Take Heart Part 2: Drug Love and Others

Drug love: As a Hypertensive patient, you must realize that your drugs are also very important to ensuring a longer life. You must know them and love them. You also must be informed of changes in drug regimen made by your doctor. When refilling prescriptions, you should use the services of a pharmacist. Why?  He helps blend medication use with your lifestyle and renders advice on side effects you may experience with usage.

Morning swallows: Mornings are the best times to use these drugs. Common knowledge is that this practice helps you manage stressful moments throughout the day by keeping your blood pressure (B.P) at bay. But some people may need to take their medications twice a day (that is, in the evening) for better B.P management. Also avoid taking your meds with soft drinks or alcohol. These drinks affect the quantity of drugs that get to your blood circulations. Sometimes cause them to be too much, sometimes too little. In essence, use your drugs with water. You can decide to take them after meals. A lot of hypertensive drugs are better with food,though, furosemide is better taken on an empty stomach .

I decided to draw up some side effects and pointers for some commonly used anti hypertensive drugs. Please check the labels of your meds; your drugs may also be fixed dose combinations of any of these drugs.

Drug	Advice to patients
Diuretics: furosemide(Laxis®),hydrochlorothiazide, Amiloride+ hydrochlorothiazide( moduretic®)	Best to use in the morning to avoid sleep disturbances due to frequent night time urination.
Methyldopa( aldomet®)	You may see a darker urine colour once your pee stays a while in the toilet bowl May affect your sexual performance or cause saggy chest in men Do not get up suddenly after lying for a while, you may experience dizziness or headaches
Lisinopril	You should see your doctor if you experience some uncomfortable dry cough. Although more common with sister drug, enalapril. If you ever experience puffy Face, swollen fingers, lips after use. you should see your doctor immediately
Losartan	Dizziness and headaches may occur.
Amlodipine	Do not discontinue without seeing your doctor.  Do not get up suddenly after lying for a while, you may experience dizziness or headaches
Nifedipine	Never crush these tablets. May slightly affect your ability to smell. Do not use close to bedtime to prevent night time urination
Propanolol	May interfere with sleep. another reason why you should not use them close to bedtime

I know there are a lot more drugs than highlighted here. So I recommend www.drugs.com to anybody looking to find more information about their drugs.

Lastly, monitor your blood pressure. There are many home use kits available at local pharmacies nearest to you so you don’t have to wait till your next clinic visits to check.And you should keep daily and weekly records and charts. speak to your pharmacist about understanding the blood pressure readings and how to keep them within normal. bye for now.