ABPM

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) is when your blood pressure is being measured as you move around, living your normal daily life. It is normally carried over 24 hours. It uses a small digital blood pressure machine that is attached to a belt around your body and which is connected to a cuff around your upper arm. It small enough that you can go about your normal daily life and even sleep with it on. This is the technical definition. However, undergoing this procedure is surely no fun and very painful for someone who suffers from Fibromyalgia (FM or FMS) which is characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia (a heightened and painful response to pressure).

During the ABMP exam, the monitor goes on every 20 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night. Therefore, what happens is, your arm is squeezed so tightly that it literally feels like it is going to pop every time the monitor goes on. This is what a normal person feels.

Now a person who suffers from Fibromyalgia feels the same thing but ten times stronger. Actually the eyes well every 20 minutes as the cuff around your left arm is inflated. These 20 minutes seem like a life time. It squeezes and squeezes and then it stops and deflates, relieving you from the treacherous 20 minutes. Not to mention when there is an inaccurate reading and the machine goes on again inflating the cuff just few minutes before the last attempt causing tears to roll down your cheeks.

While I was undergoing this exam, the machine made several inaccurate attempts when I was driving. Now, mind you, I drive a stick shift car, so every time the machine went on I was supposed to lower my left arm and let it hang. Stuck in traffic doing that wasn’t a problem, however, the problem was maneuvering in the garage and just keeping the car in a straight line while driving on the highway. There came a moment that I stopped the car and turned on my emergency lights because the machine had made two inaccurate attempts to measure my blood pressure and going through a third trial was stifling painful. This was when I broke down in tears. It is supposed to be an exam where you can go on with your daily routine, yeah right.

Sleeping with this THING on was horrifying. Every 30 minutes I would be woken up. Sometimes it is easy to fall back asleep when I am awakened suddenly in the middle of the night. But on this specific night, with each beep of the machine, I jumped in bed. There were moments that falling asleep again never happened because by the time you were almost asleep, it would go on again.

The ironic part of all of this is that you need to keep a log of the activities that you do during the day like physical activities or anything stressful that may happen. Then on the report there is the question: How well did you sleep? Very well. Well. Not bad. Not well. Of course I answered, not well. However, the thought that came to my mind is: Does anybody ever answer, very well? I doubt it.

The following morning is perhaps one of the most joyful; time to have this THING removed. When it is removed this rotten odor reaches the nostrils. It is very unpleasant, so much so, that the doctor uses alcohol to clean the arm and try to remove the stench. And as I looked at my arm, I felt sorry for it because it was red and for sure some parts would turn black and blue over the next couple of days.

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(Written May 3, 2013)

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