Re: Report About Taking Blood Pressure Meds At Night

[goldey]

You probably saw the reports yesterday, the results of a study showing that taking blood pressure pills at night is much more effective. Here's a summary medicalnewstoday.com/articl.... I called my Canadian pharmacist today to ask him about the safest way to move my meds from taking them in the morning to taking them 12 hours later. (I take Bisoprolol, Lipitor and Candesartin at 9 AM, and Rivaroxiban at 9 PM.) He said he's been getting a lot of calls about this report! But he feels that he's not ready to advise people to do this yet, until there is more discussion about it. He told me to talk to my cardiologist about it before I make any changes. If YOU get any advice about this, please share with everybody. thanks!

[bantam12]

I took Bisoprolol at night and was the only way I could tolerate it. My sister is a Pharmacist and she suggested it some years ago.

[BobD Volunteer]

I can't understand why people take drugs in the morning unless twice a day. I have always taken mine with dinner each evening. No forgetting, no problems and if there are any side effects you sleep them off. Simples.

[dani777 in reply to BobD]

another really judgemental post. you "cannot understand" why some people take meds in the morning. really? i can't understand why you can't understand this, to be honest. Some meds cause insomnia, so docs recommend to take them in the morning, not evening. Other meds do not make you tired or feel sick or dizzy, they are well tolerated meds so you could take them in the morning if you wanted and it would make no difference. how did you get to be so judgemental? it's almost as if you cannot write anything without making some sort of judgement or loaded comment. i've said it before on here, this is a support forum, least supposed to be, and i think it's important to be mindful of what you write, and how you write it. i can see that you consider yourself to be a sort of king on here, but regardless, being kind (note the d at the end, not g), and being mindful of what you write should still apply.

[wilsond]

My gp told me this a few years back and it made a big difference. Thank you for sharing,I was going to post on this!

[goldey in reply to wilsond]

what makes a big difference? taking the pills at night?

[Tudee in reply to wilsond]

What was the “big difference” please, what dose are you on, and what were the unwanted effects of taking Bisoprolol in the morning. .?

[woodbon]

I heard this on the radio. It does sort of make sense that they work when you are asleep and so you wake up feeling more lively! I take mine in the morning but may ask about taking them at night.

[kkatz]

I switched to taking bp meds at night when I was on more than I am now and still working as I could be a bit dizzy & sluggish . Easier than try to function as the pills hit in.

[Jalia]

I was told 17 years ago to take my blood pressure tabs ...Candesartan..at night to give maximum protection as risk of heart attack is highest in the early morning hours

[pottypete1]

I used to take BP tablets in the morning but some time ago I heard it was more beneficial in the evening.

I suppose it depends on how severe your high blood pressure is but without guidance (maybe not the best approach to take), one day I just didn’t take my BP tablet in the morning and then took it in the evening.

I didn’t feel a thing and have continued with that regime since.

Pete

[Heart1234Wisconsin]

A hospitalist told me that diltiaZEM, lassix, and another drug I’m taking could significantly impact my blood pressure and that taking my BP prior to taking medication was a smart move. I found that he was right. The diltiaZEM, for example, lowered my BP from 150/90 to 125/70 in a little less than an hour. Had my BP been 125/70 initially, it may well have dipped too much......so I’m checking my BP, rather than switching to night dosage.

[Shcldavies]

What I am not too sure about is the effect they will have on HR, I take 1.25 Bisoprolol in the morning and my HR drops to low 50s when sleeping. It would be nice to know the effectiveness profile of Bisoprolol to make an informed judgement, as far as I understand (not sure), the effectiveness increases from 30 mins to 2 hrs after taking them, then stays reasonably constant dropping by half over the next 24 hours. If this were in fact the case then by taking Bisoprolol in the evening my HR could drop even lower during sleep. The other question is do you need the Beta Blockers to work best when your active to stop your BP going too high or is it best for them to be most effective when your sleeping to lower you BP by the maximum. I suspect it can be different foreach of us. Too many variables too little knowledge!

