blood pressure

[sonnyb]

For those of you have gone through OCS, what happens if your Blood pressure is elevated to higher levels, especially the top number? Mine is always normal except for the fact under stress, or due to nerves, my top number rises above 140. should I be concerned about this at the physical?

Michael

 

[grouch]

sonny, when they took my blood pressure mine was a touch on the high side. The guy that took it elevated my arm and redid it and low and behold I passed. They can help you with stuff like that if you are cool to them. The people at NOMI were more than helpful. They want you to pass or at least that is how I saw it. But then again, I'm such a nice guy people line up to help me.

 

[ghost_ttu]

sonny, I don't know if this actually works, but it works for me. When the arm think tightens up I take a deep breath and hold it until the test is over. It will slow your heart a little bit and will lower your blood pressure.

 

[kevin]

yes it will. that's because the physiology of the body is such that blood flow matches oxygen flow, so cutting down on oxygen flow will cause blood pressure to reduce. that's one reason why people survive after being "lifeless" under ice for an hour.

 

[Jaxs170]

Sonny, the short and simple of it: THE MACHINES LIE!!! Every single BP test the military has given me has been high (between 141/85 and 149/92) w/ one of those machines, yet every time when it was checked by hand I was always fine (I know my BP is about 120/75). So, if the machine says you are high, don't worry too much about it even if it they check you 3 or 4 times consecutively and it is high each time. Make sure they hand check you after trying the machine too if it says you're high. Also, like has been said, stay relaxed, deep and slow breaths help reduce the BP, and definitely make sure your arm is elevated, it should be equal in height to your heart to get the most accurate reading.

 

[crimson]

sonnyb-
okay, well i am a med student, so i don't know a lot about a lot, but blood pressure i do believe i know some about...i don't know what machine the military uses there are only 3 companies that make cuffs so...if an medical assistant takes it manually be lying down. that is true blood pressure. if a machine does it make sure it has been calibrated in the past year, (the FDA says there must be a tag on it). if your blood pressure lying down is 140 that is not terribly bad....if you are a male an over five foot six and one hundred fifty pounds. really look at both numbers. 140/110 bad!!! 140/90 okay. actully if your distolic (top number) is under 110 that is a bad sign. so just keep track of your stats. if you are how you are and it remains the same then you are o.k.
just some thoughts from a friendly med student (hey hopkins is an ok school)

 

[JMUocs]

so a 138/78 would be ok? just making sure, because my distolic is laways in the mid 130s, but the systolics is always mid 70s to low 80s. Plus, I can never relax around any kind of medic

 

[tali264]

Anybody know what the lower limit for blood pressure is? I know one girl on here got NPQd because it was too low, but I never thought to ask what it was.

 

[crimson]

JMUOCS-
that is not a bad blood pressure to have. 137/78 is pretty normal. i think you could have a little lower...like 65, but you are WELL within NORMAL limits. no problem.

as far as be NPQ'd for low blood pressure...i do not know what the military is looking for, but in regular clincial medicine is is around 110/50. too low!! 110/65 is normal for a smallish, thin, female. your friend might have been anemic or just had a low RBC(red blood cell count) that can cause low pressure. it is also genetic in some case.

hope that helps.

 

[sonnyb]

thanks for the responses.

I'm in the same boat with JSUocs, my blood pressure seems to increase when i'm around medics. i think if i can just make myself relax and do some deep breaths before, i think i can get through it.