Im not over 35 but you guys seem to be some of the more intelligent here when i comes to health issues so i figured id ask here. So i went to the Dr’s office a day or two ago for an ear infection. By the way im 20 years old, 5’10ish and about 200 lbs, average build, not super lean but not super fat either i guess you could say.
So the nurse comes in to take my BP and I told her it usually runs a little high no biggie. She uses the normal cuff and said it was way high so she told me since I had muscles (yeah sweet compliment) she would use the bigger one. It ran at 130/90 and she had a fucking fit. About changing my diet and how i could get my bp checked for free and gave me this whole speech about how it can lead to terrible things and a definition on trending.
Now i work on an ambulance so i was getting a little fed up but respecting her at the same time. I said thank you for caring but I dont think it is that bad and i do not need this whole speil. I said it as kind as i could. So what do you guys think? Is it that bad? I didnt think it was that bad and its been like that for a while. I eat a pretty healthy diet ive been losing weight for a while now and am real happy with my progress and personally am not worried about my BP. So does that seem that bad for a 20 yr old male. I work out 5 times a week both running and lifting.
My personal opinion…They keep changing the numbers to dispense more medication. Same goes for cholesterol. They keep wanting it lower and lower. I’m not a doctor, just appears that way to me. I could be delusional. When things are taken out of context, they seem worse than they are. Again, though, I ain’t no doctor.
That was ONE BP measurement. Ideally, you should be taking an average over several days and under the correct conditions (not sure what that is, but probably in a fasted state). I would not freak out over a single-point measurement. I would collect about 10 or so data points before worrying.
As to what numbers are acceptable (for reference after you get a nice stable average), I have no idea. You’re going to do some journal/textbook reading for that…
The 90 seems a little high, but I’m not a doctor either. I measured mine a few weeks ago, it was 60/130, and the other day after a fairly large meal before training it was something like 68/139 (I’m 39 years old). I’d check it over the course of a few weeks, and as the previous poster suggested, in a fasted state. I think the nurse was being a bit dramatic freaking out though. At least, if you suddenly keel over, you’re already in the ambulance (just kidding mate)
[quote]boomerlu wrote:
Not over 35 either but to address some issues.
That was ONE BP measurement. Ideally, you should be taking an average over several days and under the correct conditions (not sure what that is, but probably in a fasted state). I would not freak out over a single-point measurement. I would collect about 10 or so data points before worrying.
As to what numbers are acceptable (for reference after you get a nice stable average), I have no idea. You’re going to do some journal/textbook reading for that…[/quote]
thanks all. I agree the 90 was a little high but just a few years ago they lowered it to make 120/80 perfect. So not too long ago i would be in the clear lol. Ill just check it every few days and if it stays maybe get checked out. Im confident it will stay because well its been a little high since i was in high school.
Hi Mate, Im a fellow paramedic in australia, i think with a medical background you know the dangers of high bloodpressure etc so sometimes there can be abit of anxiety when having a medical examination, im sure u have heard of white coat hypertension, because i get it as well, when ever a doc takes my bp its always high as in need medication high (160/100)but i know im anxious, when im at work i take my own bp on our defib/ecg machine when doing vehicle checks and its spot on 120/80. Also 130/90 isnt high either, you should have turned around and taken hers, maybe tell her she’s fat and needs to lift weights, u would then see her bp go up, lol.
[quote]Danny880 wrote:
Hi Mate, Im a fellow paramedic in australia, i think with a medical background you know the dangers of high bloodpressure etc so sometimes there can be abit of anxiety when having a medical examination, im sure u have heard of white coat hypertension, because i get it as well, when ever a doc takes my bp its always high as in need medication high (160/100)but i know im anxious, when im at work i take my own bp on our defib/ecg machine when doing vehicle checks and its spot on 120/80. Also 130/90 isnt high either, you should have turned around and taken hers, maybe tell her she’s fat and needs to lift weights, u would then see her bp go up, lol.
good luck mate!![/quote]
hhahhaa awesome. yeah thanks ill have my partner take it tomorrow at work. Whats it like being a medic over there? I assume its not too much different, but laws and SOP’s and stuff.
hi fighting fires,
I have been working as a paramedic for 20 years, so cant be too bad, lol. When i first started i got told its a good job fucked up and thats true to this day, lol. I suppose its everywhere but management are what stuff the job, and rosters. Just have to think of Patient care.
