How I Got Off of My Blood Pressure Medication

I have a very easy explanation of how I got off my blood pressure pills. I simply asked my doctor to take me off. I developed some kind of infection that was elevating my blood pressure for a while. My pressure was always normal until I started not feeling well one summer and it shot right up.

I did need to be on the pills for close to two years. Whatever condition I had and whenever I was not feeling well, my pressure would be elevated at times. I am not saying to be your own doctor or to go against your doctor. In the long run, you do make the final decision of whether you want to be on a certain medication or not. In my case, I did not want to be foolish and walk around with high blood pressure. I know that there can be serious effects if you do not control your high pressure.

My primary doctor happens to be a geriatric doctor which means he treats a lot of older patients. I am probably one of his youngest patients and I am 44 years old. Once he puts his patients on blood pressure medication, they most likely will stay on it for life or until they die. Most people go on blood pressure medication for stress, being overweight and other factors. In my case, my blood pressure has always been normal and some kind of infection caused it to be elevated for a while. Once I was feeling better, I wanted to start weaning off my medication just to see how I would do with a lower dose. I asked the doctor if I could take 25mg instead of 50mg. I did very well on my lower dose until I finally weaned off. Now my pressure is back to normal and I am off of the medication.

I was not totally convinced that I needed to stay on these pills for much longer since I was starting to feel better. My doctor was a little reluctant to lower my dose at first. He said to me, "Why tamper with your blood pressure if it is fine the way it is?" I gently reminded him that before I got sick, that my pressure was always normal.

You need to keep on top of things when it comes to your body and medicine. Doctors are just trained to give you medication and many times over look the side effects that can take place. Again, there are times when you need to be on medication. In my case, I knew that it was just for a short period of time that I had to be on it. If it were up to my doctor, he would keep me on them permanently. Again, you don't want to be foolish and not take medication when you need to. That can cause other serious problems. If your doctor wants you on medication for long term, you need to be the one to decide if you really need it. Doctors prescribe tons of medications for patients and many times patients won't take it for whatever reasons.

Last year, this same doctor wanted to put me on cholesterol medicine. I knew that cholesterol was something that I could control myself. I did a lot of research and took fish oil and flaxseed pills and I improved my numbers greatly just within eight months. I knew that cholesterol medicine can ruin your liver if on for long periods of time.

Again, I'm not saying to be your own doctor or go above him/her, but just be cautious about which medications he/she wants you to be on. See if you really do need to be on it for a long time. In some cases, people may need to be on medication for the rest of their life. I knew in my case that I didn't so I told him I wanted to wean off. Doctors can't make their patients take anything they don't want. They can only make suggestions.