Can't Get Bp Reading When Standing

[Alma]

I am trying to do the poor man's ttt at home. Resting heart rate 65, resting bp 95 over 70. When I stand up,hr goes up to 100, but the bp machine gives me an error message -- error 5: remove clothing on upper arm. I am not wearing clothing on upper arm. This is a consistent problem, can't get bp when standing. Is it a cheapo monitor, or is it a problem with my bp when I stand? Any wisdom would be much appreciated.

[Evergreen]

When I went to my first neurologist appointment he took my bp sitting, then had me stand and the machine kept erroring. He ran and got a manual cuff and couldn't even detect my bp. My heart rate was near 200 but my bp was so low he was surprised I was still standing. That could be your problem as well. Your blood pressure should correct itself eventually and the machine should work once your bp raises back to normal.

[angelloz]

I have this frequently....resting my arm on a stack of pillows, and making sure the cuff is very snug will sometimes give me a reading. I think it has to do with low pulse pressure or maybe low blood volume?? When I sit back down I can pick it up although a couple of times when I felt really terrible it would error out while I was sitting too. I think I have heard others speak of this. Quite tricky figuring it all out. Good luck.

[Guest ANCY]

I also have had trouble with BP cuffs being unable to get a reading. I agree that often times a bp cuff cannot detect well when BP is low, happened with me several times. Also have had it error when my BP is fluctuating rapidly. When taken manually following an error it is either low or fluctuating so much they have to keep inflating the manual cuff. I did upgrade to a more expensive machine and it works better but still errors occasionally. My Dr also told me to switch arms after 3 attempts because it would not be an accurate reading. Hope you figure it out soon.

[Wufflebear]

I have had this several times too. Last time was when they took me for a walk after I had my son via c-section. They couldnt figure it out. The head nurse came over, grabbed a wheel chair and started barking orders. My BP was too low for a reading.. they had been trying for several minutes before she came over and finally figured it out. I had been trying to tell them this as I sat without vision/hearing and begging for a bed.. But my speech can be pretty messed up when I am not doing well.

[Katybug]

The manual machines often error out when I'm standing (home and doctors office.) My pulse becomes very thready and my bp fluctuates a lot when I stand up and the doctors think that's what is causing the machines to error in my case. I find that using a wrist cuff and not an arm cuff at home gives me better results and much fewer error messages.

[Milliesgirl]

This happens to me too. My laying down bp is higher than sitting with a brafy hr.  and then standing hr jumps 50pts and is hard to feel. Can't get a np reading. Headache too. Earlier my np wad 149\120 and while diastolic is down, systolic is all over the place.

[Roxy]

I have the same issue so they use the manual one on me, I also have a pretty big difference between my left and right arm.