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If you have high blood pressure, you might need to take medications to help lower it.Making healthy changes to your lifestyle could be enough to lower your blood pressure to a healthy level, but some people will also need medicines. If you start taking high blood pressure medicines, it’s likely you will need to keep taking them for a long time. If your blood pressure stays under control for several years, you might be able to take a lower dose or stop taking them altogether. Making healthy changes to your lifestyle can help.
Are blood pressure medications right for you?When you’re first diagnosed with high blood pressure you might not need to take medications. Your doctor or nurse might suggest you make healthy changes to your lifestyle first, which could be enough to lower your blood pressure to a healthy level, but if that’s not enough on its own, they may suggest you take medications as well. The role of blood pressure medicines is to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. So, whether you would benefit from them depends not only on your blood pressure, but on your overall health and risk of disease. Your doctor will consider a number of things, including:
How high does your blood pressure need to be before starting medications?
Your doctor will want to bring your blood pressure down to a target level, for example around 140/90mmHg. Making a
decision Types of blood pressure medicinesThere are four main types of medicine to lower blood pressure.
Sometimes these medications won’t be suitable, for example if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, if you have certain other health problems, or you’re taking other medications which could react with them. Alternatively, you might need to take another type of medication as well to lower your blood pressure enough. The other medications available include:
Learn about each of the medicines for high blood pressureACE Inhibitors * Renin inhibitors
– aliskiren * Alpha-blockers * Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) *
Beta-blockers Finding the right blood pressure medications for youHow blood pressure medicines work Your body is constantly working to keep your blood pressure under control. There are receptors in your blood vessel walls which detect when your blood pressure is too high or low. In response, your nerves, hormones and kidneys all play a role in bringing it back to a safe level. Over time, your blood pressure can creep up for a number of reasons, including an unhealthy lifestyle, and medications can help to bring it back down. They do this by acting on the ways your body controls blood pressure. Some affect the nerves or hormones which send signals to your blood vessel walls, telling them to relax or contract, while some affect the kidneys, causing them to remove excess salt and water from the blood. Taking more than one medicine Taking a combination of different medicines can work better than taking one, because they work in different ways. Taking a low dose of two medications rather than a high dose of one, can also help to avoid side effects, as side effects can sometimes be caused by the dose. Sometimes a medication will work well to begin with, but with time your blood pressure might creep up again. You may then need to take another medicine alongside it which works in a different way.
Which medications will be suitable for you depends on a number of things, including your:
There are steps your doctor or nurse can work through to find the right medications – have a look at the table below. If one step doesn’t work, they will review your treatments to see if the right doses are being used, then move onto the next step. You will probably start with a low dose of a medication, and your doctor will gradually raise it, so they can keep an eye on how your blood pressure is responding while keeping side effects to a minimum. Finding the right combination of medicines Dowload our Combined blood pressure medicines information sheet [PDF 10,622KB].Simplifying your medicines If you need to take more than one medicine and it’s difficult to manage, speak to your doctor about simplifying the dose. It’s sometimes possible to have two medicines in a single tablet, sometimes called a combination tablet. These can mean you can take fewer tablets. They are available for some combinations of blood pressure medicines but not all, your doctor, nurse or pharmacist will be able to advise you on whether there’s one that’s suitable for you. You can also use compartment boxes to get your medicines ready for the week. Getting the most from your medicines. Side effects of blood pressure medicationsOccasionally, side effects only happen when you first start taking a new medication or a higher dose. As your body gets used to the medicines the side effects improve or go away. If
you have side effects which don’t go away Instead, talk to your doctor because they will be able to try a lower dose of your medication, a different medication, or a different combination of medications. Often this will lower your blood pressure with no problems at all. If you have tried different options and you’re still experiencing side effects, your GP can refer you to a blood pressure specialist. They can often help you get the right balance between controlling your blood pressure and keeping the side effects to a minimum, and might be able to try different treatments. What are the possible
side effects? A common side effect is feeling faint or dizzy when you go from sitting or lying down to standing up, especially at night. This is called postural hypotension, and can happen with any blood pressure medication. If you notice anything unusual when you start taking a new medication or a higher dose, speak to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. Make sure your doctor or nurse knows about all the medicines you are taking, including herbal medicines and over-the-counter treatments like cold remedies. Reporting new side-effects Download our Side-effects of blood pressure medicines information sheet [PDF 11,198KB]. Getting the most from your blood pressure medicinesThe following tips should help you to get the most from your medicines.
Getting your medicines and doses right takes time and patience for both you and your doctor.
What blood pressure medication is the safest?the ACE inhibitor lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) tops the list, followed by amlodipine besylate (Norvasc), a calcium channel blocker, and.
What is the first drug of choice for hypertension?Choice of initial therapy in most patients — The three primary options for antihypertensive drug therapy in most patients include an ACE inhibitor (or ARB), a calcium channel blocker, or a thiazide diuretic (preferably a thiazide-like diuretic) [3].
What is the safest blood pressure medicine for the elderly?Low-dose thiazide diuretics remain first-line therapy for older patients. Beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, and calcium channel blockers are second-line medications that should be selected based on comorbidities and risk factors.
What blood pressure medications should be avoided?Topic Overview. Decongestants, such as those that contain pseudoephedrine.. Pain medicines (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and naproxen.. Cold and influenza medicines. These often contain decongestants and NSAIDs.. Some antacids and other stomach medicines. ... . Some natural health products.. |