Increase the dosage of hypertension medication?

Question

dear all,

my mother have consumed hypertension medication for ten years, but recently her blood pressure is still quite high.. there are times it reached to 170/100.

Currently she consumes "Tensifax", which contained Amlodipine 5mg. And yesterday, her dr suggest her to increase the dosage to 10mg.

What do you think of this increase? Is there any side effect? By then, it's impossible to decrease it again?

Fyi, she is diagnosed with arythmia before although last checking by cardiologist, it seems normal.

Thanks a lot for all your answers.

Answer 1

She needs to increase the med as the doc wants her too. Her blood pressure is dangerously high and she is risking heart and stroke problems if she doesn't get it back under control. The side effects would be the same as her taking 5mg only now she will take 10mg. If her blood pressure every stabilizes yes the doc can try her at 5mg again in the future but for now she needs to get that BP under control ASAP.

Answer 2

It's a little unusual for a woman to be given just a calcium channel blocker to control hypertension, especially with ACE inhibitors, HCTZ, and beta blockers available. She should be getting her pressure checked daily, and if there is no change soon, then maybe something else should be tried. There are side effects to any medicine, but a dosage increase like that shouldn't cause problems.

Answer 3

She should increase the dose of Amlodipine because her pressure is high and if it is not below 120/80, she needs to add another medication to get it down. Maybe a small dose of a diuretic. I dont understand why you are so worrie about her taking an increase in blood pressure medication. There are many patients who take 3, 4 of more blood pressure pills every day. She will only be able to decrease the dose if her pressure goes low and stays there.
She will be thankful she did in another few years when her kidneys still work. Hypertension wrecks the kidneys. She needs to get her pressure down sooner than later.
RN

Answer 4

I am a nurse and I have seen patients who are on Amlodipine. It sounds very reasonable to increase the dose from 5 to 10 mg. I personally would agree that your mom will benefit from the increase. The arrhythmia will not be affected with the increase in Amlodipine.

If you are worried about the increase in the tablets, check your mom's blood pressure about 2 hours after she has taken the tablet. Monitor for any signs of dizziness.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

We are not Dr's. in here, but I would suggest you go with what her Cardiologist recommends for your Mom. Personally I know that sometimes Meds have to be increased to control H/BP. You could contact the FDA and ask them to send you Trial Data of all the Meds your Mom is on and then discuss the findings with her Dr's.

Answer 7

They seem to treat people with drugs, instead of finding the cause, and eliminating what is causing it. There are alternative treatments out there. My mom is 87 & if she misses her dose, she passes out. Perhaps the doctor will switch the pill to another kind, instead. I am looking into alternative treatments for high blood pressure, accupunture, enzymes. radio frequency therapy. There is a wealth of information on the internet, & alternative treatments. I usually Google it!

Answer 8

First and foremost, your Mom should do exactly what her doctor says. Different people have different side effects and listening to a lot of people on here is only going to confuse the situation. You're a good kid to be so concerned.