important question...please answer!! - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

scared2death2 · 04-08-2005, 04:32 PM

okay, you know those machines...they can be at a grocery store or somewhere...and you put your arm in them and they measure your blood pressure? well id did that, and it said mine was 128. it said to be normal, it has to be under 120.

so then the chart said i had "prehypertension"

i have no idea what this is...and what it can do to you so can anyone please help?? thanks

veggigoddess · 04-08-2005, 04:35 PM

Is your blood pressure usually normal when you go to a doctor? And it all depends on your overall mood and what you were doing right before you put your arm in the thing. Anything can temporarily raise your blood pressure for a minute. For instance, when I talk while I'm getting mine taken at a doctors office my blood pressure goes up. If I laugh it goes up even further. I have to mentally prepare myself and breath deep to get my actual blood pressure taken.

scared2death2 · 04-08-2005, 04:37 PM

yeah, i think it's usually normal when i go to the doctor...and i was probably laughing and talking while it was happening so maybe thats why. thank you!

veggigoddess · 04-08-2005, 04:52 PM

A grocery store I have always thought was a silly place for those things as most people blood pressures are high due to the normal stress of grocery shopping. I would not worry about it at all. If your blood pressure is usually in the "normal" range when you're at a doctors visit then there's nothing to concern yourself with.

Sunlover · 04-08-2005, 05:27 PM

Hey, my daughter took hers one time when she was 8, and got scared when the thing tightened and she started saying, "Oh no!! Oh no!! I'm going to get stuck" and tugged her arm... you know what the reading was when it beeped?? 274/168!! We left the reading like that and I told her that store personnel are going to be looking for a BODY somewhere after seeing a blood pressure like that! 128 is fine, and the laughing probably raised it to that! Relax