Thread: High blood pressure. Any advice？

Oh man I have white coat syndrome for both doctors and dentists. Dentists more.

Sheeite! I thought I was in the high end club but your the King man! It's the same every time I go to the hospital in Phichit. Park the car half a mile away and trot up the steps then get a BP reading that freaks me out. Watch 15 minutes and its down to 145 over 110!

Originally Posted by aging one

Oh man I have white coat syndrome for both doctors and dentists. Dentists more.

Me too.

Interesting Dentists do not bother me at all, not sure why. But I go to a doctor and my BP rises. They check it and its like 145 to 150. Then 15 mins later drops to 125 or so. This is why I bought the Emron portable BP monitor because I wanted to check and I can show the doc my trend so he doesn't think I need meds.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Interesting Dentists do not bother me at all, not sure why. But I go to a doctor and my BP rises. They check it and its like 145 to 150. Then 15 mins later drops to 125 or so. This is why I bought the Emron portable BP monitor because I wanted to check and I can show the doc my trend so he doesn't think I need meds.

now if i have to visit the hospital i take mine with me,their arm in the cuff device has recorded my bp.over 190 every time.

Originally Posted by headhunter

now if i have to visit the hospital i take mine with me,their arm in the cuff device has recorded my bp.over 190 every time.

I have taken mine to a few local doctors visits to check variance. The BP avg between a few hospital machines are about 3%. I have never felt hospital machines were grossly inaccurate just good to know. I had 4 recent visits when I cut my finger open and required stitches. 2 of the visits I brought my personal monitor I have to check as my wife uses it to check on her dad regulary. I compared it to the machine you stick your arm in and they start it and the cuff one they wrap around my arm. Again all were within 3%.

All good points above. They aren't doing a true evaluation. Its a quick check to make sure you are not about to pop an artery. I don't worry about high accuracy. If your BP is in range no worries. It really matters for accuracy if you are suspected of being dangerously high or have emergency symptoms.

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

They are terrible at taking you BP at the doctors office!!

White coat syndrome.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

White coat syndrome.

That contributes also, plus the fact that you got in your car to drive there, probably in a Thai road LOL
But they also don't have the time to do it properly, they have a time allocated to you and another appointment waiting.

Very interesting to read all of your opinions / experiences...

I don't have white coat syndrome, but whenever the annual medical checkup (work-sponsored) is near, I eat more healthy/ exercise more around 2 weeks before, so that my vitals are all clear. I'm not the only one doing it, as other colleagues do so as well. In our office, when the results arrive, the doc prioritizes consultations with people who were found to have issues in their test results - we call it the "honor roll". Those who are given the all clear still have consultations with the doc, but shorter (Your health is OK, keep on being healthy, etc).

Some horror/ sad stories:

When my dad was still alive and going to the PT clinic, he mentioned that the youngest stroke patient doing rehab there was a 26 year-old man. I don't know if that guy was able to recover 100%.

A few weeks ago, my mom told me that her former neighbour, a 28 year-old man, suffered a stroke recently. Apparently the guy went back home to his province after the lockdown restrictions eased (in June or July). The housemates of that guy (also my mom's neighbours) told her of the story. Our assumption is that he went home to his parents, ate loads of mom's cooking as well as his fave fatty foods, and his system couldn't handle it. Accdg to my mom, the guy's mom also has HPN and had a mild stroke last year. This guy is usually health conscious, is young but probably had borderline HPN due to genes. He lapsed during his home visit, and is now suffering the consequences. I don't know if he has access to PT clinics in his town/ province and if he's able to recover (and if he/ his family has the $$$ for PT treatments). Regular PT sessions (1 hour) now cost 500 pesos (~10 usd) in my local private hospital nowadays. That could be expensive if treatment is needed everyday (in serious cases of stroke).

Younger people are having HPN & strokes due to unhealthy lifestyles.

Re: PT, at the start, my dad needed PT sessions everyday. Then it lessened to 3x, 2x, 1x a week as time passed and his condition improved. My family was able to afford the PT sessions because of we were offered a "shareholder scheme" by the clinic. We had to invest a certain amount, then his treatment/ sessions became almost free (20 pesos per session, during that time). It was a good deal because we were able to reap the benefits for 13.5 years. He didn't recover 100% and was classified as disabled, but his recovery was better than other stroke survivors that I've seen here in PI. So many ppl here don't recover from strokes because no $$$. Here, cash rules and no money = no treatment. (sad but true)

As I understand it, PT (physical therapy) in the UK (and maybe Canada, Aus, NZ?) is free, because it's covered by the NHS. I don't know the policy in the US or Thailand. Are PT/ OT sessions covered by health insurance in the US/ TH?

Sorry for the long post. If you're still here reading this, congrats! Keep safe & healthy.

Originally Posted by armstrong

my foot being twice as big than normal

What was the cause of your swollen foot?

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

What was the cause of your swollen foot?

could be a blocked arterie,you need to have a CTA SCAN.any discomfort in your calf muscle?

A football boot.