Blood Pressure Question?

Question

I'm 24 african american female with extremely high blood pressure 180/120. I hate taking drugs and I have abnormal side effects. I was on atenelol for 3 weeks, but I had nightmares, insomnia, and more anxiety. so My doctor weened me off of atenelol last week, and now i'm taking 1 hcz daily (water pill). But I feel as if its not working on my bottom number! Everytime I eat and then wake up my blood pressure is now 120/95. I'm often dizzy and lightheaded and feel wierd when I dont eat some sort of potassium. Could my problem be that I am losing too much potassium on these water pills? Help me! It only been 3 days on this water pill. When I wake up in the morning, my blood pressure is completely normal! 120/80. Only when I take the water pill, the bottom number goes so high during the day! Help!

THANKS FOR ALL THE RESPONSES.
I WEIGH 133 LBS. MY DIET IS EXCELLENT RIGHT NOW. NO SALT, FAST FOOD, ALCOHOL, AND I EAT PLENTY OF VEGGIES AND FRUIT, LEAN MEAN...... I CURRENTLTY TAKE 25 MG. HCZ AND 1 DIOVAN 80 MG DAILY. DOCTOR SAID MY POTASSIUM LEVELS WERE NORMAL BEFORE taking the water pill, and no need to worry about losing potassium? How could this be? I feel so run down during the day............

Answer 1

Yes its very possible that you are losing too much potassium.You do not mention the dosage? As you have only been taking them for three day's I would assume its quite a high dose. If this is the case you need to see your Doctor. Lose of too much potassium can give you unpleasant side effects.Symptoms of low potassium levels are tiredness, muscle weakness and heart muscle irritability. .Atenelol are well know for giving horrendous side effects. I actually refused to take them. Has your Doctor mentioned Ace Inhibitors at all? Less side effects than Beta Blockers.

Answer 2

The nightmare you are talking about are real. They do go away. I'm on atenenol and so was my grandpa who lived to 100. He told me "the medicine gives me vivid dreams" . His nightmare was that he couldn't get a job, lol He would also have good dreams he said about horses. And he would always say it was the medicine.

I take a both Atenenol and a diuretic. I found that if you take a combo of both, the side effects of one, cancel out the other. That way I can take a lower dose of each medicine. The Atenenol is works better for me than the diuretic. A diuretic by itself not enough for high blood pressure. You probably need to take a comination on one, two, or even three medicines.

It takes months for people to find the right fit. There are a lot of medication out there and different class types. If you don't like the side effects, try another one, but stick with it for more than just a few days. You should take something. Best of luck.

Answer 3

3 years ago, I was diagnosed - hypertension with a reading of 160/100. I used to feel dizzy a lot, my legs had awful cramps, and levels were very low in my potassium, causing my fingers and toes to always cramp together. One day I started to feel really faint while I was driving with my daughter in the back seat and I passed out, hitting 3 cars and ending up in a ditch. That moment,I knew I had to do something because my meds weren't working. I heard about this diet from a friend and thought I'd give it a shot. The results have been remarkable. In just 21 days, I honestly can't remember feeling this good, my blood pressure went from 175/110 to 125/70.

Answer 4

This is very serious. You need to be reporting this to your doctor. As a nurse i see more and more young Black people coming into the hospital with b/p problems that they didn't take care of and ended up in kidney failure and on dialysis.
As you are more active thru the day that is why your b/p is more elevated. Talk to your doctor, and even get a second opinion regarding your medication.
There are also potassium-sparing diuretics out there.

Answer 5

The side effects of diuretics[hcz] is loss of potassium,loss of sodium,postural hypotension[dizziness on changing body position].You ought to inform your doc that your are suffering from these effects and he could change to a different medication.Has your doc done any investigation to find out why a 24 year old has hypertension?95% of hypertension is of unknown cause while 5% has a reason and may be treated.The common ones are renal disease,endocrine disorders,ocp,etc.You ought to go back your doc or get a second opinion.Also try www.mayoclinic.com,just to get an idea of what you are going through but remember a doctor is he best person to advice you.And lastly,there are lots of different medication for hypertension and if one doesn't work for you,your doc could switch to a different type.Good luck.

Answer 6

With HTCZ, you lose potassium, so eat a banana or two and drink orange juice to bring up your potassium. There are other BP meds that you and your doctor may want to try. It's risky having a high BP. If you are overweight, try to lose it. Not many people realize how much salt, processed foods, fast foods, and msg affect their BP also.

Answer 7

With your blood pressure you need to be on med. And, walk a few miles a day as well. The med take time ot adjust to. Take them in the AM. I had trouble with the weirdo dreams as well so I take them in the morning instead. AS for your other concerns, you need to tell all of this to your doctor...keep a journal as well

Answer 8

Usually when u are taking hypertension drugs, you will feel dizzy, headache, nausea etc. This are the side effect. I used to take Plendil and I can't barely lift up my head. But I'm on Norvasc. Try consulting your doctor, he/she might reduce the dosage or change it to another suitable hypertension drugs.

Answer 9

He might try a calcium channel blocker like Diltiazem. I do not like to maintain patient on a diuretic because of K loss.

Answer 10

Iam sorry I just have to ask why are you asking for medical help on a chat/message board in my humble opinion you should be asking this question to your doctor. This is serious.