blood pressure

I have the white coat hypertension as well.. at times it can be real hard to talk yourself down..I hate that most companies will not let you just use your own doctors for DOT physical. I am comfortable and never have false readings at my own doctors office.

 

That's going to get worse when doctors have to be certified by the DOT .

 

My doctor is certified by the DOT, but all these companies seem to want their own DOT done at a clinic of their choice.

I typically run 120/70 to 130/80 at home and slightly higher when I see the doctor. At an orientation I was 172/102...at the clinic I was 150/95 then 148/92 and finally after a little alone time it came down to 138/88 to give me a pass. So I totally believe in the white coat thing as being real. I have experienced it once before at a doctors office that made me uncomfortable. Since getting a good doctor I enjoy seeing I don't have the issue anymore.

 

What really stinks is when you know your going to have an elevated BP, so you get even more anxious before the doctor takes it, causing it to go even higher! It's kind of a #### shoot from there!

I was talking to an ER doctor at Mass General Hospital and he was telling me about it and all the books written on it. But, if your reading is insanely high like 170/110, then you can't use the white coat excuse. At that point maybe you have high BP + white coat hypertension.

 

The 170 isn't insanely high . The 110 could cause problems .
The last statement about elevated BP being tested by 2 readings on different days is interesting . Has anybody ever had that done ?

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/safetyprograms/medical-Report.pdf

 

im thinking about buying myself a portable bp meter to keep an eye on it once i start taking the asprin to see if there's a difference, but does anyone see any problems with me checking the BP myself or should i always have someone do it for me??

 

I have a Mabis SmartRead machine at home. Its very accurate and it doesn't require you have help to use it. So I'd say go for it if want to be able to monitor your pressure and see how different things effect it.

 

Don't go cheap . The accurate ones aren't real expensive though . I have an Omron HEM -790IT . I brought it to my doctor's office to compare readings and it is accurate .

 

Physicians will often recommend you checking your own if your being watched for possible hypertension, yet feel maybe you don't want to take medication intially and want to try diet/exercise.

 

I think everyone should own a way to check their pressure. Its a good idea.