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Stroke! Heart Attack! Huh? This is what I caught while only kind of paying attention to an commercial the other night. I hit rewind to see what they were talking about. You guessed it. Potential side effects of hypertension drugs.

Hundreds of people have shared this very situation with me as they are either candidates for high blood pressure medicine or currently take it. They turn to my High Blood Pressure Program to avoid this.

They even go so far as to share the exact names of the drugs they have been prescribed. I am pretty familiar with most of these, but the research still seems to open my eyes over and over.

140 over 90 is typically considered high blood pressure.

The problem is that it can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and weakened arteries. Other organs can also be affected such as the eyes, kidneys and brain.

Additional problems can include blindness, sleeplessness and erectile dysfunction. One problem with high blood pressure though is that the symptoms may not be present or noticable.

Some people are painfully aware of symptoms though including blurry eye sight, headaches, sweating and clamminess and nausea. Measuring your blood pressure is only true way to validate high blood pressure.

Remember that one single reading is not a good indicator. It needs to be checked regularly.

If you are prescribed high blood pressure medication, you should be aware of possible effects. Four key types of hypertension drugs are: Diuretics, Calcium Channel Blockers, Beta Blockers and ACE Inhibitors.

Let’s look at ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) Inhibitors first. These drugs help relax blood vessels relax by blocking angiotensin II production. This hormone causes blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors that are often prescribed are: benazepril (Lotensin), captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) ,quinapril (Accupril, Mavik) and ramipril (Altace).

Increased potassium levels, lingering cough, headache, dizziness, nausea, joint pain, weakness, chest pain, fever and in rare cases, kidney disease are possible side effects of ACE Inhibitors.

Beta Blockers reduce blood pressure by affecting the nerve signals to the blood vessels and heart. They reduce the nerve signals, which slow the heart beat down and create less force. This reduces blood pressure. Some beta blockers are: acebutolol, atenolol, propranolol, metoprolol and many others.

Some possible effects of these drugs are dizziness, impotence, depression, fatigue and even hallucenations.

Now let’s look at calcium channel blockers. Calcium is prevented from entering the heart and blood vessel muscle cells. This prevents the blood vessels from constricting and lowering blood pressure. Some of these drugs are amlodipine, fedodipine, nifedipine and verapamil.

Nausea, heartburn, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sexual dysfunction can occur. More serious is stroke and heart attack ” one of the very things the drug is designed to prevent.

Diuretics or water pills flush the body of fluid and sodium making it so that the blood vessels do not hold as much fluid, and in turn lowering blood pressure. Common diuretics include: chlorthalidone (Thalitone), furosemide (Lasix), hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix) and indapamide (Lozol).

Side effects include: electrolyte imbalances, impotence, breast enlargement in men (gynecomastia), increased blood sugar and blurred eye sight.

If you want to get off hypertension drugs, I recommend doing it gradually.

Your doctor will likely be hesitant, but the proof of the High Blood Pressure Program is in the numbers.

Continue with your medication while introducing the program. When you blood pressure starts to lower, discuss reducing your medication with your doctor. Continue to do this until you no longer need the drugs - and their side effects.

Are you considering taking hypertension remedies or are you already taking drugs? Before you do anything, check out natural exercises to control blood pressure with noside effects.

Tags: Blood Pressure