On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

I sure hope they keep her on en even keel. That sounds like a PITA. Good luck!

On 7/29/2012 4:10 PM, notbob wrote:
On 2012-07-29, Peter wrote:

pulse first disappears. You might also misposition the stethoscope.

I might also stick a shotgun up my ass and blow my brains out, but I
don't.

The problem I see with automated units is they deflate at a set rate.
A manual unit, that rate of deflation can be controlled. So, if the
auto unit deflates and the sound/bounce of the heartbeat occurs after
or before the true pressure --old springs, battery, whatever-- the
true reading is wrong. I can slow a manual unit's deflation down to a
speed where the heartbeat point is more easily dectected and a more
accurate pressure is read.

Jes my take on it. You do as you like. I get my new manual unit on
Wed. I already tossed the Amron.

nb


Maybe in an Amron but the typical Omron is electronic and there are no
springs. And in typical digital device fashion if it thinks the
batteries are low it simply doesn't work.

On 7/29/2012 5:32 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

?? That's not good....did they ever use a blood pressure cuff as a
tourniquet? Hard to miss that way unless the patient has no BP.

I sure hope they keep her on en even keel. That sounds like a PITA. Good luck!

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:32:34 -0400, "
wrote:




She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

As long as she stays on blood thinner, it has no affect. At 66, she
has no plans on getting pregnant either, but I think we should try.
Every night.





I sure hope they keep her on en even keel. That sounds like a PITA. Good luck!

Thanks. All the medications make her tired a lot, but otherwise,
everything seems to be OK.

Steve B wrote:
My wife has been harping on me to buy her a blood pressure cuff.
Personally, I'm not sure what she plans on doing with it.
I don't know anything about them.
Anyone here have experience with home blood pressure testing?
Any recommendations?

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a condition that is very prevalent
among the population. It can cause all sorts of things that can kill you.
It is one of the least monitored medical things in society. We only seem to
have our blood pressure taken when we make that regular trip to the doctor
every three years.

Let me say that I speak from the experience of twenty years of cardiac
history. I had a 5 way bypass, and an aortic valve replacement. I've had
my BP checked by a medical person, and by myself at least one million times.

I have a little experience on this subject.

Get a GOOD automatic cuff, about $50, but more like $35 on sale. Amron is a
good brand, or any of the three most popular ones at your pharmacy.

High blood pressure can be treated with lots of things, some of them as
simple as an adjustment in diet, like cutting down on salt. After that, the
medications for blood pressure are cheap, and I mean generic $3 cheap.
Lisinopril is the most commonly prescribed medication in the world, and it
is for reducing blood pressure.

Having high blood pressure has very few symptoms, if any. Possibly a
headache occasionally, but after that, no symptoms that would make you want
to go to the doctor. And yet, untreated, it can cause a list as long as
your leg of major medical things, many of which can kill you. Kidney
problems, heart problems, you name it.

Go and buy a good cuff. Take your readings a couple of times a day. If you
are above the guidelines, go see your doctor, and you may be given some
simple cheap pills to take once or twice a day. Or, wait, and ignore it
all, and one day while you are shaving or brushing your teeth, your brain
could splatter all over the mirror in a spontaneous explosion. Well, not
that dramatic, but you could be lying on the bathroom floor in a state of
acute medical need, and have something cut loose inside you that was
absolutely 100% preventable. Maybe have a stroke, and that could really
affect your golf or mah jong.

Oh, sure. Call me a neurotic, a paranoid person.

At least I can tell you right now what my blood pressure is. Let me go
check. It is 135/77. That took 90 seconds, and tells me that my BP is in
the good range. Can you tell me in 90 seconds what yours is? Maybe you
will find out tomorrow AM when you are shaving. The point is that this is
one of the major medical things you can monitor yourself cheaply that can
save your life.

She's not nagging when she's right. Not knowing your own blood pressure is
taking an unnecessary chance.

