Blood pressure After Cycling

[ren531]

Over the last 2 years I have been to 3 or 4 health checks and travelled there by cycling they then check my blood pressure and then I get told its too high typically 148 over 86 and I ask does cycling in to the appointment make it higher but none of them seem to know whether it will or not , I am 56 and cycle 70-100 miles a week do a physical job ,eat healthy have a BMI of 18.5 no family history of high BP ,I have checked my BP at home and it is typically 126 over 78 after relaxing for an hour or so, has anyone else had his problem of going to health appointments by bike only to be told they have raised BP .

 

[FishFright]

I turn up twenty minutes early for my BP checks to give time for it to settle back to normal , it seems to work ok .

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Given a little while to restres systolic returns to normal but my diastolic will be slightly lower.

 

[tom73]

Well just ran this past Mrs 73 she say's it will be up due to exercise. You've been told it's high as its over 140/80 but as it's ok at home she say's if it was one of her patient's she's not be worried by it. If it continues they may offer a 24 hour BP reading home to rule out white coat syndrome. But don't sweat over it seams to be the over message.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Couple of times I cycled up a big hill to the doctors, blood pressure was always ok.

 

[kingrollo]

I would just buy yourself a blood pressure checker - only about £20 - you can then check your BP twice a day for a week or so - and let the gp see those stats .....

Also I have found beetroot juice knocks about 5pts of your BP .....

 

[tom73]

Home checking is all fine and good and can be a help to HCP's but remember a cheep one won't be bang on and not overly accurate. A number of things can effect reading when you take them which you may not know your doing. The growing about of for home checking this , that and the other is just for many feeding the ever growing army of the "worried well" In the end machine that go's ping won't can't replace a sphyg and steth and a good old HCP at the other end of it.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Home checking is all fine and good and can be a help to HCP's but remember a cheep one won't be bang on and not overly accurate.

Agreed. There are various health checking apps that are basically for entertainment value only and shouldn't be relied upon seriously.

I use an Omron M7 Intelli, which is the same as my GP uses and is clinically validated. It's about £60 so not exactly cheap but I need accuracy and reliability in my readings.

 

[mjr]

Home checking is all fine and good and can be a help to HCP's but remember a cheep one won't be bang on and not overly accurate.

Cheapest decent ones seem to be the own-brand ones from the major pharmacy chains - I've even been checked in hospital with a b**ts model. If you take the results to a HCP, take the machine with you so you can compare it with an expert reading.

If you get offered a 24 hour BP monitor, if it fires up while you're cycling, stop, else it may try to squeeze your arm off like mine did.

My BP is always high if taken within 10 minutes of arriving by bike, so I now pad the time and sit somewhere nice outside for a few minutes, reading or snacking. If I try to sit in the waiting area, despite telling them what I'm doing, they always call me for the BP+weight too soon.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Home checking is all fine and good and can be a help to HCP's but remember a cheep one won't be bang on and not overly accurate. A number of things can effect reading when you take them which you may not know your doing. The growing about of for home checking this , that and the other is just for many feeding the ever growing army of the "worried well" In the end machine that go's ping won't can't replace a sphyg and steth and a good old HCP at the other end of it.

The GP test might not always be all that accurate. My GP, getting an elevated reading, called me a ''3 timer'' and took the reading another 2 times; each reading was lower than the previous. I'd not felt any kind of anxiety before the test but it's a commonplace event for GPs, a kind of ''white coat syndrome.''

 

[kingrollo]

Home checking is all fine and good and can be a help to HCP's but remember a cheep one won't be bang on and not overly accurate. A number of things can effect reading when you take them which you may not know your doing. The growing about of for home checking this , that and the other is just for many feeding the ever growing army of the "worried well" In the end machine that go's ping won't can't replace a sphyg and steth and a good old HCP at the other end of it.

The machines are the same brand ...omtron or something....and if you just want a blood pressure check ...it will probably be a nurse not the gp.

personally I think a whole weeks home reading carry more weight than a single reading at GP.

although some theorists are now suggesting that bp spikes are more significant than the average.

edit i use the omron m2 .....£25

 

[vickster]

I checked my BP on a fancy machine at the gym after my workout yesterday. 108/71 which is about what I’d expect, heart rate mid 70s (usually 55ish resting).

Go get checked again, but have a rest after Cycling or travel by alternate means

 

[kingrollo]

I thought it was expected your blood pressure would be high immediately after excercise ?

 

[vickster]

I thought it was expected your blood pressure would be high immediately after excercise ?

Mine must be very low at the mo then. To be fair I had hardly been killing myself (as I have a bad back)

 

[tom73]

The machines are the same brand ...omtron or something....and if you just want a blood pressure check ...it will probably be a nurse not the gp.

personally I think a whole weeks home reading carry more weight than a single reading at GP.

although some theorists are now suggesting that bp spikes are more significant than the average.

edit i use the omron m2 .....£25

Too right it will be the nurse but then they are better at it anyway. Once when covering a Robbie Williams concert. The senior medical team and myself got sent back stage. We needed a BP reading but the DINAMAP was playing up. So with Robbie and band going full blast Mrs 73 did it manually much to the amazement of the doctor. Once they got it working difference in both set's of reading's was only 1.

Blood pressure is one of the many thing's media love to give out miss information. It's not a simple thing and low/high reading can be just fine for one person and not for another it can't and should not be taken in isolation it's a science all of it's own really.