Blood pressure Machines

foxman101 · Dec 15, 2019

Hey Guys,

for the last year I’ve been trying to keep track of my blood pressure, becuase I’ve been on a small
Dosage of meds
To help with it.

I was curious to know which machines you guys use, which you believe give the most accurate readings and if you think these machines are close to a nurse with a scope ?
I obviously don’t know exactly what all the difference are and I see maybe different price ranges. I was given one by a friend that’s a nurse and she said it’s a good brand and is accurate .. I don’t remember the name off hand..

But just curious what you guys use as far as machines and tracking.

MAD_SCIENTIST · Dec 15, 2019

Omron BP monitors.
Take care.
MS

mike036 · Dec 15, 2019

I use an Omron that I purchased off Amazon for about $40.

Pericles · Dec 15, 2019

for those that use Omron, where did you get an xl cuff? large cuff only goes up to a 17inch arm

liv2pb · Dec 16, 2019

I use a life source
And for those that don't know, you measure your arm extended and non-flexed when measuring for a bp cuff

maldorf · Dec 16, 2019

liv2pb said:
I use a life source
And for those that don't know, you measure your arm extended and non-flexed when measuring for a bp cuff

Yep, the Omron I have is plenty big and my arm was measuring around 19 inches flexed I think when I first started using it. I used to use a cuff and scope. I stopped because my bp got low and I was having trouble hearing my pulse.

If you want the most accuracy, get a decent scope and a cuff. It is really easy to learn how to take your BP. I did so today with mine. I check it every once in awhile against my Omron auto cuff. Do be sure to get a decent scope though. I have a cheap one and I think that might be some of my difficulty now hearing my pulse.

foxman101 · Dec 16, 2019

maldorf said:
Yep, the Omron I have is plenty big and my arm was measuring around 19 inches flexed I think when I first started using it. I used to use a cuff and scope. I stopped because my bp got low and I was having trouble hearing my pulse.

If you want the most accuracy, get a decent scope and a cuff. It is really easy to learn how to take your BP. I did so today with mine. I check it every once in awhile against my Omron auto cuff. Do be sure to get a decent scope though. I have a cheap one and I think that might be some of my difficulty now hearing my pulse.

Does your scope give a comparable number to that of your machine ? Just curious ? I think this was one of the points I was looking to hear, I wonder what the yield % of points is in difference (IE- 134/86 vs 128/81)
Kinda deal .. or if they are exactly the same ?

thanks -

liv2pb · Dec 16, 2019

maldorf said:
Yep, the Omron I have is plenty big and my arm was measuring around 19 inches flexed I think when I first started using it. I used to use a cuff and scope. I stopped because my bp got low and I was having trouble hearing my pulse.

If you want the most accuracy, get a decent scope and a cuff. It is really easy to learn how to take your BP. I did so today with mine. I check it every once in awhile against my Omron auto cuff. Do be sure to get a decent scope though. I have a cheap one and I think that might be some of my difficulty now hearing my pulse.

I tested mine manually and well to check accuracy haha. I have a littman cardiology stethescope.

maldorf · Dec 16, 2019

foxman101 said:
Does your scope give a comparable number to that of your machine ? Just curious ? I think this was one of the points I was looking to hear, I wonder what the yield % of points is in difference (IE- 134/86 vs 128/81)
Kinda deal .. or if they are exactly the same ?

thanks -

It is fairly close. Yesterday when I was fooling with it I found that if I took about 3 readings with the Omron that I would average about what I got manually. The Omron seems to vary a lot from one reading to the next, so I take several. Yesterday the readings from one time to the next were off by as much as 10 pts on the systolic and about 5 on the diastolic. When I do it manually it doesnt seem to vary that much. I think manual is a lot better but you have to own a decent scope. I need to buy one off of Amazon.

maldorf · Dec 16, 2019

liv2pb said:
I tested mine manually and well to check accuracy haha. I have a littman cardiology stethescope.

Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/3M-Littmann-...573&sprefix=littman,aps,161&tag=bestcont06-20

I need one of those! Mine I bought at a drug store for like $17.

liv2pb · Dec 17, 2019

maldorf said:
Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/3M-Littmann-Monitoring-Stethoscope-5803/dp/B00QESFO80/ref=sxin_3_osp20-bd25baf6_cov?ascsubtag=bd25baf6-a8eb-4432-9a26-9ab42ec54256&creativeASIN=B00QESFO80&crid=HNYEFNXPTBVW&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.bd25baf6-a8eb-4432-9a26-9ab42ec54256&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&keywords=littman+stethoscope&linkCode=oas&pd_rd_i=B00QESFO80&pd_rd_r=9339b7a4-5a1c-4c0d-b36d-babdb7b4d6c5&pd_rd_w=pshCa&pd_rd_wg=2pWx8&pf_rd_p=a23a388c-add5-49df-b293-a31ade89c6bf&pf_rd_r=83M6HPMCCBNJ0HHC5N4B&qid=1576532573&sprefix=littman,aps,161&tag=bestcont06-20

I need one of those! Mine I bought at a drug store for like $17.

Yeah that is a pretty good one but the $17.00 will work just fine for what you are doing. The better stethoscopes are significantly more effective for heart/breath sounds.

This is the one I have