24 HOUR BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR

[ReverendBadger]

Well that was an interesting day !

My consultant ordered 2 tests at our last meeting; MRI brain and the 24 hr BP The latter finally came through 8 weeks later. Apparently looking for confirmation of othostatic hypotension/postural hypotension and supine hypertension. A positive result of appropriate severity also secures another tick box for the MSA dx, maybe it will move from possible to probable.

The fitting procedure was interesting. As a starter the nurse had to go and get another arm cuff as the standard adult one was too large. I got a childrens' one ! Another indication of how much weight I have lost and an ironic reminder of my first pet as a child. I kept him in a covered fish tank and fed him hedge clippings.

I need to know who to badger to get a dietician on my MDT. An ex bodybuilder I know suggested 4 eggs a day, initially considered a good idea until I discovered that my favourite eggs are seasonal. I'm emailing the Cadbury marketing dept. tomorrow.

The apparatus for the 24 hr BP was impressive and with plenty of tubing below the waist due to catheter plumbing already the above waist new BP tubing completed the ensemble nicely. For those who would like a look I've put it on YouTube.

I had to fill in a diary sheet so that the recorded BP readings can be correlated with my activity, symptoms and stress levels. e.g. "Standing, Watching wife cooking, Highly stressed."

Anyway its all done now and I even had my MRI appointment come through, next Monday at 6 pm !! i must be psycic really as i impulse bought from Aldi the same day a packet of hot cross buns. Apparently while lying for 40 minutes in the magnetic and pulse rf fields I can have headphones and listen to a CD.

Suggestions for apppropriate CDs most welcome.