Blood pressure medicine before or after meals?

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-01-31

Uncle Zeng is 65 years old this year, and he was just diagnosed with high blood pressure last month, and when he took the medicine in the hospital, he told Uncle Zeng that this blood pressure medicine needs to be taken once a day, one at a time.

After returning home, Uncle Zeng remembered that he forgot to ask **, should blood pressure medicine be taken before or after meals. Since the hospital is far away from home, and there are only two people in the family, Uncle Zeng and Grandma Zeng, and the old man's legs and feet are not very convenient, so Uncle Zeng plans to go to the hospital next month to ask the doctor, and this month he will insist on eating after eating.

In the following time, Uncle Zeng insisted on taking blood pressure medicine after meals every day, and after taking a half-hour rest after eating, he took Grandma Zeng to go for a walk. If it's still early, the two of them will also dance square dance with other elderly people in the community, or play chess and chat.

Until one day half a month later, Uncle Zeng went for a walk in the community and met his friend Lao Zhang, when the two chatted together, they were surprised to find that both of them were high blood pressure patients, and then the more they talked, the more speculative they became。Uncle Zeng asked Lao Zhang, do you usually take medicine before or after meals?Lao Zhang said that he usually eats before meals, and the doctor told him that taking blood pressure medication before meals has the best effect

Uncle Zeng pondered it like this, and felt that what the doctor said must be rightI should also take blood pressure medicine before meals from tomorrow;In the remaining half a month, Uncle Zeng began to take blood pressure medicine before meals.

When it was time for the reexamination, Uncle Zeng went to the hospital earlyAfter the doctor examined Uncle Zeng, he found that Uncle Zeng's blood pressure still did not come down, so I asked Uncle Zeng if he hadn't taken his medicine on time recently. Uncle Zeng said that he took medicine on time every day and insisted on walking, but,Because I don't know whether this blood pressure medicine is taken before or after meals, I took it after meals for the first half of the month and before meals for the second half of the month

After listening to what Uncle Zeng said, the doctor realized that Uncle Zeng did not know the reason why he took blood pressure medicine before or after meals, so he explained to Uncle Zeng that he could only take one blood pressure medicine after a meal, and he did not need to take it before a meal. Then, Uncle Zeng continued to ask, his friend said that blood pressure medicine should be taken before meals to have the best effect, will the effect of taking it after meals not be so good?

Doctors said that there are many kinds of antihypertensive drugs, some antihypertensive drugs are better when taken before meals, some antihypertensive drugs are taken after meals, and some antihypertensive drugs are taken in the morning on an empty stomach or before going to bed at night. Everyone's physical condition is different, doctors prescribe drugs according to the patient's physical condition, blood pressure drugs are different, and the way to eat them is also different, and the blood pressure medicine that Uncle Zeng is taking now needs to be taken after meals, and the effect of taking it before meals is not so good.

In fact, many patients with high blood pressure are like Uncle Zeng, and they don't know whether their blood pressure medicine is better to take before or after meals. Therefore, today the doctor is here to give you a detailed answer.

Like Mr. Zeng, many patients with high blood pressure don't know when they take blood pressure medication when it is most effective, so they listen to others and use drugs indiscriminately. However, indiscriminate medication is very harmful to patients with high blood pressure. If you don't take the medicine correctly, the effect of the medicine will not be the best, the blood pressure will fluctuate too much, and the burden on the blood vessels will be too large, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases will easily occur, so doctors recommend that all patients with high blood pressure must correctly understand the time of taking antihypertensive drugs.

In general, people with high blood pressure have spikes in blood pressureTwin peaks and a valleyThis means thatIn 24 hours a day, there are 2 peaks and 1 trough in blood pressure in hypertensive patients. One of these two peaks is between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and the other is between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., when blood pressure is highest in people with high blood pressure. After this period, the blood pressure will slowly drop, and by 2 to 3 a.m., the blood pressure will drop to the lowest level

There are many types of blood pressure medications, depending on how long these blood pressure drugs workWe can divide antihypertensive drugs into three types: short-acting, intermediate-acting, and long-acting antihypertensive drugs。Short-acting antihypertensive drugs have a relatively short blood pressure reduction time, which can only last for a few hours. The lowering time of intermediate-acting antihypertensive drugs will be longer, about 10 hours. Long-acting antihypertensive drugs have the longest maintenance time, lasting about 24 hours. However, whether it is a short-acting antihypertensive drug or a medium-acting or long-acting antihypertensive drug, the antihypertensive effect will slowly weaken after taking the drug for more than ten hours. In order to maintain the antihypertensive effect, hypertensive patients must take antihypertensive drugs on time every day, otherwise it may lead to large fluctuations in blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

For short-acting antihypertensive drugs, because the antihypertensive effect is poor, it is necessary to take short-acting antihypertensive drugs 3 times a day to have the effect of lowering blood pressure throughout the day。There are many types of short-acting antihypertensive drugs, such as captopril and so on, and food can affect the absorption of short-acting antihypertensive drugs, therefore,When taking short-acting antihypertensive drugs, try to choose to take them before meals to avoid reducing the efficacy of the drugs and affecting the antihypertensive effect

