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Some medications need to be taken lifelong, but most people detest it. Agreed, that being dependent on pills your entire life isn t a very good feeling, but at times it is the best you can do to your body. For instance, in the case of hypertension taking regular medication in some cases is the norm in controlling and treating it. However, doctors don t prescribe medication as soon as you reach his clinic. In fact, high blood pressure medications are prescribed with much thought and consideration.
An individual s blood pressure is never constant, even throughout the day. Remember blood pressure readings correspond to one s stress responses. In fact, if it isn t fluctuating one might even collapse, says Dr Sudhir Pillai consultant cardiologist, Hinduja Hospital & research centre. However, if the cause of your hypertension is an underlying health condition like thyroid, obesity, endocrine issues, snoring or sleep apnoea then treating these conditions helps to take care of the hypertension. However, if it is secondary hypertension, where the numbers are shooting up and there isn t any reversible pattern, medication should be taken lifelong.
Hypertension is not just about the reading; it also takes into consideration the BMI, height, weight and other parameters of the person. So, when the doctor takes your blood pressure and the top number remains 140 consistently say even after four times of checking and the lower above 80, then probably 140/90 is your normal blood pressure and there is nothing to fret about it. But if it shoots up to say 180/130 and refuses to come down to the normal range then prescribing medications become inevitable.
Remember, medication for high blood pressure is prescribed to keep the condition in check. So, if your numbers come down from 180/130 to 110/90 and you stop taking medication, especially the beta blockers prescribed to treat hypertension, your blood pressure can shoot up to 200/180, which is called reactive hypertension. Reactive hypertension can be potentially dangerous and lead to stroke or heart attack. Restarting high blood pressure medication can be a good idea even if you were off it for a while. However, it is better to check with your doctor before restarting to know if you still need the same dosage or higher.
So, stopping blood pressure medications without the consultation of your doctor could be life threatening for you.
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Read this in Hindi.