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Other than diuretic drugs (discussed above), most drugs used in hypertension work by relaxing the muscular walls of the blood vessels and are more likely to cause side effects because they relax other muscles, too. For example, they can cause difficulty in passing urine (due to relaxation of the bladder muscle), constipation (by relaxing the intestinal muscles), and sometimes impotence in men.

Even without drug treatment, many people feel dizzy momentarily after suddenly standing up. Called postural hypotension, this occurs when, for a few moments, blood pools in the veins of the legs and does not get up to the brain. Blood vessels slackened by drugs are more likely to cause this effect, and patients taking multiple blood pressure medications may have severe postural hypotension and even lose consciousness if they stand up too quickly or stand still for too long (movement assists the circulation).

Whenever people on blood pressure drugs feel dizzy, they should immediately stretch and yawn and move their legs to boost the circulation. Hypertensive patients liable to dizziness under these conditions should never shut themselves in a telephone booth, because being held upright after fainting could be fatal. The combined effects of blood pooling in the legs and continuing to remain propped upright prevents a life-sustaining blood supply reaching up to the brain. Falling, although it may cause injury, instantly lowers the head so that blood can flow into it by gravity.

If side effects become a frequent problem, the situation can be corrected by changing the dosage or by switching drugs. This needs to be done under medical supervision. Whatever happens, hypertensive patients must continue taking some medications regularly every day because, without it, their lives will be shortened.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under General health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.