which BP machine do I get PLEASE

[123456S]

hallo ,,, I decided after reading much info to buy a BP machine... via amazon ... unfortunately I am sure its not correct ..... a friend of my knows their BP as has it taken quite often ,,the gadget was totally wrong .... please can anyone help me with advise as to which one I should buy .....I have large arms and prefer the wrist one .... I dont have alot of money , I would rather have one that works properly but not too dear ...... please advise ... thank you

[Lisahelen]

Many high street chemists sell them, quite often on offer too. Even supermarkets like asda sell them. At least if you look there you can try to see if it fits. Also argos.

I use one i bought from boots for about £20.

[123456S in reply to Lisahelen]

thank you .......will seriously take a look......... is there a particular accurate make ? x

[Lisahelen in reply to 123456S]

They all work the same way, but there is an element of inacuracy with them. The upper arm ones are supposed to be better and i have in the past got one for about the same price. I think its boots which sell one of these with different sized cuffs, so it might pay you to shop around.

[Polaris in reply to Lisahelen]

I regulate my own blood pressure with an Omron Intellisense wrist monitor.

Omron seems to be a brand used and respected by GPs.

[123456S in reply to Lisahelen]

thank you ..

[cali111]

Although probably a little high priced I went for Omron as they are recommended by the GP`s for accuracy. I have a intellisense around 50pounds but I only chose this as it indicates any irregular heartbeats, movement if detected when you take your reading and also if any clothes are in the way of accuracy. I have been very happy with this and have checked it regularly with the ones at my GP`s surgery and they are accurate. You can get cheaper models but I needed to see irregularity as well as BP.

[Bob56]

Hi "Which" Magazine is a good impartial source of advice on this sort of thing and they have looked at BP monitors in the past. I'm assuming you don't subscribe so having taken a look this morning the highest rating wrist monitor is the Omron RS2 wrist monitor which retails at about £33 on Amazon. Their cheapest best buy recommendation is the Omron M2 at around £20 on Amazon, but this is a basic upper arm monitor. I hope that helps.

[123456S in reply to Bob56]

thank you .......

[123456S]

thank you ....

[exDancer]

I have an omron wrist moniter. As your BP can differ from moment to moment I can't see the fact that your friend's reading did not match is of any great importance - you were possibly quite worked up about your readings when you did the comparison.

Keep on using your wrist moniter for at least a month then work out your average pressure to give a more accurate picture.

I sympathise about the cost of these things, £20 is a lot of money for me ( and you too I suspect) and represents a big percentage of my £102 a week state pension, so I couldn't go out and just buy myself another one. Next time you're at your GPs why not take yours along and see what its like compared to the one in the surgery.

As long as its consistently wrong, you can use it as it'll show whether you're managing your BP or making mistakes (like a set of scales which show 2lbs less will still tell if you're losing weight) surely?

[Hbp200]

I use a WA Baum Mercury Column and a Littman Cardiology stethoscope.