some meds for blood pressure will cause congestive heart desease. shouldn't you know this from the start and shouldn't you have the right to decide for yourself?
2006-12-10 02:25:06 · 13 answers · asked by karl_c_17563 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
Absolutley, you are entitled to know all side effects caused by any medication. Otherwise you can't make an informed decision.
2006-12-10 02:27:59 · answer #1 · answered by Diet_smartie 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
ALL medications have side effects. Your doctor knows what these are, and would not prescribe them if he/she thought you were likely to be affected.
Blood pressure medications causing congestive heart disease is not a clear-cut thing. People with high blood pressure are prone to congestive heart failure (CHF), which is when the heart is not strong enough to pump blood throughout the body. There are many factors to consider in CHF, including preload, afterload, heart rate and contractility. High blood pressure medicines can affect those factors, and therefore lead to CHF.
You SHOULD be educated about what you are taking, what the potential side effects are, and what the consequences of not taking the medications are. Unfortunately, most doctors don't have the time to sit and explain all that, because insurance companies don't pay for it. They have to get lots of patients through the office just to pay the rent, staff, malpractice insurance, etc. (That sucks, and is one reason I'm not in primary care)
You DO have the right to decide for yourself with every aspect of your medical care. So, get yourself informed, ask intelligent questions of your doctor, and the two of you come up with a plan. Part of your plan should be maintaining a healthy weight and exercising.
Hypertension has no symptoms, but will cause heart failure, heart attacks, strokes and other bad things. You need to treat your blood pressure to avoid the very serious complications that can ensue.
Good luck to you.
2006-12-10 10:35:49 · answer #2 · answered by Pangolin 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If the risk of a drug's adverse reactions or effects outweighs its benefit, it would not even be on the market. In a perfect world sure every physician should tell every patient the risks of every medication (though it would sound like those drug commercials) - as should every pharmacist when the medication is filled. Indeed in the U.S. every drug comes with an information page that describes the adverse reactions. Additionally the internet is overflowing with information about medications - including adverse drug effects.
What I think patients in general fail to grasp is the risk of NOT taking the medication. Untreated high blood pressure puts you at risk for coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, stroke, erectile dysfunction, and macular degeneration. If you read that a drug could cause those problems, I suspect you would freak - yet people are willing to take the risk by not treating the condition. You pay your doctor to evaluate those risks, the risks of the medication and to recommend in his/her best professional judgement which medication would be best for you. If your judgement exceeds your physician's, then maybe you should seek another physician.
Adverse drug reactions such as the congestive failure you are referring to evolve over a long period of time - so its hardly a 'lethal side effect.' It is that doctor's responsibility to monitor you and evaluate if there is any evidence that your heart function is less than what it used to be...and if so, discontinue the medication. These types of effects are reversible if the medication is discontinued.
Good luck.
2006-12-10 19:33:09 · answer #3 · answered by c_schumacker 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
just because something is perscribed for you does not mean you have to take it...no one is forcing the meds into you..at some point people need to be responsible for themselves and find out the info on things...everyone here obviously has internet access and can look things up on their own....as for potential med problems,well aspirin can cause gastric bleeding,tylenol liver trouble and the list goes on and on...before filling a prescription a person should talk with the pharmacist and get info about the med...a person needs to be their own advocate and not wait and whine and compain all the time
2006-12-10 15:04:31 · answer #4 · answered by charmel5496 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i agree on researching the meds yourself. make sure you don't have any of the bad side affects.
I unfortuanately was implanted with a stent that is now proved to be causing blood clots and heart attacks some fatal. i had a near fatal heart attack 6 months after it was implanted. (blood clot behind the stent). i was given the stent less than a month after the FDA approved it. They are now recalling them. Recalling a stent. can you imagine? i was never asked if i wanted to try it. they had a week to ask me, and my docs still haven't said a word to me about it.
2006-12-10 15:13:57 · answer #5 · answered by naturegirl 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, and that is why you have to be your own advocate, and research the medication yourself. As you can see, TV commercials show that treatments are worse than the disease. I NEVER take a medication without researching it first. Your life depends upon it. It is your right to decide what you will be putting into your body, and don't let anyone tell you differently.
2006-12-10 10:35:48 · answer #6 · answered by St♥rmy Skye 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
You are confused with your side effects.
You are responsible for whatever you put in your body. That's why you get a paper from the pharmacy about each of your medicines. Did you ask the doctor about side effects? Most meds have POTENTIAL side effects but the value outweighs the side effects.
2006-12-10 10:42:05 · answer #7 · answered by honey 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
BP meds relieve congestive HF, they can cause kidney failure but you can live a lot longer w/out kidneys and have more chance of transplant. You can ask your Doc any question you like and or get second opinions or research it yourself but it would be better if you refrained from putting misinformation on the net.
2006-12-10 10:29:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
doctors are supposed to warn patients about any medication that may have side effects, and pharmacy dispensing the medications are also inform patients of the side effects and provide informations sheets on the medications.
2006-12-10 11:28:04 · answer #9 · answered by percsdisco 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just about ALL med can have potentially fatal side effect.
It's A GIVEN -
You got to know if you're taking ANYTHING... you're rolling the dice.
2006-12-10 10:28:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