Would approaching an ER be appropriate when blood pressure readings are constantly high despite taking medication?

Posted on Wed, 2 Jan 2019

Question: my husband went to urgent care yesterday 3/2 because his bp was160/108 and he was given 2 clonidine 0.1 mg along with an rx for metoprolol er succinate 50mg. He hasn't had much improvement and his blood pressure is now 177/114. Should he go to an ER ?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

Welcome and thank you for asking your query.

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that considering these persistent high blood pressure values, I would recommend going to the ER again for a physical exam and some tests:

- a resting ECG
- a chest X-ray study
- complete blood count
- kidney and liver function tests
- blood electrolytes.

It is necessary for making some changes to his anti-hypertensive therapy (increasing the dose or add new drugs) in order to help maintain his blood pressure under control.

What is his current therapy? Has he suffered from high blood pressure before?

I would also recommend reducing maximally salt and caffeine intake.

You should discuss with his doctor on the above issues.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,
Dr. Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar