Low BP

[Lynn1966]

Hi everyone as I have mentioned in a previous post my BP is always low. It’s a case of getting the right balance on my medication. I check my BP on blood pressure monitor and it’s always low. Not sure if it’s working properly, Iv changed the batteries. My question is would anyone recommend the Fitbit ??

[Nathan53]

Hello Lynn - While there are a few fitness tracker watches that have a Bp measuring function they will not be as reliable as a bp machine. Also the watches that have a Bp function tend to be in excess of £150.00 and there is some scepticism over their accuracy. Gadgetsandwearables.com has some reviews on fitness trackers and their functions. My view is to invest the money in a decent BP machine - most medics use omron brand but there are many others. Have you thought of calling to see your practice nurse to compare your existing bp machine reading with the Nurses. My gp practice were happy to do this.

[Kwenda]

Hi. Like yourself I have low blood pressure.

But also a low heart rate, with a resting heart rate at 51 or 52. When I am superfit in the middle of summer the resting heart rate goes down to 48. The doctors worry about bradycardia.

You ask about the use of a FitBit… Don’t forget this measures HEART RATE but not blood pressure.

I use a Garmin Vivosport for 24/7 heart rate and I have checked the device against a heart rate strap and found the Vivosport surprisingly accurate for a small device.

On the Vivosport small screen you can read heart rate and if you tap the screen you will see a graph of the last hour of heart rate.

Download the device to a smartphone, laptop computer or any other computer and you will be able to see daily, monthly or yearly records.

Price between Fitbit and Garmin about the same 129.00 approx. Garmin Vivosport also has GPS and the download to a smartphone or computer will give you a map of where you walked, run or cycled as well as a mass of other information such as heart rate, pace, distance etc…

Good luck..

Dick

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Devices that measure BP at the wrist tend not to be overly accurate. This gets worse at people age as the arteries may stiffen/narrow. Get a monitor that uses the upper arm and double check its readings with your GP practice whose kit has to be calibrated accurately.

[dunestar]

I've got a blood pressure machine and recently I bought a Fitbit. My Fitbit doesn't measure BP, only pulse and then it's only a ballpark figure. But I find the Fitbit useful to give me some idea of what's happening pulse-wise when I'm exercising. I found the Fitbit very troublesome to set up. You have to synch it to an app on your phone or computer. As my devices are a bit ancient this was a challenge.

[panda22]

The one I bought was useless. To the kitchen and back it said I had walked 1500 steps. All the readings are highly inaccurate. Maybe some people had bought one that that works.

[Lynn1966]

Well today I checked my BP and it read 117/75 I was well chuffed. I bought another BP machine today just because before this read it was always low. I tried the new machine against my old one and there was quite a big difference. So I was none the wiser. So I popped into my local pharmacy to get my BP checked and my new one was the correct reading and it was very low. Pharmacist adviced to speak to my doctor. He tells me my blood pressure has always been low and there was nothing to worry about. Yet when I had a paramedic here week ago he said if my BP is low and I had to use my GTN I couldn’t as it would knock me out . Help

[KhandiBar]

In my experience, Fitbits need to evolve somewhat, but I do have a blood pressure machine, which is excellent. I had consistently low blood pressure and low temperature (along with other symptoms) and it turned out to be hypothyrodism. Might be worth having a thyroid function test, just to rule it out.