Blood Pressure Cuff Pain & Fibromyalgia
May 14, 2008 by Sandy Robinson
Filed under Fibromyalgia
I have always experienced quite a bit of pain when my blood pressure has been taken but I always assumed that it was like that for everyone. I just never thought anything about it, but I never complained to the doctor about it either. I just assumed that’s the way it was. Then last night I read an article on Chronic Pain Connection titled Could A Blood Pressure Test Help Diagnose Fibromyalgia?
Karen Lee Richards, a Fibromyalgia patient and contributor to the site, says that she always dreads having her blood pressure taken because of the pain and a nurse even called her a wimp one time. Another time she had a more compassionate nurse who suggested using the larger blood pressure cuff to help alleviate the pain.
According to a 2006 study, approximately 69% of Fibromyalgia experience pain from an inflated blood pressure cuff during testing.
The study entitled �Sphygmomanometry-Evoked Allodynia � A Simple Bedside Test Indicative of Fibromyalgia: A Multicenter Developmental Study� was published in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.
Terminology:
Sphygmomanometry � The standard blood pressure test everyone receives at the doctor�s office.
Allodynia � A condition in which pain results from a stimulus that does not normally evoke pain.
As part of the study, participants included 20 Fibromyalgia patients, 20 rheumatoid arthritis patients, 20 osteoarthritis patients and 20 healthy individuals in each of three public rheumatology outpatient services. Each participant was asked to answer the question, �When I take your blood pressure, tell me if the cuff�s pressure brings forth pain.�
The results showed that 69% of Fibromyalgia patients experienced sphygmomanometry-evoked allodynia. But surprisingly only 10% of rheumatoid arthritis patients, 5% of OA patients and 2 healthy participants did.
In this study there was a strong association between pain experienced during blood pressure testing and the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. Sphygmomanometry is a simple test and a universally standard clinical procedure that may be useful in recognizing FM patients. Based on the results of this study, the researchers suggest looking for other FM features in anyone who has sphygmomanometry-evoked allodynia.
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Sandy – I’m glad to hear that you are feeling better than what was going on for you last week with all of the weird scary symptoms. We do get them, don’t we? It’s amazing that each time I think my system has gone as beserk as possible, it finds new and inventive ways to torture me.
I am now dealing with systemic itchiness; the feeling is incredible and last night I had 6 ice packs strategically placed all over me to get some relief, from the top of my head to my toes. The F & F Center is having me do a liver panel tomorrow.
However, the initiative for writing was within the content of today’s post. The woman who was called a “wimp” because of the pain of the blood pressure cuff. It’s amazing how ignorant people can be, which resonates throughout the medical community, let alone lay people.
I identify with this due to my blood pressure and heart rate that has been difficult to regulate, and I have a good doctor taking care of the issue. Regardless, when she took my pressure, which was quite high and then my husbands (wow – what an exciting date – simultaneous Dr. appointment!!), his was low/normal.
Her comment was “Well SOMEONE in the family has to remain calm” This woman had no clue as to my illness and what I’ve been dealing with, and I did not waste one breath defending myself, but I wanted to go for her throat. If thoughts could kill, she wouldn’t be here any longer.
I realize that may sound somewhat of an overreaction. It’s just a culmination of stupid people saying stupid things and letting them go. I have to say that my primary care physician is wonderful and on board with all that I’m doing with the F & F Center and jointly deailng with some of my health issues, so that’s not an issue, but it’s just incredible the nonsense and ignorance that we hear spewed over the years from unsolicited sources.
UGH!!
P.S. – I failed to mention that it was the Nurse (not the Doctor) taking my pressure who uttered the nonsense.
Hi Nancy, I went to the F & F Centers for a long time. The closest one to my house is almost 3 hours away so the long drives took a toll on me. I see the doctor once a year when I need my meds refilled.
I know people can be so ignorant. I would love to have them live in my body for just one day.
Hi Sandy – I hear you on the commute to the F & F Centers and the toll it takes. We’re only 1 hour away from the Connecticut center and the last two appointments had to be telephone appointments. Even though my husband would be driving, I couldn’t get there.
