High Blood Pressure Medications And The Side Effects

Written by Chrisitan Goodman

Tuesday, 10 November 2009 08:13

by ChrisitanGoodman

Stroke! Heart Attack! Huh? This is what I caught while only kind of paying attention to an commercial the other night. I hit rewind to see what they were talking about. You guessed it. Potential side effects of hypertension drugs.

I regularly receive emails from people who are also desperate to avoid these side effects and others due to the medication.

I am very familiar with the host of problems various drugs can bring. However, I never tire of researching it just the same. I am amazed all over again when reviewing the side effects of the various drugs people have mentioned.

140 over 90 is typically considered high blood pressure.

This is a problem as it can create weakened arteries, heart disease and stroke as well as create problems for other organs.

High blood pressure can also lead to insomnia, erectile dysfunction and sight loss. Since the symptoms can be very subtle or even non existent, it has earned the name "silent killer."

Some people are painfully aware of symptoms though including blurry eye sight, headaches, sweating and clamminess and nausea. Measuring your blood pressure is only true way to validate high blood pressure.

One elevated reading does not necessarily indicate chronic high blood pressure. Regular checks are necessary.

If you are prescribed high blood pressure medication, you should be aware of possible effects. Four key types of hypertension drugs are: Diuretics, Calcium Channel Blockers, Beta Blockers and ACE Inhibitors.

The ACE Innhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme) relax blood vessels by blocking angiotensin II production. This is a hormone responsible for narrowed blood vessels. Some commonly prescribed are: benazepril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, quinapril and ramipril.

Side affects associated with ACE inhibitors are lingering cough, headaches, chest pains and even kidney disease.

Now let's look at Beta Blockers. These drugs reduce nerve signals to the heart and blood vessels which causes the heart to beat slower reducing blood pressure. Commonly prescribed beta blockers include: acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol (Tenormin), carvedilol (Coreg), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), nadolol (Corgard), penbutolol (Levatol), propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren).

Dizziness, impotence, memory loss and fatigue can occur with beta blockers.

Calcium Channel Blockers block calcium from entering heart and blood vessel muscle cells which prevents the blood vessels from constricting and lowers blood pressure. Some of the beta blockers are amlodipine (Norvasc), diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor XR) felodipine (Plendil), nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia), and verapamil (Calan, Covera, Isoptin, Verelan).

And the side effects of these can include heartburn, difficulty swallowing, sexual dysfunction and even stroke and heart attack. These are problems the drugs are actually supposed to prevent!

Diuretics or water pills flush the body of fluid and sodium making it so that the blood vessels do not hold as much fluid, and in turn lowering blood pressure. Common diuretics include: chlorthalidone (Thalitone), furosemide (Lasix), hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix) and indapamide (Lozol).

Male breast enlargement, impotence, menstrual cycle irregularities and fever and blurry vision can become present along with these drugs.

It's no surprise that people either want to avoid high blood pressure medication or get off the drugs altogether. I do however urge you to exercise caution by reducing your medication slowly and with your doctor's knowledge.

Your doctor will likely be hesitant, but the proof of the High Blood Pressure Program is in the numbers.

Continue with your medication while introducing the program. When you blood pressure starts to lower, discuss reducing your medication with your doctor. Continue to do this until you no longer need the drugs - and their side effects.

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Are you considering going onhypertension remedies or are you already on medications? Before you do anything, learn about natural exercises to control blood pressure naturally without side effects.

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