NICE approved BP AF Monitor

[seasider18]

nice.org.uk/news/press-and-...

[Hidden]

I bought one, didn't get a single reading so sent it back . They said it was probably just faulty and would replace it but once bitten etc...

[PeterWh]

I am in persistent AF. I bought one a year ago. I use it alongside my AliveCor because the AliveCor is more accurate for HB (pulse). Been very pleased with it and use it regularly. The one very big advantage is that you can download the data onto a PC?

There is a fallacy in the overall summary calculation within the BP monitor itself which probably hasn't been corrected by Microlife so I ignore that calculation and do my own one in a spreadsheet.

[seasider18 in reply to PeterWh]

It is a much cheaper device than my Omron MIT Elite Plus BP monitor. It only shows that there is an irregular beat. I does store about 200 readings that can be downloaded but for some reason is prone to lose some readings.

[PeterWh in reply to seasider18]

I am not sure if the lost readings comment applies to your Microlife BPWatch or your Omron. I have never lost any readings on my BPWatch

[seasider18 in reply to PeterWh]

My Omron MIT Elite Plus. It often loses a days readings.

I don't have a BP Watch, I just put up the link to get comments on it.

[PeterWh in reply to seasider18]

Ok it's just that I could read you post to be either way and I have found the BP watch to be very good and effective and certainly hadn't lost any readings and you of course can look at the last 200 on the BP monitor itself as well as downloading onto a computer.

[seasider18 in reply to PeterWh]

My one supposedly stores 200. I usually download my readings twice a month and then delete them from memory.

One time I did not put in a start date for the ones to copy to file and was surprised that it spewed out 1053 readings from Sept 2013 when I bought it until Oct. 2014.

I've tried downloading 'all' since but never had so many.

[Drounding]

I use an Omron M3 BP monitor and it can detect an irregular heartbeat. It doesn't specify what the cause is, it just warns of an irregular beat.

[seasider18]

I also have a very old Omron M4 that bleeps my heart beats at it takes my BP. It always sounded very irregular with gaps but ECG's said that I was in sinus rhythm and it was only after having my aortic valve replaced that I was told that I was in AF.

After a cardioversion it often did not sound much different then I was told that I must have ectopic beats. They never had the thump that my GP used to beat out to explain ectopic beats and only a seven day ECG monitor showed up the actual problem.

[dmac4646]

I have one of these but it takes so long to get the 3 readings...

[PeterWh in reply to dmac4646]

You may not like this but surely 2.5 to 3 minutes is an extremely miniscule amount of time to spend twice a day on a few days a week when it is your health that could be at stake!!

[dmac4646]

agreed , but t depends how many times you take it - I need to monitor constantly due to surges.

[seasider18 in reply to dmac4646]

Consultant at hypertension clinic suggested that I'm not truly hypertensive and just have surges or spikes in my BP and that is why medications have all given me side effects.

What do you due when you get a surge?

He also said that you can never check your BP too often!

[dmac4646 in reply to seasider18]

I have been hypertensive since 1998 , now take Losartan and Bisoporol to control it. Recent thinking is that its not average blood pressure that is the only important consideration bad spikes can sometimes predict strokes eg with the onset of the cold recently mine went to 235/125 - for that he tells me to take an extra Losartan and that appears to do the trick - I take mine twice a day.

[seasider18 in reply to dmac4646]

I'm hypertensive since February 2000 when it was suddenly found to be 210/110. It had been OK when checked the previous November.

Three hospitals and several doctors have told me it's the average that counts after 24 hour monitors. That is usually about 137/78. All the articles I read say that spikes are the danger time.

I fairly often reach your figures in the morning and at odd other times but it goes down as the day goes on ( as well as being White Coat hypertensive I must be Pyjama Hypertensive)

At the moment it is 127/93 (5.30). This morning it was 166/95 but before going to bed last night it was 115/76.. go figure.

At the moment I take 50mg Losartan. I've tried it at various times of day and night and it makes no difference to my morning reading when my diastolic can often be 116. At the present time I'm taking the losartan between 4 and 5 am when I waken to go to the toilet and it is still high when I'm ready to get up around 8.30.

[dmac4646 in reply to seasider18]

I was on 50 mg Losartan , but some time ago they put it to 100mg as there was a paper in the Lancet re greater stroke protection with the 100 mg ( rather than BP reduction) I will see if I can find - Losartan is about the only med that has no side effects on me at all.

[seasider18 in reply to dmac4646]

Only two that I have lived with were Verapamil (constipation) now stopped as it lowers my heart rate too much and Losartan. I started off with 50mg and upped to 100 and now reduced to 50mg.

That would be an interesting article.

[dmac4646 in reply to seasider18]

ebm.bmj.com/content/15/2/51...

that one show high does more effective against heart attacks , I will look for the other one

[seasider18 in reply to dmac4646]

Thanks for that.

[dmac4646 in reply to seasider18]

It was Dr Alan Rae Cardiology specialist in Glasgow that told me about the stroke protection aspect.