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Forum Name: Hypertension

Question: Hypertension

Nima - Sat May 12, 2007 2:41 am

Hello I have been having pain in the back of my head for years now. It usually happens once or wice a month. Maximum 4 times a month. About a month ago I was sitting in front of my monitor where I felt dizzy and decided to check my blood pressure, it was 160/115. I went to hospital and they did an EGK, it was OK. They kept me there until my BP came down. They did blood test and every thing was OK. They asked me to follow up with my Doctor, so I did. My Doctor asked me to monitor my blood pressure over a week and give her the daily average. My daily average was high, like 140/95. She asked me about my father and I told her he has high blood pressure and he is also on medication. He is however 73 years old and I am 38 years old. My doctor decided to put me on medication, so she gave me Ramipril which is a ACE inhabitor, 5 mg once a day. I have been taking this pill for the past 3 weeks now. In the first week my average was good, like 130/80. But now it seems like my BP is slightly going up again. For example, tonight since 6:00 pm it's been around 140/90 in average. It went up to 145/100 at one point. I am no longer having my pains in the back of my head since I am on ramipril, but I know for sure if I was not taking this pill, tonight would have been one of those nights where I would have my pain in the head. Every other day I go for a long 1 hour walk and after the walk my average BP is 125/75. I do not eat salty food and I am a smoker. I also believe I do have stress. Here is my question, Should I be worried about being on Ramipril and still sometimes having high BP like tonight? Should I increase the dosage from 5 mg to higher number? Basically I am worried that I should be on a higher dosage and my doctor did not put me on. Also, when blood pressure goes up due to stress or smoking, should it come down in 5 or 10 minutes? Is it normal to have BP of 130/90 in average over period of 6 hours even though I am on Ramipril? Thanks

Nima - Wed May 16, 2007 5:13 pm

OK, looks like it takes a while to get answers here. Which is cool! But I have an update, I am now on 10 mg Ramipril on a divided dose. 5 mg at 7:00 am and 5:00 mg at 7:00 pm. My Doctor says the drug takes effect immediately, I have been on the 10 mg for 24 hours now but my blood pressure is 135/91 . I started taking Ramipril a month ago, 5 mg first. I guess my question is should I wait a month again to see the effect of the drug or does this drug work right away and since my BP is still high I should change my pills?

Debbie Miller, RN - Tue Jun 12, 2007 8:48 pm

Whenever you are dealing with high blood pressure, it is a good idea to stay in contact with your physician. It can take a while to regulate the medication and dosage. I would not suggest taking anything other than what your doctor has prescribed but of course he/she would not be aware of your continuing problems unless you verbalize it so I would talk to your doctor and be sure to get adequate follow up care during the time of dose regulation.

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