We have about 15 or so drugs and use 3 or 4 regularly, lol. Mostly pain relief stuff. Its improved in the last few years as far as drug protocols and procedures, it was in the dark ages 20 years ago, but its starting to catch up now.
Its quite busy where i work and it doesnt help that everyone is covered by the government and has free ambulance cover, so we get called to every cough, cold and sore hole as well as standard chest pains, mva’s etc.
The fire department are seperate from ambulance here, the firey’s as we call them are scared shitless to go to medical jobs, plus there not trained in that sort of stuff either, they just respond to fires and mva’s for extraction etc. I believe over there the fire and ambulance are joined together and most firemen are emt’s.
My BP runs high, and I take medication for it, hell, i get mine at walmart $10 for 90 days. I’m also a nurse, and her chewing you out was bullshit, she shouldn’t have gotten all bent out of shape, and let your doctor give you the lowdown.
I brought up the walmart drug issue because hypertension isn’t call the “silent killer” for nothing, and if your doctor won’t prescribe cheap generics if you ask then he’s worthless. I’ve got to lose some weight myself and get my BP in check. I don’t really want to kill my kidneys. Dialysis doesn’t look like much fun.
[quote]Danny880 wrote:
hi fighting fires,
I have been working as a paramedic for 20 years, so cant be too bad, lol. When i first started i got told its a good job fucked up and thats true to this day, lol. I suppose its everywhere but management are what stuff the job, and rosters. Just have to think of Patient care.
We have about 15 or so drugs and use 3 or 4 regularly, lol. Mostly pain relief stuff. Its improved in the last few years as far as drug protocols and procedures, it was in the dark ages 20 years ago, but its starting to catch up now.
Its quite busy where i work and it doesnt help that everyone is covered by the government and has free ambulance cover, so we get called to every cough, cold and sore hole as well as standard chest pains, mva’s etc.
The fire department are seperate from ambulance here, the firey’s as we call them are scared shitless to go to medical jobs, plus there not trained in that sort of stuff either, they just respond to fires and mva’s for extraction etc. I believe over there the fire and ambulance are joined together and most firemen are emt’s.
cheers mate!![/quote]
Hey thanks for the info. yeah im not a paramedic just an EMT-B currently, probably gonna start medic school in january. And yes you are correct on the fire/ems overe here. All ff’s are emt-b’s but depending on the area many ff’s are paramedics also. If you run fires, you run ems is basically what its coming down to. The only reason Im going to medic school is so i can get a fire job, not that i would half ass it at all, if i do it im gonna do it right, but I do find it kind of ridiculous that where i live you cant even apply to a FD without having a medic license. BUt i think getting to play with drugs will make it a little more fun that just basically load and go right now. Stay safe.
FF
[quote]Lordcliff wrote:
My BP runs high, and I take medication for it, hell, i get mine at walmart $10 for 90 days. I’m also a nurse, and her chewing you out was bullshit, she shouldn’t have gotten all bent out of shape, and let your doctor give you the lowdown.
I brought up the walmart drug issue because hypertension isn’t call the “silent killer” for nothing, and if your doctor won’t prescribe cheap generics if you ask then he’s worthless. I’ve got to lose some weight myself and get my BP in check. I don’t really want to kill my kidneys. Dialysis doesn’t look like much fun.
[/quote]
Thanks for the info. If it stays high ill look into it, but when the dr came in he didnt even mention anything about my BP so that is one other reason Im not too worried.
