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Original poster

Blood pressure Monitor - anyone else worn one?

23 replies

saltire · 23/08/2006 14:02

Have jsut been fitted with my BP monitor, which i have to wear for 24 hours. It really hurts though, every time it starts up - it's set to go off every half hour.
Has anyone else had one for 24 hours before, and how did you sleep? There's no way i'll get to sleep tonight, as i said the pain is unreal whenitinflates,and it beeps as well.
Been some very strange reading coming off it!

OP posts:
Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:02

that joined up group of words should read
"when it inflates". Don't know how they all joined up like that

OP posts:
mummy2jake · 23/08/2006 14:14

i had one fitted about two years ago from what i can remember i slept fine dont remember feeling it going off when asleep i have just seen an at home one in lloyds pharmacy reduced from £45 to £9.99 so going to get one.

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:21

I'm wondering how i'm actually going to sleep though, if it's going off every half hour and it beeps really loudly! Plus it's on my left arm and i sleep on my left side!

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giraffeski · 23/08/2006 14:22

Message withdrawn

Blandmum · 23/08/2006 14:23

Yes, it is a total pain the arse. In the end my results were inconclusive. My Bp is, howvere totaly normal and I check it regularly. In fact it is lower than my GPs!

Mine went off every 30 mins through the day and every hour at night.

I ended up brused!

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:23

DH has told me to sleep in the spare room, so i don't waken him, but i said he could!

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Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:25

MB, my BP has never been high before, but when i got my depo injection the doc took it and it was high, but i thought it was stress-related, school hols, so my 2 DSs, plus 4 CM kids five days a week, but its still high today and got no kids at all.

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suejonez · 23/08/2006 14:27

It sounds to me like its not been put on properly. If its beeping it may be an error message - can you go back and get the nurse to chekc its fits propoerly?

Blandmum · 23/08/2006 14:28

I had a headache that lasted two weeks ....scared the shit out of me! Saw a locum doc and he sent me for the BP monitoring.

In the end my bp is fine. It was up at the time because I was so scared about the head ache.

Head ache went, never new what caused it, so far has never come back!

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:29

I phoned her, she's very rude. She told me that she had been a nurse in the navy for x amount of years and knew how to put BP monitors on people! Then said it was meant to beep!
I also told her it was really really sore when it inflates, and she told me i'd just have to put up with it

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Blandmum · 23/08/2006 14:30

ditto, saltire. Mine beeped and inflated like crazy and was very sore. As I said I was quite badly brused by it. And it didn't give any real results anyway!

suejonez · 23/08/2006 14:31

Oooh she sounds lovely.

suejonez · 23/08/2006 14:32

Mine wasn;t that tight and the results were OK - yes I did get some sleep though the tbe became detached during the night so no reading from about 2am.

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:32

Just went off again. 154/102. Half an hour ago it 191/97, then before that it was 102/75. Odd.
I don't even know what a normal BP reading should be, horrible nurse told me i didn't need to know

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Elibean · 23/08/2006 14:34

I hated mine at first - but amazingly, got used to it after 12 hours or so. And I was convinced I wouldn't sleep through a single beep, but I did...though one or two of them woke me up (not the beep, the sensation of inflation). That said, mine was uncomfortable but not exactly painful - that sounds horrible, and I don't see why it should be sore?? How rude of the nurse not to take that more seriously, or at least be civil
As for the readings, I know its hard but try not to look....you can end up with a form of 'white coat hypertension' where it goes higher than it normally would because you're watching! I had some mega high spikes which my gp totally ignored, because they were random - probably when I was picking my toddler up - and its the overall pattern that counts.
I'm glad you're getting it done, though its not much fun, it really is the best way of getting clear information - good luck tonight!

suejonez · 23/08/2006 14:34

normal would be somewhere around 130/80 I think 120/70 to 140/85 ish is considered normal. Your machine doesn;t sound like it reading properly. Wait for a few more readings and if they are consistantly wierd then call again and try t ospeak to a doctor (or get them to call you back).

Or put up with it and say I told you so to the nurse when teh results are gibberish

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:35

suejonez, she is horrible. There are three nurses there, her and an army nurse and a RAF nurse, both of whom are lovely but that other one, she's just a cow. I went once to get calcium levels checked in blood, and she refused to do the blood tests because "i think mrs saltire you have misunderstood the GP, he would mean something else", and sent me home. Got home, phoned doc and told him what she had said. She then had to do the tests.

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mummy2jake · 23/08/2006 14:37

its the second number they are more bothered as my consultant tells me think 102 is high hope its all worth it in the end

Blandmum · 23/08/2006 14:47

It is the lower figure that docs are usualy most concerned about. If you have high BP they will try to loer it so the bottom figure is below 90....below 80 for some poeple. If you have high bp the doc may try non drug methods to lower it first, loose weight if you need to, no salt, excercise regularly and most important give up the fags if you smoke. If this doesn't work there are a wide range of different drugs that can be used very sucessfully.

Don't worry if your bp goes up and down through the day, that is quite normal

Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 14:48

He told me i need to lose weight, 4 stone to be exact. I'm 6ft tall and weigh 13 1/2 - 14 stone

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Original poster
saltire · 23/08/2006 22:22

I had to take it off for an hour, i lost all feeling in my hands, and i'm sure the pain its causing is making the readings high

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Elibean · 24/08/2006 08:23

Saltire, hope you survived the night....losing all feeling should not happen, that monster nurse must have put it on far too tight. Hope she hasn't blown the whole trace for you, but if you do need it repeated make sure its not her who sets it up! Fingers crossed it'll be ok though.

GotABitTricky · 16/12/2015 22:18

i had to wear for 24 hours and yes it woke me up every hour thru the night

it is meant to bleep when recording, but should not be so tight as to cause discomfort

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