Yah, I purchased one of the automatic monitoring machines at home after having a couple slightly elevated readings at dentist/etc offices.
And what I learned is that I can swing my blood pressure from slightly low to slightly elevated simply by how I sit, how relaxed I am, and untold other variables that result in being able to consciously swing it 20+ mmHg, and other times it can swing that much (or more) just between multiple consecutive readings where I don't move/etc between them.
I've also had Nurses swap the Cuff size and drop that much, or just do two in a row in the Dr's office and get massively different results.
So, for me, I don't know how to determine an actual bp if the noise is greater than the signal. Taking the average over multiple times a day, for a few weeks is probably reasonable. But then, I'm pretty sure the amount of exercise and what I eat day to day could swing it one way or the other depending on the time of the year (aka I sweat a lot more during the summer and drop weight, etc).
I was laid off in November, coincidentally on the same day I had a doctors exam. I didn't want to reschedule it so I went. My BP was suddenly 150-160. They were somewhat concerned (I'm young and almost an underweight BMI) until I explained I just got laid off about 4 hours ago. Fun stuff. Weird memory.
And what I learned is that I can swing my blood pressure from slightly low to slightly elevated simply by how I sit, how relaxed I am, and untold other variables that result in being able to consciously swing it 20+ mmHg, and other times it can swing that much (or more) just between multiple consecutive readings where I don't move/etc between them.
I've also had Nurses swap the Cuff size and drop that much, or just do two in a row in the Dr's office and get massively different results.
So, for me, I don't know how to determine an actual bp if the noise is greater than the signal. Taking the average over multiple times a day, for a few weeks is probably reasonable. But then, I'm pretty sure the amount of exercise and what I eat day to day could swing it one way or the other depending on the time of the year (aka I sweat a lot more during the summer and drop weight, etc).