[CDreamer in reply to Shcldavies]

That was also my understanding. However - I couldn’t tolerate Bisoprolol which is the only beta blocker I ever took as I don’t have high BP, quite the opposite in fact and one of the reasons I was SO hesitant in taking Bisoprolol or any Beta Blocker was that my BP rarely got above 85/55! However, I spoke to my GP who assured me that it may help stabilise my BP and I have to say - he was right - it did help and I did take at night as the affects when taken in the morning were horrific, the fatigue and breathlessness overwhelming. Just about tolerable taken at night, although my Cardiologist of the time disagreed. ?????!!!!

I am interested now as my husband is on a cocktail of 5 drugs to try lower his BP and he just asked me the same question so I said I would research for him.

[Shcldavies in reply to CDreamer]

That’s interesting I will give it a go at evening time. Thank you.

[Glenn50]

I have taken half my alpha blocker BP meds along with some other meds at bed time on doctors orders then the other BP meds including metoprolol and candesartan and others at 4am every morning for many years. It has become a habit waking up for a few minutes.

I do this because I am also on steroid replacements due to no adrenals (cancer op) and it is better to mimic what happens with hormones in a healthy body that start to kick in as the body slowly awakens.

By the time I wake up fully at 7am all the meds are working and my BP and heart rythym are good.

When I end up in hospital it has to revert back to their rules taking meds at 8am after shifts change and the meds are thrown out of kilter. .

[angell1950]

I agree with bob I use to take mine in the morning but felt lousy : so I take a NOAC in the morning and the rest at night before bed : it’s been much better

[Ladypaula]

I also agree that taking them at night is much better.The beta blocker when taken on a morning gave me brain fog and made me feel like I was walking through treacle.The arrythmia nurse suggested switching to taking it at night which I have done for the past year and it has made a big difference.

[Crystalbowl]

I saw my Cardiac GP yesterday and mentioned this research. He had prescribed Candesartan some time ago and suggested then that I take it at night which I do. I have also been on Bisoprolol 10mg which I took in the morning with, Riveroxaban, Furosemide and Spironolactone but he changed the Bisoprolol to Carvedilol 25mg yesterday, one in the morning and one in the evening (total 50mg daily) so will see how I get on with this. Am having CRT-P next Thursday. Was a bit upset to discover I will still need all these meds after the op.

[Eastmids]

I agree with bob I was put on bisoprolol and suffered in the morning couldn’t function

Go said take it at night then just take apaxiban morning and night

Since then I have been much improved my no has reduced considerably I sleep better and feel less brain fog and breathlessness as the side affects are mainly gone by the time I wake up

[ILowe]

Taking meds in the morning or the evening. There is no general rule. I can quote the properties of medicines, below, but these properties are subject to sometimes huge personal variability.

I found that when I took bisoprolol in the evening, I often had night time AF. This is not surprising because bisoprolol kicks in after 1-2 hours and peaks at 2-4 hours. Bisoprolol lowers the heart rate and the blood pressure on top of the natural night time lowering. One way the body compensates is to initiate AF. Now, I know that once loaded with a medicine these effects are smoothed somewhat. I found something similar with flecainide (usually taken twice daily) and now take a reduced dose in the evening.

The academic discussion of the findings has only just begun. Of interest on this forum is AF was excluded. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, history of alcoholism or narcotic addiction, night or rotating shift-work employment, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, secondary hypertension, CVD and certain associated medical conditions (unstable angina pectoris, heart failure, life-threatening arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, kidney failure, and grade III–IV retinopathy),

The other major problem is obvious, and I am unsure why the study did not address it.

The major limitation of the Hygia Chronotherapy Trial is that its findings require validation and extrapolation to other ethnic groups. In addition, our trial did not assign participants to specific hypertension medication classes or specific list of medications within each class. How I wish the study had done that. I would like to know why they did not take this extra step.

[Roto]

How long does medication stay in your body at an active level...is it better to have 2 x 25 mg...12 hours apart (Am /Pm

I have 2x25 cardiologist approved for Bp control