Hi,
At a dr’s appointment yesterday my bp was 114/85 on the first reading. It was checked again at the end of the appointment and was 135/94. I am a 44-year-old female and have never been diagnosed with hypertension. At my annual gyn exam two months ago, it was 120/80. I am very anxious at dr’s appointments and the measurements were taken with an automatic monitor with my arm unsupported on the first try (the second try, I attempted to properly support it on the back of a chair). The physician recommended I monitor it at home for a few days, which I am doing with an automatic monitor purchased at the pharmacy. I took several readings yesterday, all of which were below 120/80 except one, which read 124/78. Earlier today I was going to take three readings, spaced about 2 min apart, as I had read at least two readings should be taken consecutively, but the third reading had an off-the-charts diastolic number, so I took a fourth, which was back to normal. The readings were:
120/76
107/77
137/122
116/80
According to the American Heart Association, a diastolic reading >120 is a hypertensive crisis. Is it fairly safe to assume this was either a machine or user error?
