Tapering Off High Blood Pressure Medications

I want to try to get off of my high blood pressure medications because my blood pressure has been stable at 120/80 for the last nine months. How do I go about tapering the dosage?

Anyone considering tapering off of a prescription high blood pressure medication must do so under the supervision of a doctor. So it is imperative that you work with your doctor as you move forward. You can discuss with your doctor the following strategies I've found helpful in the past:

• I get my patients down to a low dose of the high blood pressure medication.
• I make sure my patients are exercising, keeping their weight down, maintaining lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure, are faithful to a sensible nutritional supplement regime, and can track their blood pressures daily at home for me.
• I give them a blood pressure log to keep, with parameters on when they need to call me.
• I schedule office visits every two weeks to track their progress carefully while they taper.
• I halve the dose of medication for two weeks, then check them in the office.
• I halve the dose again for the second two weeks if the blood pressure is stable, then I check them again, and so on.
• Should the blood pressure creep up, we may have to go back to the Rx dose that works and hold it there for a while longer.

Some folks may need low dose medication even when they do everything right. Most are successful if they adhere to the plan long term.