r/hypertension

I’ve been taking metoprolol and losartan for my blood pressure, and I’ve started noticing some changes in my sexual function. I’m having more difficulty getting or maintaining an erection, and sometimes I feel like I’m having ejaculation symptoms before I’m fully erect. I’ve also noticed that my penis sometimes seems smaller or more contracted than usual.

I’ve also experienced a lower sex drive, and I’m wondering whether these symptoms could be related to my blood pressure medication or another medication I’m taking.

I exercise and work out regularly, so I’m trying to stay as healthy as possible. I would like to understand whether certain blood pressure medications are more likely to cause sexual side effects and whether some people have fewer problems with different medications.

Has anyone else experienced this while taking blood pressure medication?

• What medication were you taking?
• Did it affect your erections, ejaculation, penis size/appearance, or sex drive?
• Did switching to a different medication help?
• Were there any blood pressure medications that caused fewer sexual side effects for you?
• Did your doctor recommend any other treatment that helped?
• How long did it take for your sexual function to improve after changing treatment?

I’m interested in hearing about all types of blood pressure medications and people’s experiences with them, not just one specific medication. I’ll discuss any possible medication changes with my doctor rather than stopping anything on my own.

I'm 23F, not thinking about having kids soon, but in 10 years maybe. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure when I was 7. Honestly I think my high blood pressure is due to anxiety when I'm in hospitals, but I take meds since I'm 11 and it's controlled now. I'm just afraid that if I get pregnant I can die because of my medical history. I want to ask the moms here if being hypertensive caused you additional complications during labour? Did you keep taking blood pressure meds? Is it dangerous to become a mom will being hypertensive?

Hi, I’m 7 days postpartum and currently taking nifedipine 30 mg twice a day for postpartum hypertension.
My BP is actually well controlled — my recent readings have been 117/79, 123/83, 111/78, and 125/85. However, I’m having a really difficult side effect with my heart rate. Almost every morning when I wake up, my HR jumps to around 125–130 just from sitting up in bed, and yesterday it reached 150–160 when I stood up.
During the rest of the day, my heart rate is much more controlled, and my resting HR can be around 60–70.
Has anyone experienced this with nifedipine postpartum? If so, what helped, how long did it take for the heart rate to settle, and did your doctor switch you to another BP medication or reduce/stop nifedipine?
I’m planning to discuss this with my OB, but I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences. My BP is controlled, but the heart-rate spikes are becoming very stressful.

Hi all, I am on 10 mg of olmesartan and noticed lately that I'm waking up panicked 4 hours later if I take it right before bed. Usually on an emptyish stomach. Any tips? Better to take with food or take earlier in evening?

Hi. I’m writing to get advice on my sister struggling with resistant hypertension. We’ve been working on this since 2020 and been through 4-5 doctors now.

Age: 40 years, female
Problem list: Sjogrens disease (not currently taking anything for it, no real symptoms right now), hashimotos disease (newly treated), resistant hypertension, chronic headaches
Highest numbers we usually get: 190/115, 200/115
Current meds: amlodipine 2.5 BID (not to exceed 5 mg), losartan 100 mg, HCTZ 25 mg, Levothyroxine 75 mcg

Nothing else notable. Has a mirena IUD for the last several years. Not overweight. Diet is fine. Leads a busy life with 4 kids and full time work.

Tests ran (in 2020) when we first learned of the problem:

-Normal renal arteries (checked my MRA with and without contrast)
-Aldosterone was 16,
-Plasma renin activity was 0.15
-Aldosterone/PRA ratio was 107
-At the time, no evidence for hypokalemia
-No evidence of renal nodules

At the most she was doing 4 meds (toprol, HCTZ, hydralazine, valsartan) and it was still off and on controlled. Missing even one tablet would shoot it back up. Since then we’ve switched out some meds for others like losartan, etc.

Eventually was referred to an endocrinologist after it wasn’t responding to 4 meds. This is what the endocrinologist wrote in her progress note:

Although her PRA was suppressed, her aldosterone was only 9.7. She is not hypokalemic, even on a
thiazide diuretic. Her catecholamines and cortisol were normal. Her CT scan did not show any adrenal abnormalities. Therefore, the most likely explanation for the low renin is a medication effect from her beta blocker, and not an endocrine cause such as an aldosteronoma or adrenal hyperplasia.

Since then we’ve been bouncing between specialists trying to find the right cocktail for her. For awhile, a clonidine patch was working well (strangely the pill wasn’t but the patch worked better). Sometimes things just stop working and we have to tinker again. Currently she’s doing losartan, HCTZ, and amlodipine. She was found to have a TSH of 55 recently and they put her on Levothyroxine 75 mcg. Doing that and tinkering with her meds again help a little. Some days it’s still high.

