perhaps an old question ? can we do something else ?
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi everyone,
I am Aroop , and my mum is 82 with high BP especially at night when she sleeps. It has been a long road of trials and errors (I am mechanical engineer). I had blindly accepted to take medication (for mum) , and never really checked the facts. She was prescribed medication to be taken in fixed dose every day. She had collapsed several times due to to low BP , so I started to measure her BP every day more often , and now I do this every hour. I come to notice that her BP spikes 180/100 or more only during the night when she sleeps. So now I break the 5mg tablet into quarters , which does help bring it down. I was advised to limit to 5mg per 24 hours .. so this is what I do now and its working better than before.
But every time I need to wake her up for this 1/4 tablet , then after she does not fall asleep ... so the BP goes up again.
1. I had been asking companies to help design a continuous BP machine , and 1 company has taken my idea and stopped talking to me ! .. so now I am waiting for this product to launch ..
2. I am asking if I can give a liquid version of this tablet ? as crushing it and mixing with water for syringe-feed while mum is asleep , is possible but I will never be sure on the dosage given ?
3. Any ideas on how to lower the BP in any other way please ? any other medication ? or natural ideas that work ?
Sincerely,
Aroop
0 likes, 6 replies
Mesirm aroop
Posted
Hi Aroop, what blood pressure meds did the doctor prescribed for your mum? Have you discussed this problem with your mum's physician?
aroop Mesirm
Posted
Thank you for reply. Its not easy to find the time to reply.
Yes the medication is via GP.
Right now , we stopped with Amlodipine , as this created swollen ankles and she could not walk.
We are now trying with Prazosin , and so far the swollen ankles reduced.
Not sure how to keep trying new medication , as I had though this was well documented and known.
Sincerely,
Aroop
debra16694 aroop
Posted
Hi Aroop - First off I want to commend you for taking such compassionate care of your Mum - she is very fortunate to have you - I am not a Dr by any means, but my guess is, why don't you just give her a 1/4 of the pill at breakfast & 3/4 of the pill at night. It sounds like she has B/P spikes while laying flat. After taking care of my elderly parents (1 with dementia) I will tell you that you don't want to start a habit of disturbing your Mother's sleep patterns. If she has any beginning signs of dementia, waking in the night can be disastrous for her
internal clock...trust me I know from first hand experience.
Perhaps the best advice is that of your Dr, but I was always told by my parents physician, it is much healthier in older individuals to have elevated B/P than lower B/P, because with lower B/P you risk them falling etc.
Keep up the caregiving love, it's a blessing & a gift,
Good Luck,
Debra
aroop debra16694
Posted
Thank you for reply, and kind words of support. Its not easy to find the time to reply.
Right now , we stopped with Amlodipine , as this created swollen ankles and she could not walk.
We are now trying with Prazosin , and so far the swollen ankles reduced.
Not sure how to keep trying new medication , as I had though this was well documented and known.
Sincerely,
Aroop
jx41870 aroop
Posted
>I had been asking companies to help design a continuous BP machine
?OMG yes, and this has been the holy grail for instrument makers for many years. A non-invasive, continuous BP machine. Maybe based on Doppler readings. Specifically NOT based on repeatedly constricting circulation. How hard could it be? (lol)
?I too seem to have my highest BP in the morning, and presumably while asleep. This is a known pattern - although some doctors seem to not know it. Doctors should try the Interwebs a little more often, I think.
?Please note that many drugs have a minimum effective dose, and all drugs half a half-life, which is separate from but related to their effective life. Also specific times to absorb and become effective. All these need to be considered before you start crushing pills ... which I do a lot, and it drives my doctors crazy. Anyway, amlodipine has a rather long half-life, so you're probably not doing much by doing smaller doses, and you might actually be reducing its effectiveness if N grams of each dose are simply wasted before it is effectively absorbed.
aroop jx41870
Posted