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I have high BP, I sort of see where OP is coming from... you need a lot of BP numbers to gain confidence about how bad the situation is. A one-off doctor visit

I have high BP, I sort of see where OP is coming from... you need a lot of BP numbers to gain confidence about how bad the situation is. A one-off doctor visit once a year is not enough but it is often how the diagnosis is made. My best recommendation for people is to get a BP cuff and just get comfortable with taking samplings periodically through the day. I take anywhere from 3 to 10 readings a day and over a month or two the data paints a good picture of your situation plus it makes you more comfortable with BP reads.

pkaye 3y ago
My MIL get white coat syndrome and every time she is at the hospital here numbers are much higher than at home. Her GP would not agree with this and continued to treat her with blood pressure pills aggressively. She would get dizzy and low pressure at home. Eventually switched to another doctor who trusted her and adjusted the prescription accordingly and those problems stopped and she managed to a reasonable BP range.
stinos 3y ago
A one-off doctor visit once a year is not enough but it is often how the diagnosis is made Is that actually so? Around here, the very first thing which each doctor I know off is going to say after a high reading in such one-off visit is exactly your second paragraph, because they are well aware one-off readings cannot be trusted for a diagnosis and are typically higher because of white coat stress and whatnot.
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  I can't really speak for other doctors, only for myself. White coat syndrome is extremely common in my experience. The existence of false positives does not make hypertension "overdiagnosed" though, it's still underdiagnosed. There's a legion of people out there with high blood pressure who don't feel a thing. This is why doctors employ high sensitivity testing for every single patient: office blood pressure measurements. If you get a normal result, OK. If you get high blood pressure, it could be hypertension so the doctor monitors more closely. Screening works by testing everyone with simple, cheap, fast tests and selecting those with anything that even remotely looks like a positive result for more elaborate and expensive specific tests.

pkaye 3y ago

My MIL get white coat syndrome and every time she is at the hospital here numbers are much higher than at home. Her GP would not agree with this and continued to treat her with blood pressure pills aggressively. She would get dizzy and low pressure at home. Eventually switched to another doctor who trusted her and adjusted the prescription accordingly and those problems stopped and she managed to a reasonable BP range.

stinos 3y ago

A one-off doctor visit once a year is not enough but it is often how the diagnosis is made Is that actually so? Around here, the very first thing which each doctor I know off is going to say after a high reading in such one-off visit is exactly your second paragraph, because they are well aware one-off readings cannot be trusted for a diagnosis and are typically higher because of white coat stress and whatnot.

matheusmoreira 3y ago
I can't really speak for other doctors, only for myself. White coat syndrome is extremely common in my experience. The existence of false positives does not make hypertension "overdiagnosed" though, it's still underdiagnosed. There's a legion of people out there with high blood pressure who don't feel a thing. This is why doctors employ high sensitivity testing for every single patient: office blood pressure measurements. If you get a normal result, OK. If you get high blood pressure, it could be hypertension so the doctor monitors more closely. Screening works by testing everyone with simple, cheap, fast tests and selecting those with anything that even remotely looks like a positive result for more elaborate and expensive specific tests.