Intermediate-acting antihypertensive drugs lower blood pressure for a longer period of time than short-acting antihypertensive drugs, so in general, intermediate-acting antihypertensive drugs can be taken twice a day. For most of the medium-potency antihypertensive drugs, such as nifedipine sustained-release tablets, enalapril, etc., you can try to choose to take the medicine around 7 am and 15 pm, so that the effect can last for one day

Long-acting antihypertensive drugs have the longest blood pressure reduction time, and patients can reach the highest blood concentration after taking long-acting antihypertensive drugs for about 2 hours, and the effect can last for a whole day. Therefore, long-acting antihypertensive drugs generally only need to be taken once a day, such as amlodipine, losartan, etc., which are long-acting antihypertensive drugs. Long-acting antihypertensive drugs are generally recommended to be taken on an empty stomach after waking up for better results。Some foods may affect the effectiveness of long-acting antihypertensive drugs, so try to avoid taking them with food to maintain blood pressure stability more effectively. However, some long-acting antihypertensive drugs (such as felodipine extended-release tablets) are irritating to the gastrointestinal tract and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, so for these antihypertensive drugs, patients can choose to take them after meals

Of course, the specific drug should be analyzed specifically, and the doctor suggests that patients with high blood pressure must follow the doctor's instructions when taking medicine, and do not change the ** plan and change the time of taking medicine without authorization, otherwise it may lead to serious consequences.

If the blood pressure still does not come down after taking the antihypertensive drugs, you can carry out 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and seek the help of the doctor to increase the dose or type of drug under the guidance of the doctor. If it is only poorly controlled for a certain period of time, there is no need to adjust the dosage and increase the variety, and do not increase the dosage without authorization.

Doctors advise every patient with high blood pressure to keep in mind the following two principles during the period of taking antihypertensive drugs, otherwise it is equivalent to taking antihypertensive drugs for nothing.

1) Antihypertensive drugs can not be eaten

Many patients with high blood pressure are afraid that taking too many drugs will be bad for their health in the process of taking antihypertensive drugs, so they choose to use the method of eating and stopping, but the doctor here advises everyone that when taking antihypertensive drugs, you must not eat and stop.

There was once a patient, 68 years old, who had high blood pressure for 10 years, and during the period of taking antihypertensive drugs, he often forgot to take the medicine, and sometimes his family urged him to take the medicine, but he did not take it, feeling that he was in good health, and it was okay to take less than a few days. In the end, he fainted due to cerebral hemorrhage, and his family sent him to the hospital.

Therefore, patients with high blood pressure must keep in mind the doctor's instructions in the process of taking medicine, and do not reduce or stop the medicine casually. Stopping when taking antihypertensive drugs will cause blood pressure to rise and fall, and in the long run, it is easy to cause irreparable damage to the blood vessel wall and rupture blood vessels

Once a blood vessel ruptures, it needs to be resuscitated, and if you are lucky, you can save your life, and if you are unlucky, you will die. Therefore, you must not take blood pressure medication as a trivial matter, you must take it seriously, remember your time of taking the medicine, and take the medicine when you arrive.

2) During the period of taking the drug, pay attention to monitoring the blood pressure:

Patients with high blood pressure should pay attention to monitoring their blood pressure during the period of taking the drug, and consult a doctor in time if the blood pressure fluctuates to a large extent

Many people with high blood pressure do not like to monitor their blood pressure while taking medication, and they generally do not monitor it unless it is required by a doctor. But this practice is wrong, people with high blood pressure can not only help themselves better understand their physical condition, but also help the doctor follow-up**.

At the same time,Patients with high blood pressure should also pay attention to their own physical condition during the period of taking the medicine, and should be extra careful if they frequently experience symptoms such as dizziness, headache, nausea, poor speech, and numbness of the body, and it is best to seek medical attention in timeto avoid cerebral infarction and other conditions.

Blood pressure is affected by many factors, so doctors recommend that patients with high blood pressure should also pay special attention in their daily life, especially to pay attention to diet. Don't eat too many foods that are high in fat, calories, cholesterol and sugar, as too much of these foods can also cause blood pressure fluctuations. Cook lightly and don't put too much oil and salt.

You can also do some exercises appropriately, such as yoga, walking, etc., which can not only help exercise the body, but also promote blood circulation and assist in lowering blood pressure. After being diagnosed with high blood pressure, we need to take medicine for life, so we must learn to live with high blood pressure. Take medicine well, pay attention to diet, exercise more, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and maintain a healthy lifestyle, then blood pressure will definitely be stabilized, and it will not have much impact on our daily life.

Many people, like Mr. Zeng, do not know whether it is better to take blood pressure medicine before or after meals, I hope you can have a certain understanding after reading this article. Of course, everyone's physical condition is different, so the doctor recommends that everyone still judge according to their own physical condition, follow the doctor's instructions, and listen to the attending doctor's words.

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2] Wang Haiyan. High blood pressure when to stabilize blood pressure after taking antihypertensive drugs[J].Scientific Health Care Vol. 23 No. 7 (2020), p. 37, 2020

3] Han Wenqing, Wang Haiyang guide. Why does blood pressure not drop when you take blood pressure medication every day[J].Health & Wellness, 2023

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