Rodney

It's always been 10 or 20 points too high, since I had my BP first taken at 16 and I was skinny as a rail. At 48, it's just kissing 140/80, although I'm sure it goes higher under stress. Oh well: on my mom's side, they're all generally tense and excitable (like me) and tend to die of strokes, but not until they're well into their 80s. So I'm hoping I got dealt the same hand -- highish blood pressure, but with a circulatory system strong enough to handle it until near the end.


Don't discount the fact that a lot of people get nervous when their BP is taken, and that this artificially bumps up their readings. I went to a holistic MD once, and he took my BP both before and after I did a meditation exercise, and the top figure was 20 points lower the second time. So, some people who are borderline might just be a little scared of the process. Thus, if your BP looks somewhat high but not incredibly high and the doc is recommending drugs, might be worth making sure that the BP is taken really carefully and that you are relaxed. For sure, don't drink caffeinated beverages beforehand, because they will bump up your BP temporarily.

Also, if you've got a fairly thick arm (muscle, fat, or both), the standard-sized cuff may be too tight; this can produce a false high reading. Ask the nurse about using a larger-sized cuff for the BP test. In my experience, they always have one around. I put on some arm mass from weight training (and general weight gain), and started getting BP readings in the 150s. (My upper arm went from 14 inches to 18 inches around.) But when I learned about larger-sized cuffs and started asking for them, my BP results went back down to where they always were.