Blood Pressure

DE727UPS

DE727UPS

Well-Known Member
On my last physical, while taking my blood pressure, the nurse said "did you drink coffee this morning". I said "no". Then she made the Doc do it and he blew it off. I think it was like 142/82 but it didn't mean much to me.

Later, I got a home tester and checked it when I first got up this morning. 115/75. Then, after coffee and my morning JC surf, it was 130/85.

Do you think these home testers are accurate? I do it sitting upright with on my left arm at heart level. If I run the machine over and over, it keeps showing a lower reading until it drops about 10 on the systolic and 5 on the diastolyic, then it stays the same. Do you think the first reading is the most accurate or a later reading after about the fifth one where it stops changing (the first is always the highest). Not sure if my veins getting repeatedly crushed by this thing makes a difference on subsequent readings.

Also, can you recommend an at home cholestrol tester? Are they accurate enough to be useful?
 
You'd be surprised at how much coffee (caffine) can jack your blood pressure up.

A few asprin before any blood pressure exam will usually take any worry away for me. Even though without it, I am around 115-120/70. It's just when someone else is doing it - boy does it go up.
 
Ah, the old blood pressure question.:)

You blood pressure at the doc's mayhave been up because of "white coat hypertension" - just being at the doc's, or maybe the nurse was so good looking your pressure went up, or the caffeine may have raised it. All three are possible.

The FAA accepts up to 155/95:insane: for blood pressure although we hate to see it that high. Normal blood pressure is <120 / <80. Prehypertension is 1120-139/80-89. See the National Institute of Health info http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/phycard.pdf

Your blood pressure will go up with coffee. Try not drinkiing the morning cup(s) and checking the BP - that should give you the answer there.

Home blood pressure machines are reasonable accurate. You just need to be sure the cuff is the right width for your arm. When you turn the cuff sideways, your arm shoulf be no more than 2/3 the width of the cuff. When you do the pressures, just do the first one. CAUTION - you should sit quietly (don't read JC and get wound up) for 10 minutes before you take the pressure - that is the most accurate way.

As far as home cholesterol tests, they are OK but they only give you a total cholesterol which is really not that accurate for a good screening test (better than nothing). A good cholesterol test should include the total cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, triglycerides and a calculated LDL (nad) cholesterol. You can go to most labs and tell them you don't have insurance and want to know their cash price for a lipid panel. In PHX there is a lab that just does a cash business and a lipid panel is around $30 or so. The test kit at Target is $20 and as I said gives you only the total level.

Now a word about cholesterol (And you say - "There he goes again!") Testing cholesterol is important. It is a siginificant risk factor for coronary artery disease along with hypertension, diabetes, sex (male not how much), smoking and family history. The doc's office may say that the test result is "normal" for the lab but that number is still elevated compared to what is optimal. The following table from the National Institutes of HEalth shows the various levels and how they are classified.
Table 2. ATP III Classification of LDL, Total, and HDL Cholesterol (mg/dL)
LDL Cholesterol
<100 Optimal
100-129 Near optimal/above optimal
130-159 Borderline high
160-189 High
190 Very high​

​
​
Total Cholesterol
<200 Desirable
200-239 Borderline high
240 High​

​
​
HDL Cholesterol
<40 Low
60 High (we don;t worry about a high HDL)​

The important thing is that the narrowing of the arteries with cholesterol plaques is reversible with medications (statins) until there is finally calcium deposited in the plaques - then one needs an angioplasty, maybe a stent or maybe a by-pass operation (all lead to SPECIAL ISSUANCE:( ). The thing I do with the pilots I treat is drive the LDL below 100 with a statin if it is elevated. There is evidence to show that with patients with known heart disease we can reverse some of the changes and improve outcomes by driving the LDL to 70 or less.​

Hope the info helps. Good health:)​


 
"Your blood pressure will go up with coffee"

I'm a little under 120/80 not drinking coffee. A little over 120/80 drinking coffee and surfing JC. Does that mean I should stop drinking coffee and surfing JC to keep my BP under 120/80? I guess I could give up coffee easy enough...

"In PHX there is a lab that just does a cash business and a lipid panel is around $30 or so"

You know any in Scottsdale?
 
