Blood pressure readings - always different!

[Grandad Gaz]

A visit to the doctors last week and it seems my blood pressure is a little high, so she gave me a diary to keep for seven days.

I can take two readings in the morning within a minute or so, and yet they can be wildly different. I have read the instructions very carefully, so I know I am doing it right.
Example this morning. 151/78. 136/80. I took another one a couple of minutes later which read 137/81

Is this normal?

[Bluevanman]

My machine's instructions are to keep repeating the test every couple of minutes until the results stabilise and use those

[Brainpox]

Yes it's normal to take 2-3 readings to get some kind of average or exclude an erroneous result. Manual BP monitors are more accurate but require some skill to use efficiently.

[Badda]

Grandad Gaz said:

A visit to the doctors last week and it seems my blood pressure is a little high, so she gave me a diary to keep for seven days.

I can take two readings in the morning within a minute or so, and yet they can be wildly different. I have read the instructions very carefully, so I know I am doing it right.
Example this morning. 151/78. 136/80. I took another one a couple of minutes later which read 137/81

Is this normal?

I normally advise to take 3 readings and record the lowest.

[The Leaper]

My wife regularly, every 6 months or so, is asked by her GP to provide BP and heartbeat rate readings. When requested, she does this twice a day, once in the morning another in the evening, at about the same times, for a week. Each time she takes two readings 10 minutes apart. Usually, the second reading is a bit lower. She then works out the average over the week of the two daily lower readings, and sends the full data to her GP.

The readings do vary but not usually by a large amount.

R.

[ChrisRyan]

Yes, that's totally normal. Blood pressure fluctuates minute to minute depending on breathing, posture, even how tense you are. Doctors usually take an average of several readings.

[Grandad Gaz]

Thanks All

[Hondapower]

The act of taking a reading changes your blood pressure. It also makes a difference how you sit, if your legs are crossed, and so on. I've been measuring mine often and it changes a lot. However I can see the average has dropped since I started my medication, which was my main concern.