Steve

Hi,
I just did. Less than 90 sec. I wrapped the cuff on my upper arm, push
the button in about 30 secs. I read 132/74, pulse 68. I just had roast
beef supper and walked dog for ~30 mins. My BP can go as low as
~120/~70. On the supplement side water soluble CO Q-10 and Hawthorn
Coreplex liquid will be good for you.

Doug wrote:
On Sat, 28 Jul 2012 21:44:44 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote:


My wife has been harping on me to buy her a blood pressure cuff.
Personally, I'm not sure what she plans on doing with it.
I don't know anything about them.
Anyone here have experience with home blood pressure testing?
Any recommendations?

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a condition that is very prevalent
among the population. It can cause all sorts of things that can kill you.
It is one of the least monitored medical things in society. We only seem to
have our blood pressure taken when we make that regular trip to the doctor
every three years.

Let me say that I speak from the experience of twenty years of cardiac
history. I had a 5 way bypass, and an aortic valve replacement. I've had
my BP checked by a medical person, and by myself at least one million times.

I have a little experience on this subject.

Get a GOOD automatic cuff, about $50, but more like $35 on sale. Amron is a
good brand, or any of the three most popular ones at your pharmacy.

High blood pressure can be treated with lots of things, some of them as
simple as an adjustment in diet, like cutting down on salt. After that, the
medications for blood pressure are cheap, and I mean generic $3 cheap.
Lisinopril is the most commonly prescribed medication in the world, and it
is for reducing blood pressure.

Having high blood pressure has very few symptoms, if any. Possibly a
headache occasionally, but after that, no symptoms that would make you want
to go to the doctor. And yet, untreated, it can cause a list as long as
your leg of major medical things, many of which can kill you. Kidney
problems, heart problems, you name it.

Go and buy a good cuff. Take your readings a couple of times a day. If you
are above the guidelines, go see your doctor, and you may be given some
simple cheap pills to take once or twice a day. Or, wait, and ignore it
all, and one day while you are shaving or brushing your teeth, your brain
could splatter all over the mirror in a spontaneous explosion. Well, not
that dramatic, but you could be lying on the bathroom floor in a state of
acute medical need, and have something cut loose inside you that was
absolutely 100% preventable. Maybe have a stroke, and that could really
affect your golf or mah jong.

Oh, sure. Call me a neurotic, a paranoid person.

At least I can tell you right now what my blood pressure is. Let me go
check. It is 135/77. That took 90 seconds, and tells me that my BP is in
the good range. Can you tell me in 90 seconds what yours is? Maybe you
will find out tomorrow AM when you are shaving. The point is that this is
one of the major medical things you can monitor yourself cheaply that can
save your life.

She's not nagging when she's right. Not knowing your own blood pressure is
taking an unnecessary chance.

Steve



Keeping your reply for reference. Thanks Steve.

Hi,
There is a name for chronic high BP. Silent killer.

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:13:22 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/29/2012 5:32 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

?? That's not good....did they ever use a blood pressure cuff as a
tourniquet? Hard to miss that way unless the patient has no BP.

No, they just used the rubber hoses on me. ;-)

Now when I have blood tests I tell the vampire to use the veins on the back of
my hands. They always try the wrists first, anyway, but after a few misses
they listen.

I sure hope they keep her on en even keel. That sounds like a PITA. Good luck!

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 22:12:04 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:32:34 -0400, "
wrote:




She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

As long as she stays on blood thinner, it has no affect. At 66, she
has no plans on getting pregnant either, but I think we should try.
Every night.


;-)


I sure hope they keep her on en even keel. That sounds like a PITA. Good luck!

Thanks. All the medications make her tired a lot, but otherwise,
everything seems to be OK.

An auto accident sure wouldn't be good. Be careful!

On 7/30/2012 12:06 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:13:22 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/29/2012 5:32 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

?? That's not good....did they ever use a blood pressure cuff as a
tourniquet? Hard to miss that way unless the patient has no BP.

