Hypertension/High Blood Pressure Health Center

High Blood Pressure and Medication Safety

One of the goals when you take medication for high blood pressure is to be sure that your medication is working effectively to lower your blood pressure. One step toward achieving this goal is to avoid some medications. What kinds of problems might medicine cause?

• Some medicines can make blood pressure rise. If you have high blood pressure to begin with, it can rise to dangerous levels.
• Some medications may interact with your blood pressure medicine. This can prevent either medicine from working properly.

Here are common types of medicines that can make your high blood pressure worse.

Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

NSAIDs include both prescription and over-the-counter medicine. They are often used to relieve pain or reduce inflammation from conditions such as arthritis. However, NSAIDs can make your body retain fluid and decrease the function of your kidneys. This may cause your blood pressure to rise even higher, putting greater stress on your heart and kidneys.

Common NSAIDs include:

• Aspirin
• Ibuprofen
• Naproxen

You may also find NSAIDs in over-the-counter medication for other health problems. Cold medicine, for example, often contains NSAIDs. It's a good idea whenever you purchase an over-the-counter medicine to check the label for NSAIDs. Ask your doctor if any NSAID is OK for you to use. Your doctor may be able to recommend alternatives, such as using acetaminophen instead of ibuprofen.

Cough and Cold Medications

Many cough and cold medications contain NSAIDs to relieve pain. NSAIDs may increase your blood pressure. Cough and cold medicines also frequently contain decongestants. Decongestants can make blood pressure worse in two ways:

• Decongestants may make your blood pressure and heart rate rise.
• Decongestants may prevent your blood pressure medication from working properly.

What can you do? Avoid using cough and cold medicine that contains NSAIDs or decongestants. Ask your doctor for suggestions about other ways to ease symptoms of cold, flu, or sinus problems.

Migraine Headache Medications

Some migraine medicines work by tightening blood vessels in your head. This relieves migraine pain. However, the medication also constricts blood vessels throughout your body. This makes your blood pressure rise, perhaps to dangerous levels.

If you have high blood pressure or any other type of heart disease, talk with your doctor before taking medication for migraines or severe headaches.

Weight Loss Medications

Some weight loss medications may make heart disease worse:

• Meridia (sibutramine) can make your blood pressure and heart rate rise. Although it usually rises only a little, this can be dangerous if you already have high blood pressure or other heart disease.
• Appetite suppressants tend to "rev" up your body. This can make blood pressure rise and put more stress on your heart.

Before using any weight loss medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter, be sure to check with your doctor. These medications may do you more harm than good.

More Tips for Avoiding Medication Problems

Be sure any medications you choose to use are safe for people who have high blood pressure. These suggestions can help:

• Give a list of ALL the medications you use, both prescription and over-the-counter, to every doctor you visit.
• Read medication labels before buying over-the-counter preparations. Make sure the medicine doesn't contain ingredients that could make your high blood pressure worse, such as NSAIDs or decongestants.
• Talk to your doctor before using any over-the-counter medication, herbal preparation, vitamins, or other nutritional supplements. Ask for alternatives to potentially harmful medicines.

Sinusitis

Treatment Overview

Sinusitis is treated with medications and home treatment methods, such as applying moist heat to your face. The goals of treatment for sinusitis are to:

• Improve drainage of mucus and reduce swelling in the sinuses.
• Relieve pain and pressure.
• Clear up any infection.
• Prevent the formation of scar tissue, and avoid permanent damage to the tissues lining the nose and sinuses.

Medications may be used to treat sinusitis, especially when it is caused by a bacterial infection. There are varying lengths of treatment with medications-treatment may be as short as three days or last as long as several weeks or more. Medications most often used to treat sinusitis include a combination of:

• Antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, which kill bacteria.
• Decongestants, such as pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, which reduce the swelling of the mucous membranes in the nose.
• Analgesics, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen, to relieve pain.
• Mucolytics, such as guaifenesin, which thin the mucus.
• Corticosteroids, such as beclomethasone dipropionate or prednisone, which reduce inflammation in the nasal passages. These medications may also be used as an inhaled nasal spray.