What could this be? What am I missing? What do we need to do? I’m in the medical field (though NAD) and have been trying to help advocate for her but it is exhausting. I don’t know what to ask for. We’ve tried all the meds…is it really just finding whatever cocktail works for the moment? Why can’t we figure out what is actually causing this?

ETA: we live in Southern California if anyone has any advice. We tried a physician at Loma Linda, Hoag, Saddleback and now with a cardiologist in Tustin, CA that specializes in hypertension research.

I am from Canada and I am 36 years old. Back in late June I was diagnosed with hypertension. I went to the hospital for an unrelated reason (a cut) and my BP was over 200 so they kept me overnight and ran a bunch of test. High blood pressure runs in my family for generations now, thanks genetics. Anyways the Dr I seen there prescribed me some medication, which is a twin medication, a Telmisartan/Amlodipine mix, 40mg/5mg. He also suggested I change my diet and maybe do a Mediterranean style died. I will admit I am overweight and could stand to lose a good few pounds. Anyways flash forward to today and I have been taking my medication daily and since then I put myself on a strict diet and have successfully lost 30 pounds. I just checked my BP three times and my highest was 119/65 with my lowest being 109/61. I still plan on losing more weight and be in a healthier weight range. I am nearing too low of levels? At some point should I speak to my family doctor about decreasing dose or is everything fine for now? Thank you all for your time.

I’m on bp meds but despite this my bp in the evenings still sits slightly high 130/90s I’ve been on parking really hard with my lifestyle. Walking around 14k steps a day, no takeouts so it’s frustrating seeing those numbers on the evenings. The only thing that I could think of now is it may be my sweet treats. After my evening meal I tend to have something sweet with my green tea. Has anyone else noticed raised bp with a sweet snack? My next mission is to go on a zero sugar diet and see if that is my root cause. Let me know if cutting out sugar has helped you

I stopped my losartan 3 weeks ago and I've been having that on edge feeling for the last week and horrible tmj issues. I am not sure if it is from stopping the losartan or what. It is abnormal for me to have this pain on a daily basis. My blood pressure is also ranging from 135/85 to 149/91. I wouldn't think it would be getting this high after 3 weeks of stopping. I did stop through the guidance of my doctor. Has anyone experienced increased anxiety and tmj issues after quitting this med?

Hello everyone; this 30M.

Had been having dizziness since a week and got my BP measures it’s 150/80. I am freaking out.

I have heard if you start BP medication you are on it for life; is it possible to power through until I make lifestyle fixes to lower it; is it safe to medicate?

Please any help is appreciated

Had a stress echo today and they had to stop the test early because my BP went up to 222/86. I started at 124/70, then it was around 160/80 just from standing, and during exercise it shot up to 222/86. It came back down to around 160/80 afterward.
I also felt pretty lightheaded and drained after the test.
What’s weird is I had a stress test last year and my BP only got into the 160s. I haven’t been working out for months, so I’m wondering if being really deconditioned could play a role.
Has anyone had an exaggerated BP response like this during exercise despite having a normal resting BP? What ended up causing it for you?

hi, so, about an hour ago, i got finished with a very stressful conversation, and i noticed that i felt my heart very agitated, and i felt sort of dizzy, very similar to how i felt once when my blood pressure spiked up a couple of months ago to around 156/90, which made me feel like i was gonna die or something (i felt like i could've burst into a stroke any minute that time). as a result, i ran to make a chamomile tea to calm my nerves, and i served myself a large glass of water. i instinctively took an extra 50mg of my losaraven, and i'm scared that it could come back to bite me later.

for context, i usually take 50mg in the morning (around 8:00am), and take the other 50mg around 5:00pm (luckily, i took it at 4:00pm today, which might help me a bit). i freaked out and took an extra 50mg to counteract my spike in bp today, which is 50mg more than is allowed for with this medication.

my first bp reading immediately after taking the pill was 146/83, followed by a 136/86. after that, it ranged anywhere as low as 110-128 about 30-45 minutes after taking the pill. while these readings are normal now, i saw that losaraven doesn't really take effect until after about 2-3 hours of taking the pill. should i be concerned for my health? i'm 20m, 5'7", 190-ish pounds.

For context, I’m a 26M, terrible diet for last few years, sedentary-ish lifestyle and hadn’t seen a doctor in years. I’ve immediately made lifestyle changes, low sodium, daily exercise (1 hr walk), more water, stopped THC and getting put on meds. How long would it take for these changes to take show in my readings?