Express Labs is at 5th Ave and McDowell in PHX. I will check on the actual $$price Monday afternoon and send it to you. I do know that Sonora Quest labs also has a cash price but do not know what it is. Probably in the same range. They have blood draw stations all over town.

If you need a lab slip,PM me and I will mail one to you for Express Labs.
 
I need a script for skeleton, wanna ship one this way ?????

Ok, half serious on that one, if you do decide, send one for Ultram as well.

Ok now to be serious. I want to add to what the good doctor has said already. I'm curious if the nurse was making reference to pre-hypertension. It's not serious now but if you have it you are more at risk of having high blood pressure (hypertension) in the future. I wanna say people with pre-hypertension are 2 times then most to have a heart attack and stroke.

It is identified as having a systolic blood pressure (the top one) of 120 to 140 and a diastolic (the bottom one) of 80 to 90.
 
Doc - if you have been healthy, had normal check-ups at your PCP everything comes back normal, at what age do you start needing to be more proactive in arrange screenings and tests etc. Is it OK at the age of 25 to just go to the doctors when you are sick? I have never really understood, when we should do more than eat healthy and exercise.
 
You should have a blood pressure taken every 2 years. Cholesterol (more specifically lipid panel) should be done at age 18 then every 5 years. These are the two BIG ones you can fix and change the course of history. Most of the rest of it is not necessary unless you are having problems.
 
Thanks Doc - I am up to date then!! Volunteering at the hospital kind of makes you realize how fragile your health really is - illness really does not discriminate.
 
DE727UPS said:
It was either the ugly nurse, Bob, or the coffee. I'm betting on the coffee....
Click to expand...

Rofl

My Flight Surgeon said:
The important thing is that the narrowing of the arteries with cholesterol plaques is reversible with medications (statins) until there is finally calcium deposited in the plaques - then one needs an angioplasty, maybe a stent or maybe a by-pass operation (all lead to SPECIAL ISSUANCE:( ).​
Click to expand...

What kind of foods can be eaten to prevent this, and what kinds of foods that are eaten can create this?
 
Fat. In other words, eat fruits and vegetables along with grain fiber. Avoid fried foods and large amounts of red meat :( (I like red meat). Exercise 5 days a week. If these are not keeping the cholesterol down, it is time for DRUGS:)
 
My Flight Surgeon said:
it is time for DRUGS:)
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Walt! We're not that kinda website! :) :sarcasm:

I know my blood pressure is almost directly related to my gluttony. When I'm more towards my "fighting weight", my blood pressure is normal. When I'm 'packing on a few extra knots to my ref speed' my blood pressure spikes.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Walt! We're not that kinda website! :) :sarcasm:

I know my blood pressure is almost directly related to my gluttony. When I'm more towards my "fighting weight", my blood pressure is normal. When I'm 'packing on a few extra knots to my ref speed' my blood pressure spikes.
Click to expand...

Becareful you're black so we get it easier then people with lighter skin pigment! As I tell you this I'm reminding myself.
 
Last time I went for a medical when I had my BP checked the nurse did it with one of those electronic things, and it ended up being fairly high. The doctor looked at it and said "that ain't right" and then did it the old fashioned cuff + pump manual method and it was considerably lower. Was my doctor just making things up and covering my behind, or do the electric things really tend to misread.
 
The automatic machines are not as god a the manual method. he real thing that happened was you sat for a while and your pressure came down (or she was a knock out:nana2: ). The proper way to take blood pressure is to let you sit for ten minutes before taking it. What happens in the real world is the nurse rushes you in the room and slaps the blood pressure cuff on first thing.
 
This one has been a serious concern for me, and I've got my 1st class medical coming up next Friday. So, I did the ole blood pressure check at the pharmacy, and it was WAY high. We're talking over 140/90. So, my panic stricken self IMMEDIATELY scheduled an appointment with my primary care on Monday to get it checked and looked at by a pro. I've more or less cut out red meat (turkey, BTW goes great in spaghetti instead of ground beef I've found), and I've switched from caffeine drinks (hey, my wife DOES work at Starbucks) to old fashioned water and orange juice. Might have to pick up some bananas and oranges tomorrow at the grocery store, too.

Anything else I can do to get this thing under control and avoid getting my medical pulled?
 
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