Inhaled antibiotics are a fairly new treatment choice for chronic sinusitis. Initial studies show that since inhaled antibiotics make direct contact with the mucous membranes, they may be effective when other treatments have failed.¹

It is possible to develop "double sickening" while being treated for acute or chronic sinusitis. At first, you may begin to feel better from antibiotics and home treatment, but then your symptoms become worse and additional treatment may be needed.

For acute sinusitis

Short-term (acute) sinusitis usually lasts less than 4 weeks. Up to two-thirds of people with acute sinusitis improve on their own without antibiotic treatment.² Sinus infections are commonly caused by viral infections, which do not respond to antibiotics. Antibiotics may cause bothersome side effects (such as diarrhea or upset stomach) and also may contribute to your becoming resistant to antibiotics in the future. Talking with your health professional will help you determine whether treatment with antibiotics is needed for your acute sinus infection.

After one or two bouts of sinusitis, you may be able to recognize the early symptoms of a sinus infection. Using steam to relieve nasal congestion at the first sign of a sinus infection may relieve your symptoms and prevent the need for antibiotics. For more information, see the Home Treatment section of this topic.

Most people recover completely when treated with an antibiotic for acute sinusitis that is caused by a bacterial infection. The number of days you take antibiotics depends on the antibiotic and the severity of the infection. When you are prescribed an antibiotic, be sure to take it until it is gone, even if you feel better. It is important to always take an antibiotic exactly as your health professional tells you, or the infection may not go away completely.

If symptoms get worse during antibiotic treatment, contact your health professional. You may need to take the antibiotic longer, or you may need to try a different antibiotic.

If you had a sinus infection that lasted a long time, it may take weeks or months for the mucous membranes that line your nose and sinuses to fully recover, and some minor symptoms may continue after the bacteria have been killed. During this time, there is an increased chance that the infection may return. Longer treatment with antibiotics may be needed.

Decongestants and medications that thin mucus may also be used. Do not give cough and cold medicines to a child younger than 2 unless your child’s doctor has told you to. If your child’s doctor tells you to give a medicine, be sure to follow what he or she tells you to do.

For chronic sinusitis

Sinusitis that lasts 8 weeks or longer is called chronic sinusitis. It is more difficult to treat and responds more slowly to antibiotics than acute sinusitis.

Antibiotic therapy is usually recommended for chronic sinusitis and may require a longer course of treatment. You may need to try more than one antibiotic. A corticosteroid nasal spray that reduces inflammation and swelling of the lining of the nasal passages may also be used during treatment.

In some people, a sinus infection may be caused by a fungus or a bacterium other than those normally associated with sinusitis. People who have an impaired immune system are at risk for these unusual infections. It also may include people who must use an oral or inhaled corticosteroid medication (such as prednisone). Fungal sinusitis, which accounts for a significant number of chronic sinusitis cases, does not respond to antibiotic treatment and may need treatment with anti-fungal medications, corticosteroids, or surgery.

Surgery may be required if you have taken antibiotics for an extended period of time but still have symptoms or when complications (such as infection of facial bones) are likely. For more information, see:

Should I have surgery for sinusitis?

What To Think About

Sinusitis may be difficult to diagnose because it often causes the same symptoms as a cold or other viral illness, especially in its early stages. It can be particularly difficult to identify sinusitis in children. If your child or you have frequent sinus infections, learn what signs to watch for, and begin home treatment immediately.

Symptoms of chronic sinusitis are often vague and may not respond well to treatment. It may take time and patience to find a successful treatment.

RELAXALL Enhances Sound Sleep, Nervous Tension Relief

RELAXALL is designed to relieve nervous tension, calm anxiety, and promote soundsleep without causing next-day grogginess, by mildly regulating the irritability of the nervous system and lessening various body pains.

