High blood pressure meds

[Libertylane]

How do people cope with high blood pressure meds and prednisone. I take Lisinopril and hydrochlorothiazide.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I take what the cardiologist says and have had no problems at all. It is possible that if you were taking them before you may need the dose adjusted - but if you have GCA affecting chest arteries it is not unknown for that to increase the BP and so prednisone helps reduce it as the inflammation is reduced. On the other hand, pred can lead to raised BP.

Unfortunately there isn't a single answer to most of your questions and you need to discuss them with your doctors who can see you and your symptoms first hand.

[nuigini]

You haven't said what issues you may be having. I've been on various levels of BP meds for years, higher dose when on higher levels of prednisone. I always took the BP meds in the morning a few hours after taking prednisone.

One thing I discovered only recently was that taking the BP meds at night may help to reduce some of the side effects of the medication, which are very similar to those of prednisone. I tried it and found my head was much clearer and my ability to concentrate was much better.

You may want to discuss this approach with your doctor.

[Grammy80]

Just saying...I also take lisinopril and the prednisone pushed my BP up....but...they never increased the dosage because as the pred was cut back my BP went down. Many of these physical responses that are drug-induced are just temorary. Your doc will keep an eye on it. Though I saw some high numbers in the beginning I'm back to a '120 gal'.