I have high blood pressure, asthma and now a bad cold. What sinus med can you take that does not raise your BP?

Hi,

If you can't get in touch with your doctor, the local pharmacist is usually very helpful in advising you what you can or cannot take.

My PCP told me not to take anything except mucinex without his permission. I have taken robitussin for diabetics as i am also a diabetic and it has not raised my BP>

Tom,

You can take any of the antihistamines for itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing...diphenhydramine or clorpheniramine are the common ones.
You can take codeine or dextromethorphan for coughing.

What you want to avoid are the decongestants for when you can't breath through your nostrils. The primary one is pseudoephidrine...but also anything that sounds like ephedrine or ephedra. Also the phenylpropanalomines are offenders although I think most are banned now becasue they were causing strokes.
This whole class will raise your BP. HOWEVER when you are suffering badly from totally blocked sinuses it's hard to tell which is the worse evil.

For a couple days suffereing I will usually opt for the decongestant, usually pseudoephidrine, anyway, even if my BP DOES go up 5 points. I can always take another BP pill. Not getting a night's sleep because I can't breathe often seems to be the bigger horror. I monitor my BP carefully if I do take a decongestant and I rarely need them more than 2 or 3 days a year.

The big problem comes when somebody with hypertension has severe allergies and needs something every day, day after day. Then a lot more care is needed to balance these drugs.

Coricidin has meds for people with high blood pressure

Yes, Corcidin is for HBP. I use it and it works fine. If your nose is stuffy however, use Zicam nostril spray. That really works for me. My BP doesn't go up at all!