Which blood pressure medicine is the safest? Which blood pressure medication has the fewest side effects? These are very important questions, and if you take a blood pressure pill then the info in this video will help you.
All blood pressure medications can have side effects but did you know that some blood pressure medications can have are much more commonly known for their side effects and these side effects can range from mild and annoying to quite serious in this video let’s talk about the different blood pressure classes and which ones have been deemed the safest and by safest
I mean they have the lowest side effect profile now this video only applies to you if you’re taking a blood pressure medication and you don’t have any other medical problems you just have high blood pressure and you went to see your primary care doctor or provider and they started you on a blood pressure medication so your first blood pressure medication which
One of these classes is the safest and has the lowest possibility of side effects so that you lower your blood pressure which is the goal without having any of the other side effects or complications if you are taking a blood pressure medication that was prescribed to you by a specialist say an endocrinologist or cardiologist or someone like that then there may
Be other reasons why you need that particular antihypertensive and not one of the safer ones the this does not go 100 for every single human taking a blood pressure medication this is only for people who have just been started on a blood pressure medication and have hypertension and no other medical conditions you should not stop taking your blood pressure
Medication based on what you learn in this video but perhaps you should have a conversation with your health care provider about why they chose that specific blood pressure medication for you to start with and perhaps should you change to a blood pressure medication that has fewer side effects the first blood pressure medication class we’ll talk about is the
Central agonist this means they work in your brain and very often we don’t really know how they work but they do lower blood pressure and the kind of the flagship drug of this class is clonidine clonidine should never be the first drug you’re prescribed for hypertension or high blood pressure so if you’re taking clonidine just for blood pressure and no other
Reason you need to have a conversation with your healthcare provider asap the next drug class is the alpha blockers and the two drugs that you’ll usually be prescribed out of this drug class are tyrazicin and doxazosin uh they work by blocking your alpha receptors they have lots of potential side effects and they definitely should not be a first-line drug for
High blood pressure the next drug class is the loop diuretics and the classic drugs in this category are furosemide and bumetanide they do lower blood pressure and they cause lots of diuresis or for you to pee out extra fluid and that’s the basic way that they lower your blood pressure but they can also really mess with your electrolytes and should not be first
Line therapy for a newly diagnosed hypertensive the next class of drugs for high blood pressure is the beta blockers the flagship drugs in this category include atenolol metoprolol and natalolol these are they block the beta receptors they are notorious for lowering your testosterone and raising your blood sugar unless you’ve been prescribed a beta blocker by
A specialist then you need to give your healthcare provider a call and say hey why am i on a beta blocker and not one of the safer blood pressure medications the next drug class that’s a little more safe but still not ideal for your first blood pressure medication is the calcium channel blockers the drugs in this category uh are drugs like amlodipine diltiazem
For rapamil and nifedipine they have a long list of potential side effects just like any high blood pressure medication they really should not be considered the first line pill that you take when you’re newly diagnosed with high blood pressure if you’re currently on a calcium channel blocker as your first and only medication for blood pressure and you don’t have
Any other medical issues that’s time to make a call to your health care provider and ask why you’re on a calcium channel blocker instead of one of the safer options the next class of high blood pressure medication is the diuretic and the medications out of this class that you may be taking include hydrochlorothiazide chlor chlorothiazide or chlorthalidone these
Guys do lower blood pressure and there should be considered second line but you have to keep in mind that they do mess with your electrolyte balances and they can raise your blood sugar and probably should not be first line therapy for a newly diagnosed hypertensive the second safest class of high blood pressure medications is the ace inhibitors and they include
Drugs like bonazapril lysinopril and quinapril they all end in the suffix pril they are pretty darn safe for most people there are a ton of generic varieties that are very inexpensive and if your doctor has you on an ace inhibitor as your first blood pressure medication then that that’s a sign you got a pretty good doctor that’s up to date on the reading but
The ace inhibitors are not quite as side effect fake free as the next category so the safest blood pressure medication class that has the fewest side effects both serious and just annoying is the orbs and they uh there are drugs in this class like losartan valsartan and candace sartin and these drugs and i’ll put a link in the show notes below to a recent study
Comparing them to the ace inhibitors they have a little bit fewer side effects than the ace inhibitors and far fewer side effects than any of the other drug classes that i discussed previously on this video there are a couple of generic options if prices is an issue for you you can ask your healthcare provider to give you a generic orb instead of a name brand
And so that’s going to help with the pocketbook issues keep in mind that thousands upon thousands of people have reversed their high blood pressure by eating a very low carbohydrate diet that doesn’t include any vegetable seed oils but there are some few people who are even though they’re eating a proper human diet they need to take a low dose of one pill to
Keep their blood pressure low enough so that they’re not at increased risk for heart attack and stroke and if you are one of these people then you definitely need to be on an arb or an ace inhibitor as opposed to any of the other drug classes that i talk about in this video if you’re worried about your testosterone level then definitely avoid the beta blockers
If you’re worried about your blood sugar then avoid the the thiazide diuretics and the beta blockers as well and then all the the ones i talked about in the beginning of this video they they’re so side effect fraught that unless there is a specific reason that your doctor chose that medication then that’s probably not the right medication for you but as always
Do not stop a blood pressure medication until you have discussed it with your health care provider i hope this video helps this is dr barry i’ll see you next time
Transcribed from video
Safest BLOOD PRESSURE Medications in 2022 By KenDBerryMD
