Some of the drugs below can change how the body works, which can cause bad side effects. Drugs that lower blood pressure, on the other hand, has been shown to work over time. The benefits of using them are much greater than the risks. Most people who have taken these drugs have been fine.
Some of these medicines, called diuretics, can lower the amount of potassium in your body. There may be signs like weakness, leg cramps, or being tired. Eating foods with potassium may help keep you from losing a lot of potassium. If your doctor tells you to, you can take a liquid or tablet with potassium along with the diuretic to stop potassium loss. Potassium-sparing agents are diuretics like amiloride (Midamar), spironolactone (Aldactone), and triamterene (Dyrenium). The body doesn't lose potassium because of them. They might be given on their own, but most of the time they are used with another diuretic. Aldactazide, Dyazide, Maxzide, and Moduretic are some of the combinations that can be used.
After taking diuretics for a long time, some people get gout attacks. This side effect doesn't happen very often and can be treated in other ways. This is because diuretics cause a high level of urea in the blood.
People with diabetes may have their blood sugar go up when they take diuretics. Most of the time, this can be fixed by changing the dose of a drug, insulin, or oral diabetes medicine. Your doctor can change how you are being cared for. Most of the time, a rise in blood sugar isn't a big deal. A small number of people may also have impotence.
Beta-blockers like Acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor, Mepressor, Merol), nadolol (Corgard), pindolol (Visken), propranolol (Inderal), or timolol (Blocadren) may cause sleeplessness, cold hands and feet, tiredness or depression, a slow heartbeat, or There may be impotence. If you have diabetes and take insulin, your response to treatment should be closely watched.
ACE inhibitors: Drugs like captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec), and lisinopril (Zestril or Prinivil) in this group can cause rashes, loss of taste, a dry, hacking cough, which is the most common side effect, and, in rare cases, damage to the kidneys.
Angiotensin II receptor blockers: These medicines can sometimes make you feel dizzy.
Calcium channel blockers - Diltiazem (Cardizem), nicardipine (Cardene), Nifedipine (Procardia) and verapamil (Calan or Isoptin) may cause palpitations, swollen ankles edema, constipation, headache, or dizziness. The side effects of each of these drugs are very different from one another.
Alpha-blockers: These drugs can make your heart beat fast, make you feel dizzy, or cause your blood pressure to drop when you stand up. This is called postural hypotension.
People who take drugs that contain both alpha and beta-blockers may have a drop in blood pressure when they stand up.
Central agonists like Alpha methyldopa (Aldomet) may cause your blood pressure to drop more when you are standing or walking. If your blood pressure drops too much, you may feel weak or faint. This drug may also make you feel sleepy or lethargic, dry mouth, fever, or have anemia. Male patients may experience impotence. If this side effect keeps happening, your doctor may need to change the dose of the drug or switch to a different one.
Clonidine (Catapres), guanabenz (Wytensin), or guanfacine (Tenex) can cause severe dry mouth, constipation, or sleepiness. Don't stop taking any of these drugs all of a sudden, because your blood pressure may rise quickly to dangerously high levels.
Peripheral adrenergic inhibitors: Reserpine can cause a stuffy nose, diarrhea, or heartburn. These effects aren't too bad, and the only thing that can be done to treat them is to change how much of the drug is taken. Tell your doctor if you have nightmares, can't sleep, or feel down. You should quit doing drugs.
Guanadrel (Hylorel) or guanethidine (Ismelin) may cause diarrhea, which some people may have for a long time. If you keep getting treatment, this side effect usually gets better.
When you stand up, these medicines lower blood pressure more. Because of this, you may feel weak and dizzy when you get out of bed in the morning or when you stand up quickly. If you have any of these side effects, especially if they last more than a minute or two, you should sit or lie down and either skip or lower the next dose. If symptoms continue, contact your doctor.
If you are taking guanethidine and start to feel dizzy or weak, don't stay standing in the hot sun or at a party. Low blood pressure is caused by these things. Male patients may experience impotence. If this happens, you should call your doctor. If other medicines don't work, these drugs are rarely used.
Blood vessel dilators like Hydralazine (Apresoline) can cause headaches, swelling around the eyes, heart palpitations, or aches and pains in the joints. Most of the time, none of these symptoms are very bad, and most will go away after a few weeks of treatment. Minoxidil (Loniten) is a strong drug that is usually only used for severe cases of high blood pressure that don't get better on their own. It could make you retain a lot of fluid and gain a lot of weight or make your hair grow too much.
