i'm taking micardis since two months ago to control my blood pressure 130/90. i stopped a week ago and i am much alert and less drowsy. is it wise to stop as my doc said not to miss taking it daily. please advise.
2007-10-05 02:42:12 · 12 answers · asked by fariq 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
All I can offer are the personal observations I made of a friend of mine who had hypertension.
Hypertension is an increase in blood pressure claused by a constriction of the muscles in the walls of the arteries. My friend's doctor decided to use a diarretic approach. This decreased the amount of body fluid, and like deflating a tire, it did in fact decrease blood pressure. Unfortunately, it also made my friend desperately thirsty. He would drink at least a quart of water during lunch and then complain the next day he couldn't sleep at night because he was always going to the bathroom. This went on about two years until his kidneys began to fail. I'm no doctor, but it seems to me my friend's kidneys were simply being worked to death. My friend is now on dialysis.
Your drowsyness leads me to believe that some sort of seditive is being used to treat your hypertension. Again, I'm no doctor, but my advise is you are probably better off taking the medication if all it causes is drowsiness. Hypertension is very serious and can lead to heart attacks and strokes with no warning signs at all. This is also why lung cancer is so deadly because it gives no indication there is any problem untill it is too late.
Frankly, I distrust American medicine. It's so hard to tell where the medicine ends and the marketing begins. It also disturbs me that Americans want to solve all their problems with the proper pill. A good deal of the things treated in this country are what might be called psycomatic illnesses. For example, my hypertensive friend was quite paranoid and I'm sure his insecurities contributed to his medical problems. Migraines, acid reflux and hemorehoids also fall under this category as far as I'm concerned. Sure, I need a doctor if I break a leg, but if it's something I can fix myself, I'm better off on my own.
Hyperetension sits right on the boundry of something you can cure yourself and something your doctor needs to be involved with. My suggestion is to work with your physician on this one. The things you can do yourself is trying to eliminate excess stress in your life and also be aware that salty things can cause you to drink more fluids than you ought to. Being overweight also adds to the problem (my friend was also very overweight). Smoking is obviously bad for your health and nicotine even raises blood pressure.
In short, a lot of routine medical problems are things people can solve themselves. American's aren't naturally lazy or stupid - unfortunatly their culture encourages them to be so.
2007-10-05 03:15:52 · answer #1 · answered by Roger S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-25 02:37:41 · answer #2 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do not stop taking hypertensive medication without first consulting your doctor.
You need to buy a BP set and learn to take your own readings.
Hypotension, giddiness and drowsiness are common side effects of antihypertensive medications. You need chart these symptoms (and your blood pressure) down in a daily journal, take them to your doctor and have him review whether any adjustments can be made to your medication so that you don't get such side effects so often.
This is really a question that you should be asking your doctor and not strangers on yahoo. And by the way it is dangerous to stop taking your meds as you could have various organs fail from uncontrolled hypertension.
2007-10-05 18:03:02 · answer #3 · answered by edamameb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Talk to your doc about maybe trying a different anti-hypertensive if you don't like the side effects. Not treating hypertension can be dangerous...my mom didn't like her pills, but instead of talking with her doctor and figuring out a new plan/new drug/etc, she just stopped taking them and since hypertension itself doesn't have any symptoms, she forgot all about it. Until a blood vessel in her brain burst due to high pressure and she had a stroke. Luckily, she fully recovered and now she takes her meds. (Not trying to freak you out, my mom's blood pressure was much higher than yours. I'm just saying you should discuss these things with your doctor before just doing it.)
2007-10-05 10:53:51 · answer #4 · answered by knowitall 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, I am not a doctor. Second, I don't know anything about your general physical condition.
It sounds like the meds you are taking have a side effect of making you drowsy. HOWEVER along with feeling more alert and less drowsy, you are also probably driving your blood pressure UP.
In other words, when you stopped taking the meds, you got rid of the side effects, but also eliminated the benefits of the pills, which was to lower your B.P.
Why not talk to your doctor, and see if there is a B.P. medication which will do the job without the drowsy side effects?
2007-10-05 02:56:56 · answer #5 · answered by roscoedeadbeat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
normal blood pressure for most people is 120/80 at rest. but this figure really depends on many factors like age, gender, lifestyle etc. 130/90 sounds like prehypertensive to me... your blood pressure is slightly high, but controllable.. and still in a process before you develope serious complications.
your medication is a type that block the angiotensin II activities. angiotensin II(and many more chemicals in your body) is what causes your blood vessel to narrow. this causes your heart to exert more pressure to get blood through the narrowed vessels hence the high blood pressure.
my advise is, for whatever reason that make your blood pressure goes up, try resorting to a healthier lifestyle. get your pressure reading regularly, only when it is within normal range that you can stop taking the medication. please ask your doctor if you are eligible for different kind of drugs that u can cope best. well.. there is virtually no cure for hypertension, but it can be controlled, so it wont cause you more problems.
2007-10-05 05:31:08 · answer #6 · answered by kalkmat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess just keep an eye on your blood pressure. If it goes up again, that's a sure sign the doctor knows what he's talking about and doesn't have a degree for nothing and you really should be taking your medicine.
2007-10-05 02:50:49 · answer #7 · answered by Debbie Queen of All ♥ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
120/80 is now prehypertensive. what was your bp before you started? You need to continue to maintain a lower bp because hypertension leads to stroke, atherosclerosis and a whole lot of bad stuff. it also works on your kidneys and eyes. unfortunately, fatigue is a common side effect but there are a lot of meds-a lot of them and talk to your doctor. have you been having any headaches lately? have you been exercising and eating a more healthy, less salty diet also?
2007-10-08 15:38:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2017-01-25 16:55:42 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With Micardis HCT, I could see your point, but it's hard to see how plain Micardis would do that. With your blood pressure higher, your risks of developing cardiovascular disease are higher. It's up to you how much risk you're willing to take, but with all the different antihypertensive medications available, surely there's one to be found that would be acceptable to you.
2007-10-05 03:39:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