Home blood pressure monitor.

[horseblister]

I am considering buying a home blood pressure monitor and was wondering which would be best in my circumstances. I have A Fib, as well as asthma, type 2 diabetes and adrenaline insufficiency which gives me low blood pressure. Having been in hospital recently my A Fib meant my heart rate was all over the place and very irregular pulse every time my BP was taken. Thankyou for any replies. Lynn.

[BobD Volunteer]

Most home monitors are useless if you are in AF and quite unable to measure either HR or BP properly. There are a few which are obviously more expensive which are advertised as AF compatible so my advice would be to buy with caution. My own view from personal experience is that it is all too easy to become OCD about these machines so please be very structured about using one or you may be adding stress. I joke that I only started to feel normal when the batteries went flat.

[horseblister in reply to BobD]

Thanks for that BobD , I already stress a lot so probably your right. I have been using my husbands ordinary Boots BP monitor, he had to monitor his BP but gave up after a couple of years. I shall seriously think about it before I buy.

Lynn.

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

I agree with you entirily. Never allow AF to become the only thing that matters in your life.

[Rellim296]

We bought one from Asda many years ago - long before I had heard of AF - for £10. They are even cheaper now. It has given us good service ever since. I don't know how accurate it is, but it consistently gives us both the sort of blood pressure we would expect. My husband has postural low blood pressure and his standing pressure is much lower than a reading taken when he's sitting down.

[PeterWh]

I believe they are very useful and beneficial.

The key is that it should be a CUFF monitor approved by the British Hypertension Society / NICE and be suitable for AF. This has been in discussed in post in replies between Goldfish and my self within the last week (you can search or look at our profiles and pick up).

The Microlife WatchBPHome A where A is the model designation for AFib (WatchBP.com) and other Microlife Home Monitors on Microlife.Com are suitable for those in AF. The Watch is approved by NICE.

In fact the NICE documents refer to home BP monitoring - it is relatively new concept (last 5 years or so) and is in effect the same as home sugar level monitors which were introduced in the early 90s which have become common place now.

NICE particularity says about the benefits for people generally and also people with white coat syndrome. Specific references in a number of NICE documents, all positive. In my view definitely the way to go.

Note that when in AF the HR number is much more accurate than an ordinary BP monitor but won't be as accurate as an electronic ECG device (eg Kardia) - see replies referenced.

In my case having the BP monitor has, in the last 9 months, resulted in 2 drops in medication and addition of high BP medication very much quicker than if I didn't have one. Also EP, cardiologist and GP use the results and get a far better idea as to what is going on.

The Microlife is very easy to use, automatically does the correct testing times and gaps and results are visible on the screen and can also be very easily downloaded onto PC / printed. I bought the WatchBPHome almost 2 years ago but the newer machines do have additionally download capabilities and may even have Bluetooth (I did see it mentioned in one article / post but have not checked). My only caution is that I fully relied on the electronic storage aspects and didn't pick up quickly enough (took about 3 to 4 weeks) that my BP has switched from being on the low side to being high and needing medication whereas if I had written the daily results down as well as storing I would have picked this up a couple of weeks earlier. On the plus side by having a home monitor this was picked up at least a couple of months earlier and possibly as much as 6 months earlier so beneficial!!!

[PeterWh in reply to PeterWh]

PS - The "Boots" monitor is actually made by Microlife according to someone's post circa 6 months ago.

I bought directly from WatchBPHome website because they could supply VAT free by a dedication. When the other person posted the Boots one was including VAT and had an additional Boots mark-up for the boots branding!! As with all these things prices change daily or sometimes at different times in the same day.

Off piste in one way but a recent article in the Daily Mail tracked a number of items on Amazon and where the prices varies for items they were nearly always the cheapest on a Monday and most expensive at the weekend.

[horseblister in reply to PeterWh]

Thankyou Peter Wh, that is most useful information. Lynn

[seasider18]

Link to the NICE approved one

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

[PeterWh in reply to seasider18]

Great to provide link

Anyone thinking of buying should consider the updated models of this because I suspect that the technology is basically the same its just that the saving and output features are improved and the updated versions have yet to go through NICE approval process which I suspect takes a couple of years.

You should check with Microlife and NICE regarding updated models.

[Hidden]

I use Microlife Watch BP (about £80). It's recommended by NICE. It's easy to use and will tell you if you are in AF. I like the fact that I can download my results into a MS Excel file for my Doctor.

[PeterWh in reply to Hidden]

Just watch out with the downloaded files because it also saves and downloads "Error" readings. So if you have two or three readings a few minutes apart only keep the last one!!!

[seasider18 in reply to PeterWh]

When I have a 24 hour monitor I get as many errors as good readings. I went to the makers site to see what the error codes meant.

Something very wrong last time with an average of only 124/74

[seasider18]

Take a look on eBay before buying elsewhere. I got mine, new and boxed for about a third of the usual price. When I checked the address (in Sandbanks) it was evidently a doctors sample.

[Emsysy]

As Bob says, any home monitor will be inaccurate if you are in AF.

[PeterWh in reply to Emsysy]

NO that's incorrect.

The Microlife WatchBPHome A (where A is for AFib) is accurate and has been approved by NICE. Microlife now also make some other BP monitors which are I suspect are updates to the model approved by NICE in 2013 and have additional features.

There are no suitable wrist monitors and even you have paroxysmal AF then GPs and medics will ignore except to look as a relative trend.

[Emsysy]

Peter.... I'm just quoting my Heart Health nurse who advised me of this just last month. I have used an approved A & D upper arm monitor for many years and had relied on it. I have had it checked against a GP's traditional device. I gather they should be re-callibrated periodically.

I had assumed the nurse was advising that the erratic nature of heart beats in AF led to an inaccurate reading. No doubt, they are fine when AF sufferers are in sinus mode.

Unfortunately, conflicting advice does not help us to manage our condition.

The following is taken from a website selling the particular device.

"The AFIB algorithm of Microlife has been clinically investigated by several prominent clinical investigators and showed that the device detects patients with AFIB at 97-100% certainty."

So, it detects if AF is present (as mine does) but does it really give an accurate BP reading when the patient is in AF ? The website is not categorically clear on this so far as I can see !

[Hidden]

Blood pressure monitors are relativily good for measuring blood pressure and counting heart beats per minute. They are not designed to diagnose arrhythmias. My blood pressure monitor is pretty good, the brand name Is “OZERI”. I have tried other brands and Ozeri is the one that more approximates the ones used at the doctor’s office. Again, they are primarily monitors for blood pressure and heartbeats per minute. Monitors with arm cuffs are more accurate than the wrist ones.