Blood Pressure - lg difference between arms

• By bjlkag
• Posted October 18, 2009 at 1:34 pm
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I discovered the same thing about 4 years ago when I took my bp at home. I went directly to my pharmacy, as it was a Sunday, and the nurse on staff took my bp in both arms and got the same reading that I had gotten. The pharmacy nurse said she had seem this before, often, and wasn't unnerved by it. The next time I went to my gp doctor I had his nurse check and she got a different reading from one arm to the other and again said she sees this often. So did the gp doctor. My cardio guy also said it's more common than we know. I've not had any reason to be upset about this. I've been scanned as many different ways as one can be and nothing untowed has been discovered. But remember, no one knows your body the way you do. If you think something is wrong insist that it be checked out.

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• By martzj
• Posted October 19, 2009 at 1:03 pm
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Hi Amy,

It is common for arms to have differing bps....but if the difference is more than 10 points it is time to see a doctor. I've gotten answers from the nurse to the "why do I have such different bps in each arm?". Answer: "It just is." But there are valid reasons and they may not indicate there is a pressing health issue. BP changes constantly, so you'll want to take a lot of baseline bps when you first get the pressure cuff. Mine shoots up almost 40 points when I'm intensely stressed, upset.

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• By MMaslek
• Posted October 19, 2009 at 2:54 pm
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Thanks Ladies,

Just me being weird was my initial thought. I went & bought a cuff. It seems that my systolic is differing greatly but my diastolic has evened out between arms. I have an appointment in a few weeks so I'll just keep a record until then & let them sort it out.

Thanks Again!!

Amy

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• By JNNana
• Posted October 20, 2009 at 12:25 pm
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Hello MMaslek,

I hope not to inject panic into your situation but I believe by what you have disclosed you have had your share of moments that would shake most of us. I too discovered BP pressure to be different in both arms recently (greater than 20). I am still in the process of making the medical community take me seriously, two Cardiologist later. I had a chest X-ray taken last year while in the ER for chest pain (mimic indigestion from chest to upper back, vomiting, extreme headache for >24 hours. I did have two EKG that were abnormal and two EKG alarms that went off while they kept me over night. I was never told that I had the two alarms over night nor was I told that my chest X-ray showed a mild prominence of the ascending thoracic aorta. What I found even more concerning was that this dilation was not even noted on the chest X-ray results. I did not discover all of this till I began to be more frustrated with answers I was not getting from doctors. I finally got my FD to order another chest X-ray, this time a sudden onset of high BP, first time in my life, was noted on the chest X-ray order. The prominence (dilation) was noted and the radiologist made mention of last years chest X-ray, referring to no change in size (great news) from last years images. Now this 2nd chest X-ray was done on a Wednesday and my FD did not expect to have it back till late Thursday and since he is not in the office on Friday I would not expect to hear from him till Tuesday since Monday was also a Holiday. Now with all that said, I am not one to wait around for this kind of information. So I am telling you information I know only because I did not wait for my FD to call me. Instead, I decided I needed to get a copy of my medical records and take any pertinent information with me to the 2nd cardiologist I was going to see for 2nd opinion on my BP differences and quick onset of High BP on that Tuesday. To my surprise, the things mentioned above are what I discovered. Now this was on a Friday when I went to get copies of my records and it took me most of the weekend to go through them. When I read the recent chest X-ray report I was shocked and somewhat set back. I was upset because of what had not been told to me last year. I knew on Tuesday when I saw the 2nd Cardiologist these report would be important for him to have but I also noticed that the report did not indicate the size of the dilation. So Tuesday morning before I left for my appointment I called the hospital and spoke to the radiologist who read my 2nd images. I asked him about the size and questioned why it was not noted on the report and also why this dilation would have not been noted on the previous X-ray, which was not read by him. He explained to me that the only reason he noted it on this report was my resent onset of high BP was mentioned. He said that he suggested a chest CT be done. I also asked him why a size would not have been noted and he said if a family history or concern of an aneursym had been mentioned he would have placed the measurement into the report (information that my FD had but did not provide with the request he only mentioned the hypertension). By the way, the measurement was 3.5cm his best estimation with this kind of images (X-rays). I left my home with more concerning information but at least I knew more of the story. I went armed with what knowledge I had hoping to get more answers and less questions. It has now been one week since I saw the 2nd cardiologist which did order a chest CT, echocardiogram, and arteriogram of both arms. The test were done on Thursday and the only call so far was Friday stating my lab work came back fine. I asked his nurse had the doctor received the chest CT yet and did it confirm the 3.5cm size. She said he had not received it yet. I have since spoken with the CT department and they told me the report was in the computer ready for the doctor and had been since Thursday afternoon. Now here I still set waiting to hear. This hospital is a 1.25hr drive for me but I guess I will driving there this week to get a copy myself because once again I do not feel that the doctor is taking it seriously.

Be careful of thinking that they know best or even care to know.

You must be you own advocate!

JNNana

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• By MMaslek
• Posted October 20, 2009 at 9:22 pm
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Thanks JNNana,

I think I'll call to have an xray. I've had some scary stuff to be sure so I don't overreact but I do need to make sure I do react when necessary. My previous cardio almost let me die because he thought I'd be more persistant than daily calling if it was important. He finally returned my call a week afterwards when I had been admitted to the hospital & he still ignored me, then transferred to another hospital, gotten a new (highly recommended) cardio, had an angio & had a couple of stents. Anyway, back to the present, my blood pressure was up too so now I'll be sure to check it out. I did buy a cuff & it seems to be a bit more even on the diastolic, at least. I don't like the difference in pressure. I seem to have more immediate luck with my GP to get tests immediately so I'll give him a holler in the am. Thanks for the heads up & please take care of your self. I'm amazed that they don't mention even small bulges. Scary. Good Luck & Thanks!!!

Amy

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• By JNNana
• Posted October 22, 2009 at 8:50 am
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Good Morning Amy,

Glad you went to get the BP cuff. Keep a good record of your pressure it helps to provide that to your GP. Less reason for insurance to have a problem with test. I pray that the truth be found for you and that the right hands be there if anything needs to be corrected.

JNNana

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