My loved one is dealing with high BP postpartum and they just sort of assign new meds to her every visit to the cardiologist. It doesn't seem to be completely solving it, so I'd love to ask what's the next step to dig deeper. I imagine it's some kind of panel, that then maybe gets shared with a specialist like an endocrinologist. But what kind of markers should we ask to be identified in this panel to sort of give us an overall picture? Hormones? Kidney function? I'm just tired of getting dismissed with a prescription, would love to incorporate care and improvement, rather than just suppressing the two numbers.

I had our fourth baby eleven weeks ago, and ever since then, my reads have been a disaster. I was in OB Triage around a week postpartum but they gave me nifedipine which worked great in that moment and it brought me down to a good level and I wasn’t admitted. Continued on my normal med plus the one they gave me and I’ve still been sitting pretty high — 140/110s usually. A couple weeks ago my in-laws were in town visiting and one of the nights they were here, my blood pressure shot up to 190/127. I earned myself a trip to the ER. They gave me amlodipine on top of what I was already taking (nifedipine + labetolol) and sent me home. Saw my primary the next day to change meds to see if something else works. Now on amlodipine (5mg) and hydralazine (75mg a day) and I’m still reading high — just did 159/101.

I’m starting to get really annoyed. I’ve been watching my salt, sugar, and caffeine since the ER trip and I’ve tightened up even more for this upcoming week since I placed my grocery order today. Anyone else had this happen? How did you fix it? Before trying to get pregnant I was on losartan and amlodapine which worked great but I guess hydralazine has been shown to be safer for nursing infants. I’d really love to get off meds or as low of a dose as possible and I’m getting so discouraged. 😒

38/F, 5’2”, 135lbs at the gym several times a week lifting, my blood pressure is at least 140/100 upon waking. By evening I’m usually 160-170/105-115. I feel like crap, I’m always tired. I have just had a visit with a kidney hypertension doctor that suspects some kind of aldosterone issue, as my potassium is low and my aldosterone is high and spironolactone did help but I’m off for family planning reasons.

My primary doctor tried me on labetalol and nifedipine and I had a migraine that made me curl into a ball and my entire body was pulsing. It was an absolute hellish experience. Since then I’m terrified of both medications.

My hypertension doctor prescribed me amlodipine. He put me on 10 but told me to split it in half, I bought a pill splitter and quartered it because, again, terrified of new meds and I’m pretty sure it was the vasodilator that caused my problems. 15 minutes ago I finally decided to try 2.5mg of the amlo with my normal 100mg of metoprolol with fingers crossed. My anxiety is NOT helping 🫠

My questions are

Has anyone been on this combo and had success with little side effects?

Has anyone been healthy overall yet still suffered high blood pressure at a young age? How did you manage? Did you find the root of the issue or just medicate?

Has anyone actually had an aldosterone issue and had it fixed through surgery? I have many tests and scans coming up so this might be something I will be faced with.

So my wife had preeclampsia about 6 months ago, so we purchased a BP monitor. I decided to take mine (obviously stressed out about her), and would get readings 160-170 systolic, with diastolic being 70 or below.

Decided I would wait until life got a little more calm, and if it was still high would go to doctor. Well I was still running high 130s-150s so I went to my PCP. I was super anxious but didn’t think my BP would be super bad, it was 178/96!!

Long story short, I did extensive blood panel and all came back good. And stated losartan 50mg/HCT 12.5. Took 3 weeks of measurements and averaged 130/70 so doc said that’s good for now.

But man, my anxiety about this whole ordeal is still weighing on me. After my 3 week log I stopped taking it, because it was determining my mood for the day. It was a horrible loop. Anyways, life got back to normal and I just took the meds and hoped it was good.

Now, after about 3 months, I decided to check to make sure it was still good. Past 3 days I’ve averaged maybe 138/68. I’ve lost 20 pounds since diagnosis, sleep is good, diet decent, only down to 1 can of Diet Coke a day, up to running 5ks. Wtf man. I feel so defeated and feel like I started the loop all over again.

Any advise? Similar experiences ?

My biggest worry is how bad it spiked at the doctor, that’s terrifying ! Also, both parents have HTN, with my dad being diagnosed in 30s as well. Also still have some weight to lose. But doing well on that part.

Hi, 42M, so I've got my BP down from 170-178 to around 153-155 and that's on an evening. I take medication for it but it's stubborn and not dropping any further. Life is stressful, personal things, a baby who doesn't sleep and bad genetics for BP

Does anyone have the same readings? If so, did you have it for a long time at those numbers? What will my future health be affected like?