The nurse in the my husband's Dr's office told him to take his blood pressure when relaxed. You have to actually sit down and plant your feet firmly and imagine yourself in the quiet place with flowers and waterfalls. Only when you are sufficiently relaxed, take the bllod pressure, and that will be your resting pressure. Of course, when you are stressed, or even moving/walking, it will be different. That's what I understood, the resting BP is what's important.

Also, have you done that machine where everybody leaves you alone and the machine takes your pressure several times over 20 - 30 min or so. My DH had to do it in the Dr's office, and that alone says that what they are interested in, is the readings after complete relaxation.

Most of readings are right when I come home and im running up and down the stairs trying to get things done and I reall dont think my body really relaxes until about 12am. I checked my blood pressure at 10:00pm and it was high and then when I checked it at 12am it had gone way down to likwe 107/77. My blood pressure just fluctuates. I just want to know when the best time is to take it to where it will be an accurate reading

i know what it is like to stress over blood pressure. When mine was high i got a pain in my kneck and my right arm hurt it felt like i had a tight band around my arm stopping the flow of blood. I dont have a monitor and if i did have one i would be totaly obsessed with using it all day i would send my blood pressure higher using that i would stress that much. I have not got a clue at the best time to take your blood pressure. I have been on 3 lots meds for 6 months now. a few weeks ago it was 132/86 which isnt great but it is lower than it was. You are probably abit stressed over this to. take care.

i use to get like that also..it realy gets to you..but you cant control it..if it goes up then thers a reson for it too..the 120/80 you might see wants in awile..but mostly the daytime that is if your on meds for bp..will run higer..like 140/90 or less.my neck and shoulders get real super tence today thinking that mine would be up..i checked it and i was surprised it was 118/70.so you just cant control it..my doc want me to take mine at least 3 times aday..i take it at that or less..,.at night when you sleep ur blood p falls to good levels cuz ur bodys at rest and everything is at rest,ur brain waves,ur breathing,heart rate,just everythuing..like me im sleep apnea on the machine.but ive taken my blood p before i go to bed and its like 112/60 p55...depending on alot of factors involved..if the next time you take it..stand up and take it after you been standing there for 3-5 min..it will either be higher or much lower..i take mine when lying down..thats the way the e.r. does it when ur there..but the base way is to take it at rest waite 15 min feet flat on the floor,no talking no eating or if smoking waie 10 min after a smoke..then take it 3 times 5 min between takes the lowest will be ur base..there's no need to take it the way ur doing it!!!!!!!!!!! take no more than 4 times aday and spread the time out also..the more you see high numbers the more ur going to see them..the thing about blood p being high is if it stays high all the time it works on ur arteries and target organs..so if you feel good then just dont fool with it..now if ur getting symtoms or anything that you think would be a reason to check it then do so././they told me at the e.r. i called the squad it was 200/120 that was high..but when i got there it went down in 1 hr..he said the next time this happens to lay down..then take it every 20-30 min...if goes down good if not get to e.r...go by symptoms only though..i know this will be hard not to take it..but just try it it will work for you trust me..james

if your blood pressure was 158/101 at its highest and you were very angry, then you can relax knowing it is a lot lower then that when your not upset or anything. 158/101 is only mild hbp. So relax. Try taking your bp only twice a day; once in the morning and once at night. Make sure your sitting and relaxing (watch a happy tv show or listen to calm music. Your very young, try taking this time to do natural things to bring down your pressure.

Get rid of you meter. Really. Your blood pressure isn't really high. If you want to, go to your doctor's office once a month, twice a mont, every week. Whatever. Usually the nurse will check it for your in between patients and there's no charge.

Please stop worrying, your blood pressure is'nt that high ! Mine was 199/9o ish and would spike to 240/115, NOW that is high !
Try NOT to worry.Also deep breathing exercises will help lower your blood pressure and will help with the anxiety. Hugs to you !

Blessed how did you get over this, i am doing it right now and it's sending me nutty,

ok guys- I began high bp meds 2 mo ago much to my surprise my reading in the dr office was 190/110- and i felt wonderful- perfect-was literally running around outside that dayso you CANNOT go by how you feel. I hate medication and always want to look for the natural way to let our bodies take care of the problem itself, but I'm not stupid- (actually an RN) I deceided to take the med- for now- while I work on all the other lifestyle changes I need to make. I am not obese but could stand to lose some, and my current job has kept me very sedentary - so now i walk- alot-and take niacin and fish oil- and really watch my diet- the weight is coming down but to be honest i STILL feel good and had the doc not taken it- would still never know I had it. Now, I HATE Dr's-nice for a nurse huh- and have massive anxiety - i bought the bp cuff like dr said but it is the detrement of my life and have considered pitching it because it seems my whole day depends upon that dar@!@# reading and it scares me to death- and I, opposite of you can't get the nerve to take it- it takes me half hr to get the nerve just to sit in front of it and another to stop hyperventilating when i put it on. As for the readings..... some days 139/76 131/69 124/77-bottom ok but top fluctuates-so depressing and i know THAT can't be good for me.Someone told me not to expect below 130/80 for quite a while as your body adjusts,but I want to be OFF this crap as soon as possible. I understand your fear and frustration as I have it too, and if there is anything I can do to help let me know. I even purchased some breathing and relaxation exercises from Christian Goodman but the jury is still out on these- in short I'm doing everything I can and know you are too.