Antihypertensive drugs need to be taken regularly, but when taking them, you should pay attention to 4 issues that affect the efficacy of the drugs

An aunt told Huazi that she had high blood pressure and took blood pressure medicine every day, but she still had a cerebral hemorrhage due to high blood pressure not long ago. Although the situation was not serious and she recovered quickly, she was very scared. She asked Huazi why she had a cerebral hemorrhage even though she had been taking blood pressure medicine. Huazi asked her about her recent blood pressure control, but she said she had not measured her blood pressure.

Hua Zi said that if you have high blood pressure, you can't just take medicine, you also need to know whether your blood pressure is under control. The blood pressure control rate of hypertensive patients in my country is less than 20%. Many people cannot take antihypertensive drugs reasonably and effectively, so there is no prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. There are 4 common problems that will affect the efficacy of drugs, which must be paid attention to.

1. Make sure to keep your blood pressure under control

Monitoring: Every patient with hypertension should monitor their own blood pressure and understand their own blood pressure control and fluctuations, which is very important for antihypertensive treatment. Otherwise, if the dosage is insufficient and the blood pressure does not meet the standard, it will not effectively prevent the disease; if the dosage is too large and the blood pressure is low, it will cause insufficient blood supply to important organs such as the brain, heart, and kidneys.

It is recommended to use an upper arm electronic blood pressure monitor to measure blood pressure at home. After waking up in the morning, empty the bladder and measure in a sitting position before breakfast. Measure 2 to 3 times at intervals of 2 minutes, and take the lowest result as the standard. Then measure again before going to bed. Record the blood pressure value each time, which can be used as a reference for drug adjustment. In addition, the accuracy of blood pressure values ​​measured at home is higher than that measured in hospital clinics.

2. A healthy lifestyle is equally important

Many people think that taking antihypertensive drugs will cure hypertension, but ignore the improvement of lifestyle. I once met a patient with heart failure. He recovered well in the hospital, but he would have a relapse as soon as he got home. This happened repeatedly. Later, I found out that it was because he had a jar of pickled vegetables at home, and he ate a lot of pickled vegetables when he got home. As a result, water and sodium were retained, blood pressure rose, and heart failure worsened.

Sodium ions can cause blood pressure to rise, so patients with hypertension must limit their salt intake and not exceed 6 grams of salt per day. You can prepare a salt-limiting spoon at home to control the amount of salt used in cooking every day. You should also be wary of the "invisible salt" in various processed foods and eat more fresh vegetables, which contain potassium, calcium and other ions that can counteract the blood pressure-raising effect of sodium ions.

People who drink need to quit drinking. Alcohol has a short-term effect that can cause blood pressure to drop, but its long-term effect can cause blood pressure to rise, which is one of the important risk factors for high blood pressure. People who sit for a long time and lack exercise need to exercise regularly, doing more than 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day and strength training twice a week.

Obese people must lose weight, which is the most effective way to lower blood pressure. According to relevant statistics, if obese hypertensive patients lose 10kg, their blood pressure can drop by up to 20mmHg. The blood pressure-lowering effect of a healthy lifestyle is no less than that of antihypertensive drugs.

3. Some people’s blood pressure rises because of anxiety

Some patients with hypertension said that after taking antihypertensive drugs, their blood pressure was fine during the day, but always rose at night. After changing the medication regimen several times, they still could not control their blood pressure well at night. Later, we learned that these patients had more or less anxiety and tension problems.

Anxiety and tension can increase the excitability of the human sympathetic nervous system, leading to increased secretion of catecholamines such as adrenaline, norepinephrine, and dopamine, causing vasoconstriction and increased blood pressure. If this negative emotion cannot be relieved, it is difficult to control blood pressure with antihypertensive drugs.

Therefore, people who are always anxious and nervous should learn to adjust their mentality and stay optimistic. If they cannot adjust themselves, they need to see a psychologist and receive anti-anxiety treatment in order to control their blood pressure.

4. Pay attention to the time of taking the medicine and adverse reactions

Most people's blood pressure rises during the day and falls at night, so it is better to take antihypertensive drugs in the early morning. However, some people's blood pressure rises at night or they have early morning hypertension. According to the time of blood pressure rise, antihypertensive drugs should be taken in the afternoon or before bedtime to obtain better blood pressure lowering effect.

Food can affect the absorption of antihypertensive drugs, so unless otherwise specified, antihypertensive drugs are generally taken on an empty stomach. Taking diuretics can increase urination, so they are usually taken in the morning and afternoon, and should be avoided before bedtime to prevent increased urination at night from affecting sleep.

When using antihypertensive drugs, you should also pay attention to the adverse reactions of the drugs. When taking dihydropyridine drugs, lower limb edema may occur, which can be relieved by taking them in combination with pril, sartan, and diuretics. Pril drugs can cause dry coughs, and if you cannot tolerate them, you can replace them with sartan drugs. When loral drugs are suddenly stopped, blood pressure will rebound, so it takes at least 2 weeks to slowly stop the drug.

Pregnant women and people with bilateral renal artery stenosis should not use pril and sartan drugs. People with gout should not use diuretics. People with bradycardia should not use lol drugs. Therefore, if you want to use antihypertensive drugs reasonably, you need to be under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist.

In summary, when treating high blood pressure, you can't just take medicine, you also need to monitor your blood pressure, improve your healthy lifestyle, regulate your emotions, and use medicines reasonably under the guidance of a doctor. If you find any problems during medication, consult a doctor or pharmacist in time. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.