No, they just used the rubber hoses on me. ;-)

Now when I have blood tests I tell the vampire to use the veins on the back of
my hands. They always try the wrists first, anyway, but after a few misses
they listen.

Idiots. Probably have tourniquet too tight. It is rare that if one
cannot SEE a vein one cannot FEEL it. Tourniquet too tight = vein
doesn't fill. With BP cuff on the arm, and inflated to right point, the
vein fills and cannot empty so it really stands out. The high number is
the pressure of the arteries when the heart contracts, low number is
pressure when heart relaxes. Set the BP cuff pressure between the
numbers and the arteries are filling up the veins but blood isn't
returning to the heart....kind of like the difference between a flat
balloon and one filled with air.

I'm a nurse and chicken s--- about needles, so I've always made sure I
had a good candidate BEFORE I stuck a needle in. Self-imposed limit was
two tries. No babies.

On 7/29/2012 4:10 PM, notbob wrote:
On 2012-07-29, Peter wrote:

pulse first disappears. You might also misposition the stethoscope.

I might also stick a shotgun up my ass and blow my brains out, but I
don't.

The problem I see with automated units is they deflate at a set rate.
A manual unit, that rate of deflation can be controlled. So, if the
auto unit deflates and the sound/bounce of the heartbeat occurs after
or before the true pressure --old springs, battery, whatever-- the
true reading is wrong. I can slow a manual unit's deflation down to a
speed where the heartbeat point is more easily dectected and a more
accurate pressure is read.

Jes my take on it. You do as you like. I get my new manual unit on
Wed. I already tossed the Amron.

nb

However, unless you suffer from tachycardia (abnormally fast heartbeat),
the automated deflation cuffs have been engineered to accurately and
rapidly measure the changing pressures as they happen. It's a
non-issue. Many doctors offices and hospitals use fully automated
inflation/deflation digital blood pressure machines.

"Doug" wrote


Thanks Ed. I'll ask my cousin what he does for winter. 5 cords is a
lot of wood to chop.

Not for a hydraulic wood splitter.

Steve

"Tony Hwang" wrote

Hi,
I just did. Less than 90 sec. I wrapped the cuff on my upper arm, push the
button in about 30 secs. I read 132/74, pulse 68. I just had roast beef
supper and walked dog for ~30 mins. My BP can go as low as ~120/~70. On
the supplement side water soluble CO Q-10 and Hawthorn
Coreplex liquid will be good for you.

It is good you know your own blood pressure, and have a mechanism that will
give it to you quickly. If you, or a family member got to feeling bad, and
you had to call an ambulance, that would be valuable information. As per
supplements, I am against all snake oils because of the drugs I take from my
cardiologist.

Steve

On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:30:09 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/30/2012 12:06 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:13:22 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/29/2012 5:32 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

?? That's not good....did they ever use a blood pressure cuff as a
tourniquet? Hard to miss that way unless the patient has no BP.

No, they just used the rubber hoses on me. ;-)

Now when I have blood tests I tell the vampire to use the veins on the back of
my hands. They always try the wrists first, anyway, but after a few misses
they listen.

Idiots. Probably have tourniquet too tight. It is rare that if one
cannot SEE a vein one cannot FEEL it. Tourniquet too tight = vein
doesn't fill. With BP cuff on the arm, and inflated to right point, the
vein fills and cannot empty so it really stands out. The high number is
the pressure of the arteries when the heart contracts, low number is
pressure when heart relaxes. Set the BP cuff pressure between the
numbers and the arteries are filling up the veins but blood isn't
returning to the heart....kind of like the difference between a flat
balloon and one filled with air.

I'm a nurse and chicken s--- about needles, so I've always made sure I
had a good candidate BEFORE I stuck a needle in. Self-imposed limit was
two tries. No babies.

I like that plan. I've found that if they can't get it in two tries they're
not going to get it in six (the same person may get it right the first time
next week). Let someone else try.

