Hello. I am a 34 yo F in good health though I do not eat or drink as much as I should. I have never been a smoker or drug user nor do I drink alcohol. Heart disease is not a remarkable issue in my family; lung issues in older age are more common.
21 months ago I was bit by a tick and began seeing a dr for treatment several months later. I was surprised that my BP, which is normally an the lower end of normal, was 130/80. The dr suggested stress.
Each time I saw her, this was my BP and I wondered if it was Lyme related. However, when I saw my primary for my phyisical, I was delighted to hear my BP was at 105/75; I was so happy to hear is was back to normal. My primary said I was probably more stressed going to the Lyme appts.
Bring us to my next specialist appt. yesterday. My BP was 130/78 (left arm). I said--how odd! It was much lower at my primary. The nurse suggested taking my BP on my other arm...low and behold: 102/70 on my right arm (and my right arm was used at the primary!) She double checked and used a mechanical cuff. Indeed, my systolic BP in my left arm is 25 to 30 pts higher than my right.
I did some reading and found recent research that indicates that a such a large difference can indicate vascular disease. My dr did not seem worried but ordered blood tests when I expressed my concern.
What more should I know about this? How should I proceed?View Thread
I checked in with my primary office. They are telling me the BO difference between arms isn't a big deal unless they are 50 points or more apart.
I don't understand this. I read on the AHA page that a difference of 10 o more shoud be looked into. Mine are 25-30 apart and yes, both were then sitting down, similar posture.View Thread