It is important to take your blood pressure medicines every day. Take your medicines even when your blood pressure comes down even when you do not feel bad. Do not stop taking your medicine until your doctor says that it is OK. People taking diuretics may also experience a decreased libido, though this is less common. Some medications can interact with diuretics, so a person should speak to a doctor about all of the drugs they are taking.
There are many varieties of high blood pressure medications (Antihypertensives) available, each with pros and cons. Your doctor might prescribe more than over type to treat your condition. If you have high blood pressure (hypertension) or are at risk of developing it, lifestyle changes can help maintain your numbers under control. But you might need medication too. Taking your medications as prescribed format, monitoring your blood pressure and making lifestyle changes can help you improve and maintain a healthy blood pressure.
Lifestyle changes:-If you are beginning to develop high blood pressure (Prehypertension) or if you already have it, lifestyle changes can help you reduce or eliminate your need for medication. Try these lifestyle changes to help lower and control your blood pressure:- eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetable and reduce the amount of sodium in your diet, maintain a healthy weight, exercise get 40 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week, it is ok to break up your activity into three 15 minute sessions a day, limit the amount of alcohol drink; for healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than 65, and up to two drinks a day for men 65 and younger, do not smoke, manage stress.
Mediation options:-If making lifestyle changes is not enough to control your blood pressure, your doctor will likely prescribe blood pressure medication. You may be given one or more of these medications:- diuretics, also called water pills: a diuretic removes excess water and sodium from your body, so there is less fluid flowing through your veins and arteries. This reduces pressure on the walls of your blood vessels.
There are three types of Diuretics, Thiazide, loop and potassium-sparing; examples of diuretics include Chlorothiazide (Diuril), Bumetanide (Bumex) and Amiloride (Midamor). If diuretics are not enough to lower your blood pressure, your doctor might recommend adding other blood pressure medications to your treatment.
Angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors: these help relax blood vessels by preventing the formation of Angiotensin, a chemical in your body that narrows blood vessels. There are several ACE inhibitors available. Examples include Enalapril (Vasotec, Epaned), Lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril, Qbrelis) and Ramipril (Altace), Angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARBs): these drugs block the action of Angiotensin, a chemical in your body that narrows your arteries and veins. ARBs include Valsartan (Diovan), Losartan (Cozaar) and others, Calcium Achannel blockers: these medications prevent calcium from entering the cells of your heart and arteries, allowing your arteries to relax and open. Beta blockers: these medicines work by preventing the effects of the hormone epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. They cause your heart to beat slower and with less force.
Rennin inhibitors: rennin is a substance produced by your kidneys that triggers a series of steps that increases blood pressure. Aliskiren (Tekturna) slows the reduction of rennin, which reduces its ability to begin this process.
Other medications sometimes use to treat high blood pressure:-If you are unable to reach your blood pressure goal with one or more of the above medications, other drugs that lower blood pressure include:
Alpha blockers: alpha blockers stop the hormone Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline) from tightening/hard the muscles in the walls of smaller arteries and veins, which causes the vessels to remain open and relaxed.
Alpha-beta blockers: alpha beta blockers work similarly to beta blockers medicine. They might be recommended if you have high blood pressure (hypertension) and are at risk of heart failure; alpha beta blockers include Carvedilol (Coreg) and Labetalol etc.
Central-acting agents: these medications stop your brain from sending signals to your nervous system to speed up your heart beat rate and narrow your blood vessels. As a result, your heart does not pump as hard and your blood flows more easily through your narrow veins and arteries. Examples of central-acting agents involve - Clonidine (Catapres, Kapvay), Gunfacine (Intuniv) and methyldopa etc.
Vasodilators: these medications prevent the muscles in your veins and arteries from tightening and narrowing. As a result, blood flows more easily and your heart does not have to pump as hard. Examples Hydralazine and Minoxidil etc.
How well a drug works for you can depend on your age, sex, race, blood pressure level and overall health conditions. Combining two medicines commonly works better than a single drug to get your blood pressure under control. Sometimes additional medication is needed to maintain your blood pressure goal.
High blood pressure often goes hand in hand with other health issues. High blood pressure increases your risk of having one of these conditions: chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes heart failure, heart attack or stroke, swelling or thickening of the left chamber of the heart (left ventricular hypertrophy) etc.
However, a targeted treatment approach might reduce your risk of these complications. For example, if you have felt chest pain (angina) related to coronary artery disease, your doctor may prescribe a beta blocker to lower blood pressure, prevent chest pain, decrease your heart rate and minimize your risk of death. If you have diabetes and high blood pressure, taking a diuretic plus and ACE inhibitor can decrease your risk of a heart attack and stroke. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension) and kidney disease, you may need an ACE inhibitor or an Angiotensin II receptor blocker.
Keep trying to reach your blood pressure goal:-In most cases, a combination of lifestyle changes and medication can help you successfully control your blood pressure. However, it is not unusual to try several medications or doses before finding what works best for you.
An important way for you and your physician to know if your treatment is working is to monitor your blood pressure at home. Home blood pressure monitors are widely available and inexpensive, and you do not need a prescription to buy one. Remember that home blood pressure monitoring is not a substitute for visits to your doctor.
In this stressful lifestyle heart and blood pressure disease are increasing in very fast manners all over the world. We can say out of 10 people 5 people have the problem of heart or hypertension in the world. That is why the demand for heart and blood pressure medicines are increasing every year globally.
There are a number of types and classes of drugs available for the management and treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension). Any medication can cause side effects, and high blood pressure (HBP) medications are no exception. However, many people do not have side effects from taking hypertension drugs, and often the side effects are mild. Blood pressure is the amount of force that your blood puts on your artery walls as it moves through your body. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal. Blood pressure medicines work in different ways to lower blood pressure.
Some remove extra fluid and salt from the body. Others slow down the heartbeat or relax and widen blood vessels. Often, two or more medicines work better than one. Treating high blood pressure will help prevent problems such as heart disease, stroke, loss of eyesight, chronic kidney disease, and other blood vessel diseases. You may need to take medicines to lower your blood pressure if lifestyle changes are not enough to bring your blood pressure to the target level.
