Do I Really Need a Blood Pressure Drug?

If you have hypertension, treatment can make all the difference in your future health

What About Those Side Effects?

Fatigue and dizziness can be issues when you start on a drug, especially if your blood pressure has been high for a while. It takes your body time to adapt to normal blood pressure. Stay with the drug, and the problem usually disappears.

Cough can be a side effect of ACE inhibitors in some patients. Talk to your doctor about switching to a different medication.

Frequent urination is expected when you’re on a diuretic. Don’t take your pill just before bed or when you won’t have access to a bathroom.
Fluid retention can occur with calcium channel blockers. Watch your sodium intake and tell your doctor if you have leg or ankle swelling.

Erectile dysfunction. Any drug that lowers blood pressure has the potential to cause this problem. Talk to your doctor about other options, or Viagra if you don’t have other heart problems.

Your doctor just told you that you have high blood pressure. In one way, you’re lucky—nearly one in three American adults has hypertension, but many aren’t even aware of it. “That’s why high blood pressure is known as the silent killer,” says family medicine physician Henry Liu, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

In some cases, lifestyle change—including exercise, weight loss, lower salt intake and quitting smoking—may resolve the problem. But bad habits are hard to break, Liu says, and heredity also plays a role. When all’s said and done, many people need a drug to control their blood pressure.

If that’s the case with you, resist the temptation to stall. “People who start medication early reduce their chance of serious complications,” says Liu’s colleague, cardiologist Prasant Pandey, M.D. Even at low dosages, these drugs can be lifesaving in the long term. Untreated, hypertension is known to cause kidney failure, stroke, blindness and congestive heart failure.

Some people start taking medication but quit because of side effects. With a wide array of blood pressure drugs to choose from, you and your doctor can find one that works for you. “Even pregnant women can find a medication they can safely take,” Pandey says. “And moderate-to-severe hypertension in the last trimester does require treatment.”

Blood pressure drugs come in a variety of types, including diuretics (which help your body remove fluid) and beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers (which act on blood vessel walls). Some tinkering may be necessary, “but once we’ve found the right drug or combination, most people don’t experience any significant side effects,” Liu says.

Your pharmacist can be a valuable ally as you zero in on the right medication, says registered pharmacist Janine Barnaby of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. She educates people taking hypertension drugs about potential interactions with other medications and foods, and about generics that may save them money.

Having a healthy lifestyle boosts the effectiveness of any blood pressure medication. For example, trimming your salt intake reduces the amount of fluid your body retains and losing weight eases your heart’s workload.

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