This can't be healthy------------

[Mona~on~wheels]

I take a Midodrine at 9 am to bring my bp up, so I can get up without being dizzy.

I take a bp pill Lisinopril to bring my bp down at noon.

Then I take Midodrine at 4 pm to bring my bp up so I can eat & not pass out. Or I gulp for 2 hrs trying to breathe.

Then I take Amlodipine to bring my bp down at 8 pm.

My Dr's know I take both. They prescribed them.
But I know that's stupid. What should I do ?
Anyone else do this?

[madmaddmother]

Mona do you wear ted hose and a binder before getting up? maybe the doctors can have a meeting...I know nothing but that just doesn't seem safe...but they are the doc's...lets hope KDL chimes in...

[Mona~on~wheels]

Mona do you wear ted hose and a binder before getting up? maybe the doctors can have a meeting...I know nothing but that just doesn't seem safe...but they are the doc's...lets hope KDL chimes in...

Thanks Judy I wear Ted hose every day. But I can't get a binder to work with my sp catheter. I have to take the midodrine because of the bp medicine that takes my bp down. But if I don't take my bp meds to make it low my bp is too high. Crazy.

[thehipcrip]

My Dr's know I take both. They prescribed them.

This raises a red flag for me. Did the same doctor prescribe both meds, or did Doctor A prescribe one med and Doctor B the other?

If the drug you're taking for hypertension is lowering your BP too much and leaving you lightheaded, dizzy, etc., the answer is to try a different hypertension drug, not take another med to push your BP back up.

I would pick one doctor and tell him/her exactly what you told us here, and ask about a different med for high BP that would allow you to stop taking the Midodrine.

[Mona~on~wheels]

This raises a red flag for me. Did the same doctor prescribe both meds, or did Doctor A prescribe one med and Doctor B the other?

If the drug you're taking for hypertension is lowering your BP too much and leaving you lightheaded, dizzy, etc., the answer is to try a different hypertension drug, not take another med to push your BP back up.

I would pick one doctor and tell him/her exactly what you told us here, and ask about a different med for high BP that would allow you to stop taking the Midodrine.

Thanks thc! One Dr. prescribed 1 hypertension med. & midodrine. (at different times)
Another Dr. prescribed the other hypertension med.

They both have a list of ALL my meds.
The 2nd Dr. told me to take the bp meds 12 hrs apart. 1 morning & 1 night.
The 1st Dr. prescribed the midodrine when I told her I was dizzy getting up & other sci'd took it when they got up & at meals.

The hypertension meds are working good and they are happy with the results. But it's making it hard to get up or eat sitting up.

I could take less hypertension meds so I wouldn't get so low at those times, but my bp would mostly be higher than it should be at the other times.

But I do think I need to figure something out. But not sure what.

[TAM63]

What kind of doctors are these two that are prescribing the BP meds? I mean - GP, what kind of specialist, ???

It would seem to be that one doctor at a time ought to be treating blood pressure.

lol, this sort of reminds me of a tug of war - one doctor trying to push it up, one trying to pull it down.

Not making light of your problems of course Mona.

It might be that these are correct meds, but...

[Mona~on~wheels]

What kind of doctors are these two that are prescribing the BP meds? I mean - GP, what kind of specialist, ???

It would seem to be that one doctor at a time ought to be treating blood pressure.

lol, this sort of reminds me of a tug of war - one doctor trying to push it up, one trying to pull it down.

Not making light of your problems of course Mona.

It might be that these are correct meds, but...

No Tam thry're just trying to help me when I call and need help.

[TAM63]

Oh I understand they're trying to help. I didn't mean it as a criticism.

What I meant was - what type of doctor? A GP, an internist, a cardiologist etc.

The "tug of war" comment was just meant as a bit of a joke - I'm sorry if it wasn't funny.

It's just hard for multiple doctors to balance the effects of medication sometimes, that's the only reason I said it might be better for one doctor to handle both.

Sorry if I didn't say it well.

