Do you feel lightheaded or dizzy? Have you recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and are you taking medication for it? Get your blood pressure back! Better yet, have a professional nurse take it with a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer, take note of your blood pressure. A normal blood pressure should read 120/80. Higher than stated blood pressure for an illustrated period may cause your doctor to diagnose you with an ICD-10 (I10) billing code for HYPERTENSION. My concern is a double question; Did the person who took the blood pressure use an automatic machine and use the proper technique? It is no mystery or unknown that some technicians will do their jobs better than others. this worries me
The technique is used when taking blood pressure. The device used is paramount. The reason I say this is because automatic machines will give you a false reading compared to a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. Using a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer, the technician can auscultate or listen to the first ‘beat’, which is the systolic number where the vessel begins to open and the pressure against the vessel walls is measured as the heart beats. The last ‘hit’ is the diagnosis number; the vessel is open and blood pressure is determined here while the heart rests between beats. This represents a reading of systolic over diastolic. This reading can determine a person’s blood pressure. A diagnosis of hypertension or hypotension or normal will be more accurate when heard through a stethoscope. I think this method is more dependent and should be used for diagnosing rather than using an automated machine.
Automated blood pressure machines: Automated machines can be reliable if an individual’s blood pressure has already been baselined (using a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer); otherwise, there is ambiguity in the reading. Automatic machines offer a ‘quick, fast, rush’ reading that may be right but more often wrong. Some automatic machines can give more accurate readings than others; most won’t even read the same thing on the same person using the same arm at the same time. I have not studied machines, but I have been the victim of an automatic machine used in my doctor’s office. In short, the use of automatic blood pressure monitors…the readings can be false and should never be used for diagnosis, especially those worn on the wrist.
Oh, I know someone is saying, “well, machines are used in the hospital all the time, so they have to be somewhat reliable.” Right! The machines used in hospitals and other acute care facilities are not of the same caliber as the machines used in doctors’ offices and clinics. Listen, I’m not saying don’t trust machines; I’m saying educate yourself on your own blood pressure and how it was measured in all capacities.
Technique: The health professional’s technique should be noted and reprimanded instead of it being an automatic machine or the conventional way. For example, blood pressure should never be taken with sleeves that are bulky due to clothing. The cuff should start off snug and not tight or loose. The rubber air tube should be placed in the antecubital space and not in the back or anywhere else. By way of auscultation, the bell of the stethoscope should also be placed just below the air tube. For accurate auscultation while using a stethoscope, the area must be calm.
My experience: In 2013, my doctor diagnosed me with hypertension. I questioned it. I had my blood pressure taken repeatedly, after which over a period of six months and sure enough, a high reading was never revealed. So I stop taking the medication. At the time, I was taking a small dose of Lisinopril, which made me almost cough to death anyway. By the way, the cough stopped after about two weeks of stopping the Lisinopril. That was the worst experience of my life! I’m sorry, but people need to know that too.
I went back to the doctor’s office for a diabetes visit and noticed the technique of the office assistant who took my pressure and gave a somewhat high reading. Well, the technique was very wrong, and I didn’t believe the reading. The doctor asked me if he had taken my blood pressure medication and I said ‘no, because I don’t have high blood pressure’. Then he started looking to see what I was saying that day and he assured me that I had high blood pressure and asked me to take medication to lower or normalize it. I said, “Okay,” but I had no intention of taking the medicine. I had my own blood pressure checked once again by a nurse (my staff nurse) who used a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. My pressure was 122/84 (ishes) without taking anything. medication My baseline is textbook (120/80) I knew this.
So at the next visit I noticed that the technician used the automatic machine and cuff wrong again and my pressure was high again and at the same time of that visit the doctor thought he would send me to a specialist for diabetic education and stabilization. On that first visit, the office assistant took my blood pressure with a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer and the reading was quite normal. The doctor came in and said ‘well, I don’t think you have high blood pressure, but keep checking it and let us know if it’s over 140. I said yes.
Time passed, a year or so with normal pressures recorded every three months until at one visit it read high even with conventional equipment, but I can’t remember the technique.
I was reading high and the doctor prescribed Losartan 50 mg per ounce per day. I had to take my first dose on a short vacation, so I couldn’t check my pressure before I took it. I was driving home from Arkansas and found that I couldn’t feel the pavement while driving; I was lightheaded and dizzy and had to stop at a rest stop to rest until the dizziness and lightheadedness subsided, almost an hour. I was convinced that I did not have high blood pressure, it was not working and I was weak because I had taken an antihypertensive medication unnecessarily and I decided not to take any more Losartan until I saw the doctor again.
On the next visit, my husband joined me for an annual physical at the doctor’s office, where the nurse’s aide uses an automated machine. Her blood pressure is always normal. After visiting the same doctor with the same help in the office, she was told her blood pressure needed to be checked because he was saying HIGH. Why? Because the office assistant, physician’s assistant, nurse’s aide, or even a nurse took his blood pressure wrong? I know he did because the same person took mine and it read high too. I was horrified thinking this can’t really be happening. I was thinking, “Is this what is happening in the world? Maybe just this country because of monetary or pharmaceutical greed?” I was thinking, “do I need to warn the public about this arrogant attitude of taking blood pressure?” I was thinking, “Should I sue all the insurance companies that are paying for these ridiculous hypertension diagnoses and medications?” The warm part of my heart, which is the biggest part of my heart, led me to write about my experience because it may be happening more often than it should and people need to know.
This is not a petty belief. It’s more real than the Sasquatch tracks I’ve ever seen but apparently others have. But people who have had similar experiences will reflect on their experiences and hopefully add light to this public awareness cause.