There is no disguising the fact and it is certainly one that should not be denied but there are considerable side effects of both having High Blood Pressure (and these can be lethal) and also considerable side effects of High Blood Pressure Medicine as well.
A lot of people confuse the two with each other and to be brutally blunt this does no one any good at all.
The purpose of this article is to concentrate by and large on the side effects of the medication taken for High Blood Pressure (HBP) and the treatment programmes embarked upon. The majority of this revolves around the side effects of the various drugs that are prescribed for the HBP.
If we break these down into the categories of the medication prescribed.
Thiazide Diuretics
By and large the main side effects of this class of medication are thirst, Muscle cramps, and potential digestive upsets such as diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting or abdominal pain. The levels of salts in the blood stream can be disturbed and the main side effects of diuretics i.e. the one thing they were designed to do is that they make you go to the toilet more often.
Occasionally Doctors might pick up via routine blood tests that your White Cell count might be lower than normal, your Blood uric acid levels might be raised (one of the potential causes of gout) and you might develop a rash.
Lastly two things. The first is that due to the ability to lower Blood Pressure fairly rapidly some patients have reported that fact they can sometimes get dizzy when they stand up. Secondly these drugs can affect a mans ability to have or sustain an erection. However if this is picked up on by your Doctor this condition is not only treatable but reversible as well.
Beta Blockers
With some Beta Blockers such as the drug Atenolol the side effects are as follows. You can develop excessive headaches, your pulse becomes slower, you develop a dry mouth and you become tired more easily with accompanying mood changes. The digestive problems and the dizziness reported above is also a potential problem with these Beta Blockers plus further side effects are excessive spasms of the blood vessels in the fingers and toes in cold weather and also an increase in the incidence of attacks of cramp in the calf muscles.
Calcium Channel Blockers
With these drugs and examples being amlodipine, the side effects are as follows. An increase in the number of Headaches. A rash and increased blood flow to the skin resulting in feelings of flushing. An increased amount of fatigue and nausea; dizziness and some incidences of fluid retention i.e. puffy ankles. Finally an overall loss of power and strength, an enlargement of the gums and a reversible inability for a man to have an erection.
Now it has to be stressed that all of the above side effects are not mandatory and that is to say that not everyone suffers from them it is purely a case of the fact that HBP Patients have been known to report these side effects and they have been medically checked out.
Elsewhere we plan to analyse the side effects of taking ACE Inhibitors and Alpha Blockers.
Stephen Morgan
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-effects-of-high-blood-pressure-and-the-side-effects-of-high-blood-pressure-medicine-77321.html
8 comments ↓
High Blood Pressure Medicine Side Effects?
My husband was put on medication in October for his blood pressure. Since then (and through 2 different meds) he sleeps all the time, has anxiety attacks, lightheadedness and is generally stoned acting all the time.
Has anyone else gone through this and is there light at the end of the tunnel? I need him back helping with our lives and business.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
I suspect he is not telling his doctor all that the doctor needs to know to balance his medications properly, men are notorious for this, to their own detriment. I recommend you go with him to the next appointment and describe it all to the doctor. Your hubby could just be very sensitive and need reduced doses.
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RN
Consult the Doctor who prescribed the med, he is probaly having dangerous reaction to the medication..don’t let it go too long. There is no reason a blood pressure med should change ones life that way and it could be doing damage.
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No BP medicine has that effect. He needs evaluation for other problems such as an anxiety disorder.
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toprol can make one sleepy and lisinopril can make one dizzy when first standing but anxiety and acting stoned are not something that is normally associated with BP meds–but not to say that your husband is an unusual case–need to talk with Doctor and you need to go with husband.
One needs to drink a lot of water with some BP meds and if he isn’t maybe he is dehydrated too. So drink a lot of water and start walking or similiar exercise(swimming, biking, etc)(both of you)and getting some exercise–moderately at first. Maybe the stress of worry about high blood pressure or business is cause of anxiety-finding the source of anxiety is first step in controlling it so talk it out and seek counseling help.
