Very familiar. I was in nursing for years and blood pressure can vary all over the place due to stress, exertion and improper measuring.

Back then we used sphygmomanometers -- manually operated cuff and analog readout -- and stethoscopes, no automated devices. There was an art to determining BP based on the grey zone where it became audible and inaudible -- or palpable, in some cases. And for dialysis patients we often couldn't check BP on their arms if one had a shunt, fistula or other access for dialysis needles, and the other had an IV. So we'd use ankles or knees. BP could vary wildly depending on position above or below the heart, and other factors. So we'd recheck every few minutes, or at 30-60 minute intervals at most for the stable patients.

Nowadays it's one check with the automated machine, with the upper arm rarely elevated to heart level. Between white coat fever, the walk down the hallway (a huge stress for folks like my mom, who's in very poor health), and checking BP with her arm below heart level, it's no wonder they often think her BP is too high. When I check it at home her BP is fine.

For patients with health problems, yup, a walk from the lobby to the exam room is enough to elevate BP and HR for several minutes. A conscientious clinic will check sitting and standing BP. There aren't many really conscientious clinics.

My BP and pulse vary wildly and always have. Depends on stress and pain. On good days it runs normal, around 120/70 and 70 bpm. My pulse rarely runs lower, although last night it was 57 bpm, unusual for me but I've had severe neck pain this week. An old C2 vertebrae injury occasionally pinches a nerve that provokes wild fluctuations, so it's not unusual for my BP to be 180/100 and heart rate 100 for a few minutes after pinching a nerve.

After a bike ride my BP is usually normal, around 120/70, but my heart rate usually stays around 90 bpm for hours afterward. That's always been the case, even when I was younger. I was an amateur boxer in my teens and twenties and nearly had one bout canceled when my BP was 140/90 and pulse 100. I told the medic "Have you seen the guy I'm scheduled to fight? He's six inches taller and 20 lbs heavier! They didn't have anyone in my weight class." I did outpoint him, but it was a nerve wracking fight, trying to get inside that octopus reach.