Before you stop your blood pressure medication please read this!

High blood pressure can be dangerous to your health. Many people begin taking prescribed blood pressure medications to discover they feel side effects. If this happens what you should do is call your prescribing physician right away and let them know what is going on.

Instead, many people will simply decide that they aren’t working right and stop taking the medication cold turkey. The problem is that stopping these medications with no taper can lead to even worse effects. It can be dangerous even for younger relatively healthy patients.

Currently, 100 million adults have high blood pressure, and that number is on the rise. In a study done in 2019 that tracked the rate of prescription refills for blood pressure medications were issued to more than 370,000 patients younger than 65.

The study was published in the journal Hypertension. It found that 23.5% of the patients stopped taking the drugs within the first 9 months. Of those who kept using the medication, 40% did not follow the directions – taking the prescribed amount less than 80% of the time.

Overall, more than half (54%) of the patients either did not take their medications as prescribed or stopped using them.

It was also found that patients with 90-day prescriptions and mail-order prescriptions were more likely to keep taking their high blood pressure medications as directed.

High blood pressure is known as a silent killer. You can go for years without realizing you have slipped into the realm of hypertension. This elevated pressure can do damage to arteries, veins, and your heart making you more likely to experience a heart attack and stroke in your lifetime.

It’s because of this silent aspect that many, when they have a mild symptom related to the medication may think, mistakenly, that it’s better to just stop treatment rather than continue and find a medication that works with their body.

The danger of stopping blood pressure medication cold turkey

Stopping medication, especially hypertension medication, can have disastrous consequences that may include:

• Chest pain
• Heart Palpitation
• Pressure in the chest
• Anxiety
• Extremely elevated blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Death
  

Patient and doctor communication is key to saving lives and regulating pressure so that the cardiovascular system is protected. Your doctor can work with you to find the best balance. The ultimate positive outcome is to find a medication and diet that can regulate your blood pressure to a range of 120/80 with no side effects from the prescription itself.

If you are set on stopping medication speak with your doctor and let them work out a tapered schedule to discontinue use where it will allow your body time to adjust properly.

If you have high blood pressure please give Tampa Cardiovascular Associates of Tampa Bay, Florida a call today at 813-975-2800 to schedule your appointment to get you back on track to a low manageable blood pressure that your body will thank you for. www.tampacardio.com.