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Making Multiple Lifestyle Changes is Beneficial, Achievable in Lowering High Blood Pressure (press release)
by NewsTarget
Men and women with elevated blood pressure who make healthy lifestyle changes and sustain them for up to a year and a half can substantially reduce their rates of high blood pressure and potentially decrease their heart disease risk. With behavioral counseling, increases in physical activity, and adoption of a healthy eating plan called DASH, rates of high blood pressure dropped from 37 to 22 percent among participants in a study conducted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and the chief risk factor for stroke. About 65 million American adults, one in three, have high blood pressure. An additional 59 million adults have prehypertension, a level that is above normal, and increases risk of heart disease and stroke. Results of the study, called PREMIER, appear in the April 4, 2006 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
“This study underscores the value of lifestyle changes — namely improving diet and increasing physical activity — in reducing high blood pressure, an important public health problem,” said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. “For the millions of Americans with prehypertension and hypertension, this shows that individuals can make healthy lifestyle changes to keep blood pressure under control without the use of medications.”
A total of 810 men and women ages 25 and older with either prehypertension (120-139mmHg/80-89mmHg) or stage 1 hypertension (140-159mmHg/90-95mmHg) but who were not taking medications to control blood pressure were randomly assigned to three groups. Participants in two of the groups attended 18 counseling sessions during the first six months — 14 group meetings and 4 individual sessions. During the last 12 months they attended 12 group meetings and 3 individual sessions. They were prescribed goals for weight loss, physical activity, and given sodium and alcohol intake limits. One of these groups also received guidance on implementing the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet (DASH), an eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and low in saturated, total fat and dietary cholesterol. DASH is used as an example of a healthy eating plan by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and has been shown to lower blood pressure in previous NHLBI studies.
A third group served as a control, receiving only two 30-minute sessions of advice to follow standard recommendations for blood pressure control; one at study enrollment and one 6 months later. A third session was offered at the end of the 18-month trial after measurements were completed.
The numbers of participants with high blood pressure declined in all three groups, but the reduction was greater in the intervention groups and most striking in the intervention group that included the DASH eating plan. While approximately 37 percent of participants in all three groups had high blood pressure at the study’s start, this was reduced to 22 percent in the group following DASH and 24 percent in the intervention group without DASH. By comparison, the rate of hypertension fell only to 32 percent in the control group.
“Participants in the two intervention groups made greater changes than those in the control group and saw the greatest benefit in blood pressure status,” said Eva Obarzanek, Ph.D., research nutritionist and study co-author. “This shows that people at risk for heart disease can successfully and simultaneously make multiple changes in lifestyle, for a substantial benefit.”
Goals for the intervention groups included a 15 lb weight loss (95 percent of participants were overweight or obese), 3 hours per week of moderate physical activity, daily sodium intakes of no more than 2300 milligrams (1 tsp salt), and limits of one alcoholic drink per day for women, and two per day for men. Those also following the DASH diet were asked to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables to 9-12 servings per day, consume 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy products, and keep total fat to no more than 25 percent of total daily calories. To keep track, participants kept food diaries, monitored calories and sodium intakes, and recorded minutes of physical activity.
More than one-third of participants had high blood pressure at the beginning of the study. Of these, 62 percent in the intervention group with DASH, and 60 percent in the intervention group without DASH successfully had their blood pressure under control after 18 months (that is, their blood pressure levels were no longer considered high). Comparatively, only 37 percent of the control group with hypertension at the study’s start had their blood pressure under control at the end of the study.
“These rates of hypertension control produced by the two interventions are even better than the 50 percent control rates typically found when single drug therapy is used to control high blood pressure,” said William M. Vollmer, Ph.D., a study investigator from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
Compared with the control group, one or both intervention groups had:
- Greater weight loss: 5.9 lb in the DASH group and 4.8 lb in the group without DASH.
- Greater improvement in fitness: 2 beats per minute lower heart rate for the DASH group and 1 beat per minute lower heart rate for those without DASH. (The greater the reduction in heart rate, the greater the improvement in fitness.)
- Greater sodium reduction: 354 milligrams for those on the DASH eating plan and 384 milligrams without DASH (about 1/6 tsp less salt).
- Greater reductions in calorie intake: the intervention groups reduced their daily intake by 95 (DASH) and 130 calories (without DASH).
In addition, 25 percent of intervention group participants met the weight loss goal. The group following DASH also achieved increased fruit, vegetable, dairy, fiber and mineral intakes and decreased fat intake.
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Maybe he is suffering from stress or depression. Stress can cause high blood pressure and anxiety, possibly the lightheadness is a side affect from the medication. acting stoned maybe he depressed. Has he told his doctor how he feels and what does the doctor sayl. Possibly he needs to be put on different blood pressure medicaton.
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I recommend you go with him to the next appointment with Consult the Doctor. Your hubby could just be very sensitive and need reduced doses.
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