Don't check your blood pressure too often. Some people find that they become worried or stressed about small changes in their readings if they take them too often. Worrying can also raise your blood pressure in the short term, making your reading higher than it should be.
But too much monitoring could cause anxiety in some patients, which could elevate their blood pressure. After they have the process down, both Lu and Ebinger recommend testing once daily at the same time each day.
At the beginning, measure your blood pressure at least twice daily. Take it first in the morning before eating or taking any medications. Take it again in the evening. Each time you measure, take two or three readings to make sure your results are the same.
"If your blood pressure is unstable, then checking it once a day is recommended." However, Dr. Pianko advises against checking it with any greater frequency. "More than that can make you nervous and affect the reading."
In the American Heart Association BP measurement guideline [12], the following statement was described without any citation: 'three readings should be taken in succession, separated by at least 1 min. The first is typically the highest, and the average should be used as the blood pressure reading.
Don't check your blood pressure too often.
Some people find that they become worried or stressed about small changes in their readings if they take them too often. Worrying can also raise your blood pressure in the short term, making your reading higher than it should be.
White coat syndrome may cause your first blood pressure reading to be high. Your blood pressure reading may be high if you don't sit in an optimal position: both feet flat on the floor with your back upright and supported.
Everyone's blood pressure rises and falls many times during the course of a single day, sometimes even within minutes.
Usually, blood pressure starts to rise a few hours before a person wakes up. It continues to rise during the day, peaking in midday. Blood pressure typically drops in the late afternoon and evening. Blood pressure is usually lower at night while sleeping.
Surges of anxiety can cause blood pressure spikes, but these are typically temporary. Over time, however, chronic anxiety can begin to have an adverse effect on someone's baseline blood pressure. We understand your desire to manage each of these conditions without the use of medication.
Use a blood pressure log [PDF – 284 KB] to record your blood pressure measurements. Take your blood pressure at the same time every day. Take at least two readings, 1 or 2 minutes apart.
In addition to a 5-minute period of rest before AOBP, guidelines recommend at least a 1- to 2-minute pause between each of the three measurements. As a result, AOBP requires a minimum of 7 minutes of rest time beyond cuff placement, instructions, and cuff inflation and deflation.
Research Story Tip: Study Says Blood Pressure Readings Accurate with Less Than a Three-Minute Rest. Physicians, nurses and other health care providers traditionally been taught to let patients rest three to five minutes between blood pressure measurements.
A person with a lot of variation could easily have a blood pressure of 140/90 in the morning and a reading of 200/100 later in the day. Other factors, such as stress, emotional upsets and food sensitivities can cause an increase in blood pressure.
Call 911 or emergency medical services if your blood pressure is 180/120 mm Hg or greater and you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or symptoms of stroke.
“It's actually quite normal to have variation in blood pressure readings, even within a few minutes,” says Marjorie Willett, nurse practitioner at Aurora Lakeland Medical Center. “Factors that may create changes include physical activity, emotion, diet (especially salt and alcohol intake), and sleep deprivation.”
The less you sleep, the higher your blood pressure may go. People who sleep six hours or less may have steeper increases in blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, not sleeping well may make your blood pressure worse.
Systolic blood pressure is the best way to predict future cardiovascular events and death, irrespective of age, according to new research.
A. While both numbers in a blood pressure reading are essential for diagnosing and treating high blood pressure, doctors primarily focus on the top number, also known as systolic pressure.
Conclusions. Single-arm measurements, compared to double-arm measurements, may underestimate the prevalence of hypertension. However, if double-arm measurements are unavailable, right arm is preferred for measurement of BP, especially in women.
Don't smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise within 30 minutes before measuring your blood pressure. Empty your bladder and ensure at least five minutes of quiet rest before measurements. Sit correctly. Sit with your back straight and supported (on a dining chair, rather than a sofa).
Blood pressure readings taken at home were consistent with ABPM. Blood pressure readings based on follow-up clinic visits were significantly lower for the systolic measure, leading to over half of the people with hypertension based on ABPM being missed.
When you first start to check blood pressure, Ruthmann recommends that you take two or three readings in a row each time. That way, you can compare readings to make sure they're roughly the same. “Often the first blood pressure is higher than repeat checks,” Ruthmann says.