Is it excessive for someone to be one 5 different blood pressure medications and still be high?
10/22/08 4:28pm
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for your question. It is quite common for a patient to need two or even three medications to control their blood pressure, but five is not common. However, there are certainly people who have very resistant hypertension and need quite a few medications to reach goal. There are also many lifestyle modifications that one can make to help control blood pressure. Limiting your salt intake can help lower blood pressure. Salt causes you to retain water, which raises the overall volume of fluids in your body, thus raising blood pressure. Diet and exercise can certainly help to lower blood pressure as well, in addition to making you healthier overall. Smoking can cause you to have high blood pressure, so quitting if you're a smoker can be beneficial. This article from the New York Times gives some more specific ideas about diet.
Best of luck!
Casey
10/16/08 1:03pm
I'd have to say yes. If I was taking 5 different medications for my bp & it was still in the high range I'd be in my doctor's office wanting to see what else we should be doing. I'm just taking 1 ( it's a combo, so I guess technically I'm taking 2 meds but it's 1 pill). and am close to the high normal/ pre hypertention readings most times. But 5 sounds a bit much.
10/20/08 12:39am
Sharon-
Hello! I think the biggest thing is...are the pills working? if you are having issues with the pills and your high blood pressure still isn't getting better w/ change of diet and exercise, you should talk to your physician. Click here and it will take you to the American Heart Associations website and it explains more in detail.
Cherise
Community Moderator
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By Sharon— Last Modified: 10/18/10, First Published: 10/16/08
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