Do Hypertension Drugs Create More Problem Than They Solve?

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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.

Hundreds of people have shared this very situation with me as they are either candidates for high blood pressure medicine or currently take it. They turn to my High Blood Pressure Program to avoid this.

They even go so far as to share the exact names of the drugs they have been prescribed. I am pretty familiar with most of these, but the research still seems to open my eyes over and over.

140 over 90 is typically considered high blood pressure.

The problem is that it can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and weakened arteries. Other organs can also be affected such as the eyes, kidneys and brain.

Other problems associated with hypertension are erectile dysfunction and insomnia. The symptoms of high blood pressure though can be too subtle to notice, if the exist as all.

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.

You do want to be aware of possible side effects if you are prescribed medication. Four types I’ll review today are ACE Inhibitors, Beta Blockers, Calcium Channel Blockers and Diuretics.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors help blood vessels relax by blocking the production of angiotensin II. Some commonly prescribed ACE inhibitors include: benazepril (Lotensin), captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) ,quinapril (Accupril, Mavik) and ramipril (Altace).

Increased potassium levels, lingering cough, headache, dizziness, nausea, joint pain, weakness, chest pain, fever and in rare cases, kidney disease are possible side effects of ACE Inhibitors.

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).

Side effects include: fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, impotence, depression, memory loss and even hallucenations.

Calcium Channel Blockers: These drugs block calcium from entering heart and blood vessel muscle cells. This preventsthe blood vessels from constricting and lowers blood pressure. Commony prescribed beta blockers include: amlodipine (Norvasc), diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor XR) felodipine (Plendil), nicardipine (Cardene), 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!

And finally diuretics. The body flushes fluid and sodium which helps to lower blood pressure. Some of the common ones are hydrochlorothiazide, furoseminde and chlorthalidone.

Side effects include: electrolyte imbalances, impotence, breast enlargement in men (gynecomastia), increased blood sugar and blurred eye sight.

If reducing or eliminating high blood pressure medication is your goal, I recommend taking this slowly. Do not just discontinue your medication.

Don’t worry that your doctor will be harder to convince. Doing it gradually and continuing to monitor your blood pressure with your doctor will make the transition easier to swallow.

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.

Are you considering taking hypertension remedies or are you already taking drugs? Before you do anything, learn about natural exercises to control blood pressure naturally with noside effects.

categories: health,high blood pressure,hypertension

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