Blood pressure

[Mabal]

Can I please ask whether some of you have trouble getting a BP recording ?

I’m in persistent AF

(When I went for my cardiology appointment the electronic BP machine was unable to record my BP)

Thanks

[Hidden]

Yes Mabal, I have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and I can't get home readings at all when I am in AF. I just read this which I have never even heard mentioned before:'Current validation protocols for assessing the accuracy of blood pressure monitors exclude people with atrial fibrillation, except in special circumstances. Auscultatory methods are recommended due to the lack of evidence for accuracy of most oscillometric devices in the presence of atrial fibrillation. (Auscultatory means with a stethoscope).

This is from an article to be found here: nature.com/articles/s41371-...

[Mabal in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou I will have to ask my colleagues to do manual BP for me

[BobD Volunteer]

Automatic BP monitors are seldom accurate if you have AF. We do warn of this from time to time.

[Hidden]

For folk in AF the only accurate way to get a blood pressure reading is to use the old fashioned mercury monitors known as a sphygmomanometer. The problem is they are no longer available, certainly to the public due to the dangers of mercury. What is often suggested is that you take 4 readings with something like a good quality Omron monitor, with a 15 minute gap between readings and then take the average. Of course, that’s a bit of a faff!

[Mrsvemb]

I have PAF and when I have an episode of AF sometimes I just get an error code. If I do get a reading, I am not very confident that it is correct. I have a good quality Omron monitor. I would purchase a manual monitor, but there are so many to choose from that I don’t know where to start.

[Wightbaby]

I am in permanent AF and the GP uses the old fashioned way to get a decent reading!I threw away my home monitor because it constantly said "error!!"

[KentAndrew]

I am in UK and have recently been diagnosed with permanent A Fib and prescribed Apixaban and Bisoprolol. I invested in a Lloyds Pharmacy monitor which allows for this when taking measurements. It looks identical to the Omron used in GPs Surgeries.

Blood Pressure monitor reading

[Jill13]

I am in persiste not AF and can only get mine about 2 hours after my heart rate meds kick in and my GP always uses the old fashioned pump by hand to get it as automatic doesn’t work.

[Ducky2003]

Hospital have had fun at times, even trying my leg once for some reason 😁. I have a home machine, which I checked against my GPs and has been handy with virtual appointments for things. It displays IHB if it detects an issue but most times I still get a reading with the occasional error.