Many years ago (college days) I had Mono and was going through cycles where my
temperature would spike, then I'd turn white as a sheet and start seating
buckets as my fever broke. Just as the fever broke a nurse was trying to get
some blood. She was visibly shaken and asked, "Are you sick or something?".
Even though I'd never felt worse in my life, I burst out laughing. She got
someone else to draw the blood.

On 7/30/2012 1:12 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:30:09 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/30/2012 12:06 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:13:22 -0400, Norminn wrote:

On 7/29/2012 5:32 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 15:13:13 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:15:17 -0400, "
wrote:




That she's still on Warfarin indicates, with all that, they didn't fix it? One
cardioversion was enough to fix mine. In five and a half years, mine hasn't
come back for more than thirty minutes, or so. After the cardioversion, they
just put me on Metoprolol and I've been on a couple of BP medications
intermittently since (Amlodipine, now). If I skip the Metoprolol I can really
feel it, though.


She also has a blood condition
Lupus Anticoagulant Anti Cardiolipin Antibodies

Yikes! That doesn't sound good at all.

When we first married, she had five miscarriages and they never found
a reason. Thirty five years later, they found out why. The condition
was not known at the time and no tests for it.

My mother had seven miscarriages in the seven years between number three and
number four (me). Dad didn't stop trying, though. ;-)

Because of this, they
keep her PT in a very narrow range of 2.5 to 3.0. She also has to be
tested by blood draw rather than a home machine as the machine cannot
perform accurately with her blood.

That's normal for having active A-Fib (IIRC, they wanted mine between 2.0 and
2.5). When I was in A-Fib I had blood drawn every two days. The better the
vampires got at finding the arteries in my hands the harder they got to get
blood from. ;-) They would have me run my hands under hot water for five
minutes before they'd even try.

?? That's not good....did they ever use a blood pressure cuff as a
tourniquet? Hard to miss that way unless the patient has no BP.

No, they just used the rubber hoses on me. ;-)

Now when I have blood tests I tell the vampire to use the veins on the back of
my hands. They always try the wrists first, anyway, but after a few misses
they listen.

Idiots. Probably have tourniquet too tight. It is rare that if one
cannot SEE a vein one cannot FEEL it. Tourniquet too tight = vein
doesn't fill. With BP cuff on the arm, and inflated to right point, the
vein fills and cannot empty so it really stands out. The high number is
the pressure of the arteries when the heart contracts, low number is
pressure when heart relaxes. Set the BP cuff pressure between the
numbers and the arteries are filling up the veins but blood isn't
returning to the heart....kind of like the difference between a flat
balloon and one filled with air.

I'm a nurse and chicken s--- about needles, so I've always made sure I
had a good candidate BEFORE I stuck a needle in. Self-imposed limit was
two tries. No babies.

I like that plan. I've found that if they can't get it in two tries they're
not going to get it in six (the same person may get it right the first time
next week). Let someone else try.

Many years ago (college days) I had Mono and was going through cycles where my
temperature would spike, then I'd turn white as a sheet and start seating
buckets as my fever broke. Just as the fever broke a nurse was trying to get
some blood. She was visibly shaken and asked, "Are you sick or something?".
Even though I'd never felt worse in my life, I burst out laughing. She got
someone else to draw the blood.


I had mono in nursing school, back in the days when student nurses were
THE hospital staff. My glands in my neck were huge and my blood count
way off, so I was sent to the hematologist, health service worried about
leukemia. In all of the hubub, they forgot to send me home for a month
like they did all of the others with mono....convinced me for a while
that I did have leukemia. Then came the night of my fiancee's senior
dance at his college; not about to miss that, temp of 104. Aspirin made
the night go well. Then admin found out that I had left the dorm whilst
sick and called a meeting of the student body....nurses should know
better, blah, blah, blah. They let me work my ass off taking care of
eight patients whilst sick ... talk about being damned fatigued!!