Ambulatory Bp?

[mkoven]

As a followup to my previous post, the doc at the hospital wanted me to have a 24hr ambulatory bp monitor, that measures bp throughout the day. I'd never heard of this and figured if it existed I would have read about it on dinet, or another doc would have suggested it. HAs anyone done this?

It's hard to imagine how it would work, since most bp monitors require you to be still, or you get a misread. also, what happens if you are getting measured, and your arm is too low, i.e. not at heart level.

and if it's squeezing your arm throughout the night, wouldn't that keep you from sleeping?

Just seems like this would be a common test for people like us, but I'd never heard of it, so underused? ineffective? non-existent?

[Ernie]

Hi,

I had it done several times and whenever I am standing the monitor cannot read my BP. So I have to either sit and hope it will read and lie down. So in my case it is not worth the trouble doing this test because it cannot take my standing BP and this is when I am having problems.

[yogini]

I had the the 24 hr BP at Mayo - I think it's one of their standard tests. When you're awake and it goes off, you're supposed to stand or sit still. I'm a really light sleeper, but it didn't affect my sleep any. I was supposed to have the same test again at home, but my dr's office lost their machine. It does provide useful info. I wouldn't mind having it again to see where things are.

[flop]

I had ambulatory BP done in January. It was one of the tests I had as an inpatient at an anutonomic unit.

The way it was done with me wasbquite complicated. Every 20 mins it would beep and that meant it was about to take a reading so I had to stay still and let my arm hang down by my side (if I was standing I was to stay standing etc). I also had to do lots of extra manual readings - I had lists of things to do and take my BP before, after and 3 mins after (eg, walking on the flat, walking upstairs, standing still). I also did lying sitting standing BPs lots of times during the 24 hrs. After 11pm the machine only did my BP every hour and it didn't beep, I actually managed to sleep ok with it on and was only woken up twice by the cuff going tight on my arm.

I think in my local hospital they just put the monitor on and tell you to ignore it, just keep still while it is taking a reading.

Ernie - I guess that the actual fact that the machine won't read your upright BP tells the docs a lot - ie you have very low BP when upright, putting a number on it might not make that much difference.

Flop

[Ernie]

Hi Flop,

You would have done a good doctor. Actually when I did my BP monitor my doctor thought that I was doing something wrong with the machine or that the machine was defective. So he had me restart the test a month later. It did the same thing. So the third time he told me to sit or lay down when the machine beeped to tell that it was going to read my BP. That was 3 years before I was diagnosed.

I still have the same problems but now the doctors know because I tell them that they can't take my standing BP.