What should I do if side effects occur while taking antihypertensive drugs? Can I continue taking them?

A patient with high blood pressure always has high and low blood pressure and cannot control it well. After talking with him, Huazi found that he always takes antihypertensive drugs intermittently. When asked why he takes the drugs intermittently, he replied that he was worried about the side effects of long-term medication, so he wanted to take it for a while and then stop for a while to let his body relax.

Huazi told him that antihypertensive drugs need to be taken regularly to continuously lower blood pressure and protect the cardiovascular system. Intermittent medication not only fails to produce a protective effect, but may also cause blood pressure fluctuations and increase the risk of illness. He asked Huazi, what should I do if side effects occur while taking antihypertensive drugs? Can I continue to take them?

1. Most antihypertensive drugs have mild side effects. In fact, the problem that this patient is worried about is also a common problem for many hypertensive patients. But in fact, the probability of side effects of the commonly used first-line antihypertensive drugs is very low. Even if side effects occur, they are very mild and usually only appear in the early stage of medication. With continued medication, they will gradually be tolerated and alleviated.

Human research on antihypertensive drugs has been going on for decades. During this long period of time, antihypertensive drugs with serious adverse reactions have been gradually eliminated. The current first-line antihypertensive drugs include five major categories: diazepam, pril, sartan, lol, and diuretics. All of them have been tested by time and have been confirmed to have minor side effects and are safe and effective for long-term use.

2. What to do when common antihypertensive drugs have side effects? Although the probability of side effects when taking antihypertensive drugs is very small, it is still possible. So what should you do when side effects occur? Do you need to stop taking the drug? Huazi said that most antihypertensive drugs do not indicate that you should stop taking the drug when side effects occur. You can tolerate them, or use some methods to counteract them. You can continue taking the drug.

1. Diuretics: Commonly used ones include hydrochlorothiazide and indapamide. Long-term use will accelerate ion excretion and cause electrolyte imbalance. The more serious adverse reaction is hypokalemia. Therefore, when taking the medicine, you should eat more potassium-rich foods such as bananas and potatoes, monitor blood potassium regularly, and take potassium tablets to supplement potassium when necessary.

Hydrochlorothiazide and indapamide can also be used in combination with prils or sartans that have potassium-sparing effects, or with potassium-sparing diuretics such as spironolactone and triamterene, to offset the effects on blood potassium and reduce the occurrence of side effects.

2. Dipine drugs: Commonly used are nifedipine sustained-release tablets, nifedipine controlled-release tablets, amlodipine, felodipine, etc. Because of the obvious vasodilator effect, adverse reactions such as headache, facial flushing, and tachycardia may occur in the early stage of medication. Long-term use may cause lower limb edema and gingival hyperplasia.

Adverse reactions in the early stage of medication can usually be tolerated and gradually alleviated and disappeared with continued medication. Combined with loreta drugs, it can relieve tachycardia. Combined with diuretics, pril or sartan drugs, it can relieve lower limb edema. Gingival hyperplasia is related to plaque irritation. Careful brushing and flossing can inhibit gingival hyperplasia.

3. Prils: Prils affect the body's bradykinin system. Although they increase the protective effect on the heart, they are also prone to cause dry coughs. Most people can tolerate dry coughs, which will be relieved within 3 months, but 3% of people eventually cannot tolerate dry coughs and stop taking the medicine. Sartan drugs can be used as an alternative treatment.

4. Sartan drugs: In clinical trials, the incidence of adverse reactions was similar to that of the placebo group and was relatively mild. The antihypertensive effect is similar to that of pril drugs, but it does not affect the bradykinin system, so it is not easy to cause dry cough. It can be used as an alternative treatment for patients who are intolerant to pril drugs.

5. Lol drugs: Lol drugs can inhibit the heart and lower the heart rate. When taking the drug, you need to pay attention to not lowering the heart rate too much. The heart rate should be controlled above 55 to avoid affecting normal blood supply. When used for a long time, Lol drugs cannot be stopped suddenly, otherwise it will cause a rebound of the disease. It takes at least 2 weeks to slowly reduce the dosage before stopping the drug.

To sum up, antihypertensive drugs need to be taken continuously to maintain a good antihypertensive effect and provide better protection for the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. During use, the probability of adverse reactions is very low, and most adverse reactions are mild and can be tolerated. Some methods can also be used to reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions. However, when serious adverse reactions occur, such as drug allergies, the drug needs to be discontinued. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.