I’m only going there next Tuesday to get the last portion of a particular blood test done and I’m not even staying for an IV treatment. Although I enjoyed the IV’s, they too took a toll, and my Dr. there doesn’t want this to be an additional burden for me.
So for now it’s the meds/supplements, etc. (which I am off of as of yesterday with this systemic itching) until the source of the itching is revealed. That bloodwork I can have done here locally. Fortunately, the Doctor in the CT location is good about getting me through this slowly since I’m a such a weak point in this very long journey.
Thanks so much for this post! I have been complaining for the past 4 years about the blood pressure cuff pain, and no one seems to believe me, or care for that matter. One nurse said “that shouldn’t hurt” as if I was lying. I have not been diagnosed, mainly because my doc doesn’t believe in it. Every time I mentioned it he said we would talk about it at the next visit. I am no longer covered by insurance so I don’t go to the doctor. Glad to have found your site! God Bless!
Hi Sandra! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I hope you continue to stop in daily to read the site. There is a lot of information on here that will keep you busy for quite a while!
I thought it was normal for the blood pressure cuff to hurt so I never complained about it.
I too had come to accept that pain from the blood pressure cuff was normal. During my first carpal tunnel operation I was begging the doctor to knock me out because of the pain from the blood pressure cuff. During the second one they still wouldn’t knock me out but thankfully the pain wasn’t as bad with the cuff on the left arm so I must remember that. After the operations I have had I have also noticed bruising around my arm where the cuff has been.
Jan
Great tips, thanks!
I hate getting my blood pressure taken because of that cuff! Nurses think I’m a wimp when I complain. They have a new study out for people who live with fibromyalgia, which I just signed up for. It is open to anyone who lives in the US. All you have to do is participate in a few phone calls that are stretched out over the course of a year. It might help further research and treatments for the disease, which would benefit us all. I can look up the information for anyone if they are interested. Email me at catz3326@aol.com.
I had the worst experience with BP cuff two days ago in the ER. Apparently it couldn’t find my pulse because it kept squeezing until my entire left side of my body went numb and I was crying out, saying “It hurts, it’s too tight!” The nurse said, “oh it will let up in a minute” and I don’t think she realized how bad it was. It did it again on my right arm, too. I now have a nice 5″ black bruise along the underside of my left arm and my arm/hand kind of hurt. I also have bruises on my right arm too, although not as bad – as she stopped the cuff the 2nd time it got too tight. I’ve never had such a thing happen to me before – but hear that it happens a lot, especially to older people. it’s awful!
I found this site when googling for an answer about pain from blood pressure monitor cuffs. I’ve always had low blood pressure, but that was not the case when I stopped in at a health fair and had it taken last Saturday. Not only was it sky-high, but I felt such excruciating pain that it was all I could do to keep from screaming out. To make things worse, the women there insisted on taking it three times, not believing it was possible my blood pressure could be that high.
I bought a blood pressure monitor this week so I could monitor my own. When I used it, I experienced the same excruciating pain. My husband used the monitor on himself, trying several times moving the cuff from his upper arm to his lower. When it varied only a few points, he took mine again, but on the lower arm. It caused only a little pain, and registered much lower. So, my question is this: Wouldn’t experiencing severe pain in itself make a blood pressure reading really high?
I had already suspected I might have fibromyalgia. I guess this could be another sign.
In addition to the pain, the pain causes a symptom-high blood pressure. So the doctor treats you for high blood pressure even if you don’t have it, which results in fatigue, listlessness and so on. European treat for low blood pressure,the US pretty much seems to ignore it as a problem.
So I’m guessing a lot of fibro sufferers are being treated for high blood pressure when they don’t have it.
Pain causes your body to do a whole bunch of things, the adrenal constricts the blood vessels and blood pressure pops right up. Since 210 is the proposed cut off for diagnosing fibro with a cuff I kind of assumed most would be close to that (at about 180 you could put my arm in boiling oil and it wouldn’t feel much different) but a study found the medium was a mere 143 a number you are almost sure to experience.
In the end, it’s just another case where malpractice is actually the norm for fibro sufferers.