Dangers of Double Dose of High Blood Pressure Drug

By Lorra Garrick | Last updated 09/22

Medically reviewed by Stacy Mitchell Doyle, MD

There is good reason never to double up on a drug for high blood pressure if you miss a dose.

“Double dosing on hypertension drugs can be potentially dangerous (even fatal), but most often, there are no significant results,” says Stacy Mitchell Doyle, MD, resident physician of FoodTherapyMD and long-time advocate of plant-based nutritional protocols.

“What can happen is the combination of several factors: Your age (elderly people don’t tolerate drops in pressure as well as younger people), the dose of the medication, what your initial pressure was before you took the extra dose, and what the actual medication is,” explains Dr. Doyle. double dose

“For example, if you took too much of a beta blocker medication, your heart rate can drop to dangerously low levels which can cause syncope (passing out) or even heart block or heart attack.

“If you take too much medication and feel dizzy, weak or have pains in your chest, seek medical attention right away.” double dose

If side effects or missing doses of your high blood pressure medication worry you, consider the idea of weaning off the drug (with your prescribing physician’s approval) and controlling your blood pressure via natural means – mainly, a change in diet.

A switch from the standard American diet (appropriately abbreviated as SAD) to a plant-based diet that restricts processed foods, may very well move your blood pressure from the hypertensive range to the normal and even low-normal range.

In addition to dumping the SAD way of eating, an exercise program of aerobics and strength training will also lower baseline blood pressure.

Sure, it’s easier to just take a pill every day, but wouldn’t it be nice to have naturally low baseline blood pressure along with a stronger, fitter heart, lungs, muscles and bones?