Doctors have been bugging me about my blood pressure for a few years, but I usually shrugged them off. My family has high blood pressure and all seem to be just fine. I guess my grandma had a stroke in her 90s, but she was fine. I think my ancestor's died of heart failure, because they don't usually declare you as dead if you still have a pulse.
Anyway, after too many doctor's talking to me like my blood pressure is going to put me in the morgue next week, I finally sought treatment for high blood pressure. I got some pills and a monitor. My last reading at the doctor was 190/140, which puts me at around 5-10% chance of death from heart disease or stroke each over the next year.
I just don't FEEL like my blood pressure is that bad, because I sure feel my heart pound at times.... so I played with my blood pressure monitor for a good while, and the measurements were all over the place.
Finally, I figured out, that if I keep my hand FLAT, like the picture on my monitor, then I get a reliable and constant 130/90, which sounds correct to me. If I let my fingers bend at all, then I get these wild readings. putting me at a 0.2% chance each of death from heart disease or stroke over the next year.
Any one had a similar experience?
Do you think the 130/90 is the right number?