Blood pressure - how high is too high?

[Deanne]

My BP is creeping up again. It's been 140/90 for several days. I'm already on 100 mg toprol and 8 mg cardura (twice/day). I don't like switching meds, but I think my doses are maxed out on both toprol and cardura. Changes always open up the possibility of new side effects. What's likely to be the next med she gives me?

[Angiepkd]

My blood pressure has been creeping up, too. I am running about the same as you 140/90, sometimes higher. I am currently on 4 different BP meds : niphedipine 120 mg per day, amiloride 10 mg per day, doxazosin 2 mg per day and lisinopril 40 mg once a day.  On top of that, I take 2 sodium bicarbonate tabs 3 x a day, an iron pill and vitamin D. It is a lot of medication to be on, but my doc says your kidneys last longer when you control your BP. I know there are certain meds that are more "kidney friendly" than others. I agree with you that the side effects stink! I am hoping when I start dialysis in March I will be able to stop some of the BP meds. Good luck and good job keeping track of your BP. It is really important in slowing the progression of kidney disease!

[justme15]

before I started dialysis my bP was super high as well. i'm talking 130/104, the diastolic stayed in the 100's!  I was taking 150 mg of metoprolol twice daily, 160 mg of lasix twice daily, .3 mg of clonidine twice daily, and 10 mg of almlodipine (norvasc) daily! oh, and 5 mg of metolazone daily! and nothing really helped until i did about a month of dialysis.  that's when my bp finally started to come down to normal and my doc reduced the dosages of my bp meds.

[Angiepkd]

Glad to hear dialysis reduced the need for the BP meds. Sometimes I think all that medication makes me feel worse than kidney failure lol!