My BP readings tend to be higher at the dr's office than at home. A lot higher. The previous dr. accepted readings from my home BP monitor (Omron), which has a 90+ memory. However, she's retired and the nurse at the new clinic refused to accept home readings .. even though a concurrent reading with their cuff AND mine at the same time gave exact same reading .

So I went back a few weeks later for a "True BP" session. This involves sitting with a BP cuff set to take a reading every 2 or 3 minutes for 15 minutes (or longer) .. then they take an average. At my session, I was stuck in a brightly lit room with doors banging shut and loud talk, and a screaming baby in the next room .. the only thing to look at was a giant poster ablaze with the warning signs of a stroke and how many Canadians die each year from undiagnosed or untreated high blood pressure . No big surprise, my "True BP" average was very high.

I stuck to my guns though, and requested a 24 hr ABP test (Ambulatory Blood Pressure). This involves wearing an automated cuff and monitor at home for 24 hrs .. the cuff inflates every 30 minutes during the day, and once per hour overnight. So my BP at home doing my normal daily activities was just fine .. average 115/70. The only high readings I got were at the beginning in the clinic when the monitor was first put on.

A follow-up consultation with a cardiologist confirmed my normal readings and that I do NOT need any medication. His expert opinion is that too many patients are put on meds by their family drs based on transiently high clinic readings. Then they suffer too-low BP episodes at home or at work, with dizziness, weakness and possibly even a fall causing injury.
He's a wise man, IMO

One thing I discovered with frequent monitoring at home is that coffee causes my BP to rise and it stays up for 2 to 3 hours afterward. Always returns to normal though. I've cut back to just one cuppa in the morning and from now on I'll make sure to schedule any clinic BP checks for later in the day

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