what do you think about the d.i.y. home testing blood pressure kits??

The Arm measuring kit manufactured by OMRON is accurate. My doctor recommends this one. Regardless of which on you have, read below it might help.

It would be interesting to know the exact measurements but he should aim for 120/80 which is normal (115/75 optimal).

The process and preparation for measurement is critical. If he is a creature of habit, then measure at the same time each day. Morning is usually lower.

Do NOT drink Tea or coffee two hours before the measurement. (he should limit his intake of these anyway, or switch to green tea).

Get him to sit down for 5 minutes first. Our blood vessels constrict when we stand. I get a 5-10 point drop if I measure after 10 minutes sitting down.

A good test of is take a measurement after 5 minutes and wait another 10 minutes and take it again. Work out the average of the measurements, and that's your BP.

As one of our learned yahoo colleagues mentioned, it will vary throughout the day and one very high measurement is nothing to be too alarmed about.

If the doctor didn't advise medication he is comfortable that it can be controlled and there are numerous natural ways to reduce BP which he might have mentioned. The reason I say this is because of a popular term called "white coat hypertension".This is based on the theory that people quietly panic at BP tests and the BP shoots up 10 points...this could apply for home tests too but not to the same extent.

I have measured mine at home for three years beginning with the wrist monitor which showed huge variations but was sometimes accurate (compared with the GP tests). For the last two years I have used the arm type and so far so good.

PS. You blood pressure can rise with too much alcohol and stay high for the next day.

I`ve had 2 now over the last four years. Both were the arm type and not the wrist... When the first one played up I looked into the problem. As It was a Spanish make I couldn't get back to Spain to have it re calibrated which you must do every 2 years.

So far my second one is fine.. You know roughly how your blood pressure should be, when you start to get out of the range readings then its time to get it checked...They are reliable if used properly, so keep to the instructions.

I think they can be very handy. I know someone who has one and it helps him get an idea of how his BP is on a daily basis. He does get the odd high reading, but once he has settle down for a bit, and retakes it, the reading has usually dropped.

It might be worth letting your doctor check out your BP kit just to make sure you have a good one.

xx

I have one and its really useful. Blood pressure can vary enormously throughout the day and its really necessary to take several readings over a number of days to get an idea of how levels are progressing. Everyone gets high readings sometimes (especially if you have missed your medication).

THey are reliable I went through a stage of high blood pressure and took mine with me to the doc. and each time he checked me out with the mercury reading they were exactly the same.

the heart specialists told us the cuff ones like they use in the doctors office are accurate but the finger ones and wrist ones are not.

If it is a good brand, it should be quite reliable. If he is worried, he should see his GP and get it tested.

depends on you veins ,if they,re normal then it should be all right but you still should get check by doc once a month

if you have deep seated veins then its useless,heavey smockers suffer fro deep seated veins.

I think you ought to ask your Doctor's opinion on them.

They are not very accurate.