Blood pressure when is medication needed

Do not stop taking your blood pressure medicine without talking to your doctor or health care team first. Many people need to take medicine in addition to making lifestyle changes to help keep their blood pressure at healthy levels. Read more about blood pressure medicines. Blood pressure medicines can work several different ways.

Blood pressure medicines can keep blood pressure at a healthy level by 1 :. Talk with your health care team about the best type of treatment for you. You may need to take more than one type of medicine to control your blood pressure.

You can also talk to your health care team about how long it should take your blood pressure medicine to work. It is important to take your blood pressure medicine exactly as your doctor tells you to.

Do not stop taking your current medicine without talking to your doctor or pharmacist first. Stopping your blood pressure medicine without first talking to your health care team could lead to serious health consequences. The benefits of blood pressure medicines are clear: Blood pressure medicines can help you keep your blood pressure at healthy levels and therefore greatly reduce your risk of heart disease , heart attack , and stroke.

In general, the risks of taking blood pressure medicines are low. Patients should be considered to be in hypertensive crisis if their systolic exceeds or their diastolic is over mm Hg. Crisis indicates an immediate need for a change in medication, if asymptomatic, and hospitalization if accompanied by signs of organ damage. The guidelines make a weaker recommendation for the same level for other individuals as well. Related Content. Take Quiz. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information.

Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Bonow RO, et al. Systemic hypertension: Management. Saunders Elsevier; Accessed June 27, Liyanage-Don N, et al. Implementing home blood pressure monitoring into clinical practice.

Current Hypertension Reports. Types of blood pressure medications. American Heart Association. Accessed June 25, Feehally J, et al. Pharmacologic treatment of hypertension. In: Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology.

Elsevier; Accessed Aug. Whelton PK, et al. Mann JFE. Choice of drug therapy in primary essential hypertension. Wright JM, et al. First-line drugs for hypertension. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Dudenbostel T, et al. Use of aldosterone antagonists for treatment of uncontrolled resistant hypertension. American Journal of Hypertension. Sheps SG expert opinion. Mayo Clinic.

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