High Blood Pressure Medicines

Imagine that your arteries are pipes that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal.

High blood pressure medicines (also called antihypertensive medicines) can help lower your blood pressure. The goal of treatment is to reduce your blood pressure to normal levels with medicine that is easy to take and has few, if any, side effects. Your doctor may also talk to you about the benefits of lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet, being physically active and losing weight if you're overweight.

There are several types of medicine used to treat high blood pressure. Your doctor will decide which type of medicine is right for you.

Diuretics (water pills) help your body get rid of extra sodium (salt) and water so your blood vessels don't have to hold so much fluid.

Beta-blockers make the heart beat slower so that blood passes through your blood vessels with less force.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (also called ACE inhibitors) keep your body from making angiotensin II, a hormone that causes blood vessels to narrow. This relaxes your blood vessels.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (also called ARBs) relax your blood vessels by blocking the effects of angiotensin II, a hormone that causes blood vessels to narrow.

Calcium channel blockers (also called CCBs) help keep your blood vessels from constricting (becoming narrow) by blocking calcium from entering your cells.

Alpha-blockers help relax your blood vessels by reducing nerve impulses. This allows your blood to pass through more easily.

Alpha-beta blockers not only reduce nerve impulses, but also make the heart beat slower so the blood passes through the vessels with less force.

Centrally acting drugs affect your brain and central nervous system to reduce the nerve impulses that can increase your heart rate and cause your blood vessels to narrow.

Direct vasodilators relax the muscles in the blood vessel walls. This causes the blood vessels to widen.

All medicines have side effects. Some common side effects of high blood pressure medicines include the following:

Tell your doctor as soon as possible if your side effects become severe or bothersome.

If you use 2 or more drugs at the same time, the way your body processes each drug can change. When this happens, the risk of side effects from each drug increases and each drug may not work the way it should. This is called a "drug-drug interaction." Vitamins and herbal supplements can also affect the way your body processes medicine.

Certain foods or drinks can also prevent your medicine from working the way it should or make side effects worse. This is called a "drug-food interaction." For example, people taking certain CCBs may need to avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice.

Be certain that your doctor knows all of the over-the-counter and prescription medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements you are taking.

Also, ask your doctor whether you need to avoid any foods or drinks while using your blood pressure medicine.