved home monitors) it should be fine. I am yet to do this and find a significant discrepancy between the patient's monitor and ours.

BP does vary wildly. I frequently do BP checks and out of 3 readings over 5 minutes or so will get readings where the systolic (top number) is 20-30 different. As PP advised, sit down (legs not crossed) relaxed and take 3 readings a few minutes apart. Do this morning and evening.

You should have a follow up after a month to make sure the medication is working.

RagzRebooted · 05/10/2022 09:08

Our local trust sent us a box of BP monitors to give out to patients for this purpose so worth asking, if yours turns out to be dodgy (unlikely), however a good one can be bought on Amazon for £30.

Pixnix · 05/10/2022 09:08

She insisted that I see a GP there and then (which somewhat makes a mockery of the "sorry, we can ony see emergencies" parroted by the receptionists)

195/115 is a medical emergency

EL8888 · 05/10/2022 09:09

YABU with weekly checks. It’s a struggle to allocate appointments and it’s just not necessary. Pay to see a GP privately if you want this each week as it’s wildly indulgent

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