Re: Blood pressure

[Anonymous]

This should definitely be brought to your new doctor’s attention. If you’ve been on Strattera for long enough to get used to it, and not only is it not working but it’s giving you unacceptable side effects, then it’s necessary to reassess the situation.

The blood pressure question: Firstly, do you know why the doctor was concerned? It might be because the blood pressure guidelines have been tightened; what was once considered “borderline” but not unacceptable is now considered too high. On the other hand, maybe she noticed that your pressure was increasing over time, and was becoming chronically too high. She needed to rule out reaction to a particular medication as a cause if she suspected underlying cardiovascular disease. (Switching you to another medication that might also cause high blood pressure seems like a dubious choice. But everybody’s reactions to medications is different. It might have worked out just fine for you. Unfortunately, it didn’t.)

High blood pressure is called the silent killer. Unmanaged ADD is not good, but neither are heart attacks, strokes, and all the other bad things that can show up as a result of not taking chronic high blood pressure seriously. I understand not wanting to end up with an ever escalating list of problems and prescriptions. ( One prescription for a problem you have. Another to manage the side effects of the first drug. Two more to manage the adverse interaction of the first drug and the second and the side effects of the second… and so on…and so on…) So, medication if necessary, but not necessarily medication. I’d suggest asking your new doctor to take a careful look at the whole cardiovascular question and then explain it to you. If the new doctor doesn’t explain adequately, ask questions. What is your blood pressure? What should it be? Are there any other indicators of heart trouble such as too fast or slow heart rate, irregular rhythms etc? Anything in the blood work? Family history of heart trouble? Are there any lifestyle changes you could make – reducing sodium intake, less caffeine, other dietary changes, losing weight, more or different types of exercise ? and so on.

I know that when you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s hard to remember that you’re there to drain the swamp. The reduction in the ability to manage your own ADD and help you son must be overwhelming. But if you did have a heart attack or a stroke, your ability to care for him might be compromised even more. Once your blood pressure issue has been sorted out, the new doctor will have a better basis for making decisions about which ADD meds have an acceptable risk vs benefit profile for you.

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