Higher or lower BP when in AF????

[Respondicus]

Higher or lower??? I was looking at a post by Tomred who asked if anyone else had raised BP whislt in AF. I dont really check it that much but on the occasions i have ive noticed the following: I have normal Systolic pressure, but my Diastolic is higher than it should be. I was in AF this morning and happened to check it again surely enough Systolic was in normal range but Diastolic was 117, this is causing me a little concern I suppose because that is a little high but I seem to be in a minority?? Thanks to anyone who replies...All the best for New year...Brian

[Hidden]

I am glad to tell you that your perception is correct. I have come to the same conclusion long ago and it really is so, but not sure if it is the same in all AF patients. Actually, it should be if there are no disturbing factors. All the best to you too, Brian!

[Respondicus in reply to Hidden]

thanks steelheart

[BobD Volunteer]

I would be cautious accepting ANY automatic machine reading of BP if you are in AF. Few machines can deal with this which is why it is important to only accept those done with the old fashioned air pump and stethoscope.

[Respondicus in reply to BobD]

yes, thats a possibility, but that being the case then i can only ignore it and hope i will be ok ?

[BrotherThomas in reply to Respondicus]

I agree totally that the only way to get an accurate BP is by the old fashioned method. The problem is that few medics are trained to do it that way any more. At my first appointment at the AF clinic at my local hospital, the nurse who was doing the preliminaries before I saw the cardiologist wanted to take my BP with one of the automatic machines. When I requested that she do it the old fashioned way due to a bad experience with the machines, she said that she couldn't do it that way because she hadn't been trained in that method. The upshot was that my BP wasn't measured or mentioned again.

[Respondicus in reply to BrotherThomas]

yes, taking BP the old way is a rarity in GPs, ive noticed that in hospital they simply slap the cuff on and its automatic but if its highly innacurate due to the Afibs then it seems a little pointless and if even many of the cardiologists use the auto machines then its an even bigger problem

[Respondicus]

Yes, i know what you mean, the machines arent totally accurate (BobD has pointed that out) but rather a guide or estimate, and if they work by listening to the pulse then what they are listening to is likely to be exceptionally confusing if its running all over the place as it does in AF, its so difficult right now because in all this time since being diagnosed with AF (that was about 8 months ago) i still havent actually been examined by a cardiologist, everything is done over the telephone, cardiology have seen cardiograms done by casualty and paramedics, on the one hand my usual response to illness is to completely ignore it until I am so ill I can no longer do so (I put up with chronic abdominal pain for over 10 years before going to a dr and finding out I had reflux problems, excessive stomach acid and a weakened stomach valve) so im not one for going to Drs unless I really have to, this however has made me so ill its hard to ignore when i cannot function at all, ive come to the conclusion at least in this case that ignoring it would be folly ans so I very reluctantly allowed my wife to ring for an ambulance for the first time and was rushed in, I know its not easy for the Drs getting the balance of meds right and its even worsebecause its being done over telephones. Bobs made a good point certainly its right to be cautious about accepting the machines are totally accurate, but its at least a pointer as to it being high or low?

[PlanetaryKim]

I have found that my automatic BP machine is pretty much useless when I am in afib. I just can't get a reading. It often comes back with "error", and if it does give reading, I'm not sure it's valid - the 2 numbers are very close together in that situation. So in my case, i just don't worry about my BP when I'm in afib. But then i tend to have low BP anyway. It might be a different story if a person has high BP to begin with.

[marcyh]

I agree with PlanetaryKim - "useless" - and my (expensive) BP machine is even supposed to register AF. Not true, not consistently anyway. While my systolic isn't too bad during AF, my diastolic is always high, therefore reducing the pulse pressure number (difference between the two), sometimes to 10-20 . Not good. Normal is 40-60.

Your pulse pressure is considered low when it’s less than 40 mm Hg. Low pulse pressure can also be referred to as “narrow” pulse pressure. A low pulse pressure can indicate decreased cardiac output. It’s often observed in people with heart failure.

healthline.com/health/pulse...

[Rubymurray25]

Same as above, impossible to get a reading when in AF as it mostly comes up error , but when I do get a reading it is circa 170/110 when my normal drug assisted rate is 120/70.

[Goldfish7]

When in rapid PAF I was unable to get a bp reading on my bp machine. In hospital few bp machinescould get readings, but those that did recorded variable but usually low bp - this will have been heavily influenced by the stupidly high doses of beta blockers given which never ended attacks but scared medical staff at times due to how low my bp dropped whilst I still had rapid heart rate and very irregular af!

[Slidingdoors99]

Hi! My blood pressure has definitely gone up since going into AFib. I don’t remember ever taking my pulse rate before the AFib but now it’s always over 100 and in the evenings goes up to 130-145 bpmI’m particularly concerned about that as on this forum it seems that most people have lower pulse rates than that...

[Respondicus in reply to Slidingdoors99]

Hi there, you mean your pulse when not in Afib is at least 100 and in the evenings is 130-145?

[Slidingdoors99 in reply to Respondicus]

Hello! I’m always in AFib. 24/7!😱

[Respondicus in reply to Slidingdoors99]

Eeek, you truly have my sympathy...that must be awful..we really need much more research to be spent on Afib, many professionals dont understand it and even those that do, dont seem to be as aware of the myriad of issues that happen to sufferers of it as you would hope, my brother for example has heard many conflicting pieces of information from different cardiologists, I understand that this may well be because of the variables that we with the problem can suffer, and i know speaking for myself that my symptoms can vary from each time I go into Afib, sometimes I am completely floored as in not even able to get off the bed and others I can manage daily tasks with minimal problems, that said my consistent symptom is exhaustion and fatigue, I seem to be constantly learning something new and unexpected from Afib..both from others and from my own experiences...

[Slidingdoors99 in reply to Respondicus]

Thank you and yes, this condition really does seem to be so very individual.I don’t know what is/must be worse; being in AFib all the time, or, like you never knowing when it’s going to strike again!

Damn thing! I didn’t go to my GP straight away until I got so breathless that I could hardly do anything...

I didn’t have chest pains and thought it was just indigestion!

I’d never even heard of AFib at that time!

I’m so grateful to this forum.

Thank you again for your reply.

[Respondicus in reply to Slidingdoors99]

I understand, its only because one of my brothers had gone through all this that i found out about it sooner...i happened to be talking to him about my symptoms and he made suggestions that quickly led to my understanding that I had Afib trouble, the problem then was convincing the Dr...

[Ianc2]

HiI have had Afib/flutter for about 20 years, on and off. My cardiologist advised me to take 3 readings, 3 times a day and average them out. To make sure I am sitting comfortably with a pillow under my arm and have the BP machine above my elbow and to take half a dozen slow deep breaths before starting. Do this every day for a fortnight, keep the readings. My blood pressure is usually about 140/145 over about 80 which I am happy with.

I have had a few isolated fainting events where I slowly fell down, possibly syncope, after taking exercise. I take ramipril to keep my blood pressure down and was advised to drink about 2.2 litres a day, and to slow down gradually after taking exercise and to take the meds at night before retiring as one of the side effects of rampiril is to knock you out as it can drop your pressure, on a random basis.

I usually do about 8-10,000 steps every day and , as a result, my resting pulse is about 50-55, but if I stop exercising it starts to change quite quickly. It's all good fun.

[Respondicus in reply to Ianc2]

Thanks for that, interesting youre quite active there then too....stay safe