Home readings can help your doctor understand how your blood pressure changes outside the consulting room. For this, an orderly diary following an agreed schedule is more useful than a few photos of the monitor without a date or context.

First check whether and how to measure

Ask your doctor whether home monitoring is suitable for you, how often to measure and for how many days. Check which values or symptoms call for earlier contact. An individual plan may differ for specific conditions, treatment or pregnancy.

Don’t use this material as a substitute for personal instructions. If you have been given a schedule, follow it. Don’t keep increasing the number of readings because you are worried about one value, without discussing the situation.

Choose a suitable monitor and technique

NHS England recommends a monitor with validated accuracy. Discuss with a doctor or pharmacist whether the device and the cuff size are right for you. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and ask to be shown how to put the cuff on correctly if you are unsure.

The NHS general information on home measurement describes two consecutive readings one minute apart, usually in the morning and the evening, for a period set by the health professional. This is a guide for the conversation with your doctor, not a universal schedule for everyone.

What to write in the diary

  • Date and time of the reading.
  • The values from the readings, without leaving out inconvenient results.
  • Your pulse, if the monitor shows it and the doctor has asked you to record it.
  • Relevant symptoms or unusual circumstances.
  • Changes the doctor has made to your treatment or the way you are monitored.

Use one table or notebook that you can easily show. Check whether the practice prefers a paper diary, a file or another secure channel. If the monitor shows a technical error, note it, instead of turning the error message into a medical value.

What not to do based on a single result

Don’t diagnose yourself and don’t change medicine doses based on one reading. What a result means depends on how consistent it is, the technique, symptoms and the medical context. For interpretation, rely on the doctor who is monitoring you.

If you have signs of an emergency, for example severe chest pain, serious shortness of breath or sudden neurological symptoms, call 112 for emergency help. Don’t wait to collect enough entries for the diary and don’t rely on e-mail for an urgent assessment.

Prepare for the follow-up examination

Bring the diary and an up-to-date list of your medicines. Write down your questions: is the monitor suitable, is the technique correct, what do the readings show and what is the next step. If needed, the doctor may recommend a different method of monitoring.

To arrange an examination, see Dr Boris Gavrilov’s practices or his profile on trqbvami.com. trqbvami.com has an editorial partnership with the practice.