Accurate blood pressure reading for athlete?

I have been told I have borderline blood pressure in the past 130-140 systolic but recently I measured my blood pressure at some of the free machines and I get a huge range of different readings...
143/64
155/72
145/68
All too high so I reduced my salt intake to around 1500mg per day for 2 weeks. I eat around 4000 calories of healthy, natural food per day I'm 6 foot 185lbs 6-8percent bodyfat and I exercise with professional athletes 2-3 days per week and regularly out perform them so I'm pretty far from out of shape...
I went to the store to buy a home blood pressure monitor and 3 machines gave me 156/72, 135/94, 166/82 when I measured one after another standing up,
my arm is 17inches in diameter so I thought that might be an issue... How do I get an accurate reading at home so I can manage my blood pressure, and should I be going to the doctor to get a TSH test if my blood pressure doesn't drop from reducing my salt??

[erijon]

Welcome and thanks for the question. First off, you can't rely on the drug store blood pressure monitors, they are notoriously inaccurate as they are seldom calibrated, over used and have a one size fits all cuff that will not work for you. If the cuff is too small you will get falsely high readings.

You may be better off with a good wrist monitor. These are accurate if you get one with a position sensor that will only allow a reading if it is positioned correctly over the heart. Also, take your BP seated with your feet on the floor sitting upright. Only take one reading a day at the same time each day and keep a record. There is an excellent BP tracker here at Medhelp, feel free to take a look at mine.

I think your first step should be a visit to a doctor to get an accurate reading and let them suggest what to do next. Sounds like you already have a good start, you should do well.

Jon