[Ford390pwr]

Do you have your Blood Pressure tested on a regular basis? I never checked it other than when I saw the doctor, but a friend told me that they have a FREE machine at Wally World so I tried it out.

Holly crap that scared the hell out of me! My first attempt said my BP was 152/82. Well the machine said that my BP could change by several points in just a few minutes, so I came back after walking around the store and picking up a few items. The second test was 135/80. Still a little high but much better.

I decided to change the way I eat, not as much red meat and snacks. Now I have fruit in the fridge and my kids are like "where the hell did that come from"!
Anyways after about a week of the new diet I went back to that same BP machine. My first test was 154/83! WTF? So I walked around for about five minutes, came back and tested at 134/82.

Is this common to have such a varying range between tests?

[movinit]

There are many things that could be causing the fluctuations in your blood pressure.

Exercising-your pressure may be up when you first entered the store because you walked in from the parking lot and then it is lower later because of your leisurely stroll through the store.

Other factors that affect BP:

Eating
Caffeine
Smoking
Overweight
Medications
Hereditary history
Ethnic makeup
Outside temperature

If you are seriously trying to lower your BP which based on those numbers you should, then check out my post http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/a...e-excuses.html

[movinit]

A great way to determine if your BP is high and you should do something about it is this risk test on the American Heart Association site.

High Blood Pressure Health Risk Calculator

[ordinaryguy]

also those machines at Wally World arent the most accurate from my own experiences, if your arms are large, those machines arent the best to use heh

[Kranky]

They're just trying to scare you, so you'll buy more of their stale vegetables.:rofl:

.

[JackSwagger]

your blood pressure can vary with very wide range, because when you are relaxing then the BP falls, and as you said when you came back from the market the BP fall. So it is not uncommon, don't be panic just eat healthy food, and avoid the high cholesterol stuff.

[Phil O'Malley]

I've been working on my blood pressure as well. My family has a history and I've been watching my diet, but does anyone have any more tips that I can use while on the road?

[Phil O'Malley]

I did a little research of my own last night and came across these two sites. They have pretty good health tips for truckers.

Health Resources for Drivers – Staying Informed in a New Age of Healthcare

The Healthy Trucker