SUGGESTED USE:

1 to 2 vegicap/s 2-3 times daily between meals. Never take more than 2 vegicaps during the daytime. For better sleep, take 2-3 vegicaps 30-60 minutes before bedtime.

INGREDIENTS:

Chamomile Flower B.E.E. -- contains volatile oils, including alpha-bisabolol, alpha-basibolol oxides A & B and matricin (usually converted to chamazulene). Other active constituents include the flavonoids apigenin, luteolin and quercetin. These active ingredients contribute to chamomile's anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and smooth muscle relaxing action, particularly in the gastro-intestinal tract. Besides being beneficial for the digestive system, Chamomile is also helpful with anxiety and insomnia.

Passion Flower Herb B.E.E. -- contains a group of alkaloids and flavonoids that have relaxing and anti-anxiety effects on the body. It primarily works on the nervous system, particularly for anxiety due to mental worry and overwork. It is also good for insomnia and several varieties of pain.

Hops Herb B.E.E. -- is high in two bitter constituents, humulone and lupulone. these are thought to be responsible for the improvement of poor appetite. It also contains volatile oils. It has sedative and anti-anxiety properties and helps with insomnia, particularly for those with insomnia resulting from an upset stomach.

Albizzia Fruit B.E.E. -- helps relieve emotional constraint when associated with symptoms of bad temper, depression, insomnia, irritability and poor memory. It also relieves pain and dissipates abscesses and swelling due to trauma (including fractures).

=======================

INSOMNIA

Insomnia is a sleep disorder of difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms.

• Difficulty falling asleep
  
• Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep
  
• Waking up too early in the morning
• Having sleep that is not refreshing

Kinds of Insomnia

• Primary insomnia - a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem.

• Secondary insomnia - a person is having sleep problems because of certain factors, such as a health condition (for example, asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer, or heartburn), pain, medicine they are taking, or a substance they are using (such as alcohol or coffee).

Insomnia also varies in how long it lasts and how often it occurs. It can be short-term (acute insomnia) or can last a long time (chronic insomnia). Insomnia can also come and go, with periods of time when a person has no sleep problems.

• Acute insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks.


• Insomnia is called chronic when a person has insomnia at least three nights a week of a month or longer.

There are still other ways to classify insomnia. One of the most common forms of insomnia is called psychophysiological ("mind-body") insomnia. This is a disorder of learned, sleep-preventing associations, such as not being able to sleep because either the body or mind is not relaxed.

People with this insomnia usually have excessive, daily worries about not being able to fall or stay asleep when desired and worry that their efforts to fall asleep will be unsuccessful. Many people with this condition are concerned that they will never have a good night of sleep again.

Stress is the most common cause of psychophysiological insomnia. While sleep problems are common when going through a stressful event, some people continue to have sleep problems long after the stressful event is over. Sometimes the stress and sleep problems create an ongoing, worsening cycle of each problem.

Approximately 50 per cent of adults experience occasional bouts of insomnia, and 1 in 10 complain of chronic insomnia.

Insomnia is approximately twice as common in women as in men, and is more common in older than younger people.

In addition to stress, the other causes of acute insomnia include:

• Other significant types of life stressors (job loss or change, death of a loved one, moving)
  
• Illness
• Medications
• Emotional or physical discomfort
• Environmental factors, such as noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep
• Things that interfere with a normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example)

Causes of chronic insomnia include the following:

• Depression


• Chronic stress


• Pain or discomfort at night

Symptoms of insomnia include sleepiness during the day, general tiredness, irritability, and problems with concentration or memory.

SOURCE: MedicineNet.com

You might also like:

KLEER HEAD Alleviates Migraine And Other Types of Headaches

ENERMAX - Enhances Energy and Vitality

B.E.E. (Bio-Enhanced Extraction) Process

LinkWithin