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Please stay on topic "Medications for high blood pressure" or the thread will be closed.
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You do not understand what I said. You have to think about PROBABILITIES. A healthy lifestyle will NOT prevent everyone from getting sick! Obviously. But it will decrease the PROBABILITY that you will get sick.
No wonder so many people buy lottery tickets -- they never learned about probability.
There’s also the increased probability of having a stroke or heart attack to consider. If someone has a healthy lifestyle, normal weight etc and also has HBP, it’s clear they should begin medication to control it. If someone has an unhealthy lifestyle, obesity etc., they should also begin medication to lessen the probability of having a life threatening event. They should work on correcting the lifestyle issues that may be the cause of their HBP in hopes that they can be weaned off the medication. That may take time and if medication can lessen the risk of death in the interim, that’s a good thing.
It may just be the case of too little, too late. For example, when you quit smoking, it's a certain number of years before all that junk is out of your system. My mom smoked for 60+ years, guess what, the damage was done, she should've made that lifestyle change decades ago to avoid all her issues now with her heart, blood pressure, osteoporosis, etc.
As for going from a poor eater and obese to thin, strong and healthier, not sure if there's also a certain number of years it takes with the healthier lifestyle to negate all the damage. That would be interesting to know. I'd love for my brother's bp to come down as he starts losing weight.
I was thin most of my life, then obese/poor eater after I had my kids, back to being thin and at peak condition in my 40s. Genetics made me predisposed for HBP, that's obvious. Neither of my parents or grandparents were obese. I was the "black sheep" of the family. Obesity exacerbated things. I've never said that obesity doesn't cause issues and you've seen me post enough to know that I am a stronger supporter of a healthy lifestyle. But the crux of this argument is that lifestyle reversal instead of medication is all that's need for HBP and that's not true and dangerous. My heart's never been better, my bone density is excellent, and my body fat is low. Yet I take medication and weight loss did nothing to change that. Not one thing.
I've been strong and healthy for over two years now, more importantly I made changes in lifestyle before age became an issue. I probably would have gotten HBP later in life vs. 40 if I wasn't obese, but I had a good chance of getting it regardless. Lifestyle probably would have pushed the onset age out but I would have gotten it. My mother is a size 4 and has always been thin yet she's 140/90 or sometimes 150/100. Doesn't eat much salt either. She refuses to take meds for it but she's borderline and it's just going to get worse as she ages.
There’s also the increased probability of having a stroke or heart attack to consider. If someone has a healthy lifestyle, normal weight etc and also has HBP, it’s clear they should begin medication to control it. If someone has an unhealthy lifestyle, obesity etc., they should also begin medication to lessen the probability of having a life threatening event. They should work on correcting the lifestyle issues that may be the cause of their HBP in hopes that they can be weaned off the medication. That may take time and if medication can lessen the risk of death in the interim, that’s a good thing.
I agree, but I wish that I could be weaned off the medication. that's not an option for me. for many of us, the meds are for life. i just take a low dose. If I stop taking my medication, my pressure goes back up. I know this because I've seen it happen. I think maybe borderline people have a chance of being weaned off, but not Stage 2 people like myself.
Honestly, I don't particularly care taking lots of medications. I have more medicine on my nightstand than my husband, who is overweight, go figure. But thanks to the meds, I am managing my condition while having a great qol. I'm able to exercise, drink, and pretty much live my life as before.
I agree, but I wish that I could be weaned off the medication. that's not an option for me. for many of us, the meds are for life. i just take a low dose. If I stop taking my medication, my pressure goes back up. I know this because I've seen it happen. I think maybe borderline people have a chance of being weaned off, but not Stage 2 people like myself.
Honestly, I don't particularly care taking lots of medications. I have more medicine on my nightstand than my husband, who is overweight, go figure. But thanks to the meds, I am managing my condition while having a great qol. I'm able to exercise, drink, and pretty much live my life as before.
As you said, sometimes it’s just not possible to get off meds despite best efforts. If they keep you healthy, that’s the most important thing.
So I've been on two meds for my high blood pressure: lisinopril and amlodipine (generic for Norvasc). They were doing a great job of lowering my blood pressure to 120/74. Only side effect was some edema of ankles...not too terrible, I could live with it. No other side effects.
Yesterday my MD decided to take me off the amlodipine and prescribed Bystolic because of the edema (which I was willing to live with as other HBP meds had worse side effects for me).
My friendly druggist called me to say that Bystolic has no generic and Medicare wouldn't cover it. It would cost me $130/month. Yikes! The L & A cost me $2.00/month.
So I did some research and found there are two generic drugs (metoprolol and carvedilol) in the same class that have the same effect and history of effectiveness. Medicare will cover cost of either of them -- cost to me of about $7.00/month.
Asked my doc to prescribe one of these -- and she has.
Lesson learned? Do some research of your own--the high cost meds don't necessarily do a better job or are more effective than drugs in the same class that may cost so much less.
So I've been on two meds for my high blood pressure: lisinopril and amlodipine (generic for Norvasc). They were doing a great job of lowering my blood pressure to 120/74. Only side effect was some edema of ankles...not too terrible, I could live with it. No other side effects.
Yesterday my MD decided to take me off the amlodipine and prescribed Bystolic because of the edema (which I was willing to live with as other HBP meds had worse side effects for me).
My friendly druggist called me to say that Bystolic has no generic and Medicare wouldn't cover it. It would cost me $130/month. Yikes! The L & A cost me $2.00/month.
So I did some research and found there are two generic drugs (metoprolol and carvedilol) in the same class that have the same effect and history of effectiveness. Medicare will cover cost of either of them -- cost to me of about $7.00/month.
Asked my doc to prescribe one of these -- and she has.
Lesson learned? Do some research of your own--the high cost meds don't necessarily do a better job or are more effective than drugs in the same class that may cost so much less.
Have you had a similar experience?? Please share.
The medications I take to control my blood pressure and cardiac arrythmia ( SVT) are generic and with my insurance, cost very little. They were prescribed by my cardiologist, work very well to control the blood pressure, the arrythmia pretty well ( but that's the nature of the beast, unfortunately), and cost very little especially with my insurance. I take 100 mg/day Losartan, think that costs me a little less than $3.00 for a 90 day supply. I take metoprolol tartrate ( 150 mg/day in two divided doses) and that's something like $1.86 for a 90 day supply.
These drugs, as well as a number of other generic blood pressure and cardiac meds are fairly inexpensive even without insurance. It's been mentioned before, but some of the grocery stores around here ( Publix and Winn Dixie) offer Lisinopril for free, and have other generic medications available for $4 for a one month supply, and $10 ( or $7.50 at Publix) for a three month supply. Walmart has these available as well.
Thanks, Travelassie. I just might need different meds for the ankle edema instead of the beta blocker I'm on--I might need a different Doctor, too -- she seems to want to put me on some expensive meds when the inexpensive ones are working pretty well. All the HBP meds seem to have some side effects, don't they? I guess we just have to choose the ones we can tolerate (along with a reasonable/affordable price point).
Well, got my prescription today. Doctor put me on something called Lisinopril (20mg). Hopefully that works as advertised.
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