[SCI-Nurse]

MONA-

You should have one physician managing your blood pressure medications. If you can see a cardiologist, that might be the best answer. You really shouldn't be taking one med to bring something up and the other to bring it down.

My other question to you would be is do you know how much you blood pressure goes down? What are the ranges that you are running? I guess I am asking whether or not this is really your blood pressure or something else going on?

CKF

[Mona~on~wheels]

Tam I wasn't offended at all. I knew it was joke. No problem.


CKF thanks for answering. I've been thinking maybe I should see a cardiologist.
I'm not sure it it's true hypertension. I believe some if not most is mild AD.
It started when I had to stay in bed with a red spot.
I sleep in one position for 7.5-8.0 night on a low air loss mattress.
My bp was going up during this time staying in bed 24 x 7.
Plus the red spot. Mostly somewhere around 145-125.
But it was going even higher at times.
I was taking procardia 1 or 2 times a 24 hr period every day.
Then one of the nurses here said not to use procardia to control my bp on a regular basis. kwim?
So I went to my family Dr. & he gave me lisinopril. Which helped some.
A couple more months & it still getting real high at times I saw my other Dr. an Internist. I was there for something else and told her my bp was still high at times. Then I started amlodipine.
So know it stays low around from 95-60 to 125-80 when I lay down.
Which is usually when it goes up.
But it's way too low most of the time when I 1st get up or eat because of the 2 hypertension meds.
I can't figure it out.

Thanks everyone.

[TAM63]

Thanks

Hopefully the nurse will chime in, but if the problem is SCI related, perhaps you need an expert in that area. If it actually is cardiac, then a cardiologist would probably be good. Perhaps even your current internist can handle it.

But I truly believe that one doctor should handle the blood pressure - when there are a bunch of doctors, even when they are aware of other meds, they do not always (rarely? ever?) coordinate the medications very well.

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

[Mona~on~wheels]

Thanks

Hopefully the nurse will chime in, but if the problem is SCI related, perhaps you need an expert in that area. If it actually is cardiac, then a cardiologist would probably be good. Perhaps even your current internist can handle it.

But I truly believe that one doctor should handle the blood pressure - when there are a bunch of doctors, even when they are aware of other meds, they do not always (rarely? ever?) coordinate the medications very well.

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

I agree. They barely even look at the meds I'm taking.
It's in a computer in their office.
I was thinking maybe the pc was seeing if they were compatible.
I have a physiatrist. Maybe I should see her. But she has the list too.

[TAM63]

I would put no faith at all on "they have the list". I realize it would seem logical that would work, and they would take into account all your medications and their effects.

But I can tell you, as an example, from our uproar (medication interaction) last weekened - they don't.

There are interaction checkers that can be used - but doctors or pharmacists have to choose to do that. Nothing will "pop up" unless the medications should never be used together, or they have some actual interaction between the medications - that probably isn't the case with yours. So you cannot count on the PCs - someone has to actually think about it. And sometimes, you have to ASK them to actually think about it.

[Mona~on~wheels]

I would put no faith at all on "they have the list". I realize it would seem logical that would work, and they would take into account all your medications and their effects.

But I can tell you, as an example, from our uproar (medication interaction) last weekened - they don't.

There are interaction checkers that can be used - but doctors or pharmacists have to choose to do that. Nothing will "pop up" unless the medications should never be used together, or they have some actual interaction between the medications - that probably isn't the case with yours. So you cannot count on the PCs - someone has to actually think about it. And sometimes, you have to ASK them to actually think about it.

Well if you look my meds up online most of them could intensify each other. Due to they're all doing the same thing. Keeping up with everything is a full time job. I have a To Do List that is overwhelming me. I'm also tired of going to so many different Dr's. grrrrr

Thanks Tam I'm going to get with a Dr. and work this out.

[sjean423]

Good idea Mona, the fact that you are on 3 different meds to control your bp doesn;t seem like it is the best route.

Its as if you complained you were cold, so they told you to put on a sweater, and then you were too hot, so turn on the air conditioner, and then turn on the heat as well, if you were too cold again ....

When maybe the sweater was too much in the first place .....