BP levels: AM vs PM

Morning is by far the best. Maybe around bedtime too but I’ve always been told avoid taking it in the afternoon.

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The question then becomes, what time is best to take it for you to know where your BP levels are for health purposes?

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According to my wife* one of the better ways is to take it 4 times a day (near the same time and activity level beforehand) doing this over a few days then producing an average. The do this every month and watch for significant variations unless of course, you were redlining much of the time which is obviously an issue. My average is around 114/50 with a resting pulse of 42. I will occasionally get the outlier in the 130/60 range and if I ask my wife about it she just shrugs me off and says you totally fine.

She also says hypertension is likely significantly over diagnosed since just the stress of having BP checked in a Doctor's office can raise it significantly among a host of other factors when the Dr is just seeing a single data point over months, this is especially true for stage 1 hypertension.

The bottom line is you need to get a running average over time and then watch for deviations in that average. If I am not mistaken you are primarily a static power athlete*2 and they tend to have higher BPs than most other athletes which I assume you know.


* wife is a board-certified heart mechanic aka CT surgeon

*2 some bristle at the word athlete but I use it for anyone actively and continuously involved in a sport whether in competition or not.

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She also says hypertension is likely significantly over diagnosed since just the stress of having BP checked in a Doctor's office can raise it significantly among a host of other factors when the Dr is just seeing a single data point over months, this is especially true for stage 1 hypertension.

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My parents' internist likes his older patients BP to be a little higher than what is currently considered ideal. He says striving to get it into optimum range raises the risk of dizziness/fainting.