I was diagnosed with hypertension at 38, which was nearly two years ago. I am a healthy, active woman who runs five mile stretches three times a week and weight lifts at least twice a week. I eat a healthy diet. I have never had any abnormal blood work or other tests. I still maintain a blood pressure of 117/70 on just 25mg. of atenolol.

My doctor insists that I see him every three months. He knows I have no medical insurance and this is a burden for me, but whenever I ask when I can extend these visits a bit longer, he tells me I will be seeing him every three months for all eternity.

How often do those of you with hypertension see your doctors?

Your doctor is nuts! You are otherwise healthy. You take care of yourself. You have no new problems or symptoms I presume. Your BP ihas been under control for two years.. You have no side effects from the meds (?)

If you are monitoring your BP at home and you know your monitor is calibrated and functioning correctly, then there is no reason to have to see him at three month intervals, unless your BP #s go up.

Frankly, given that you are YOUNG,it seems perfectly reasonable to me that every 6 months or even once a year is sufficient.....But again, you must be your own advocate and monitor your pressure yourself to keep good tabs on it.

Anyone else reading this , feel free to disagree with me.

zuzu xx

I agree completely Zuzu.

Buying Time,

My doctor would be happiest if I saw him HOURLY! But I have better uses for my cash than buying him a new Mazerati!

My BP monitor is as good as his. Better, actually.

Of course since they have the prescription pad it gives them some power over you. Always ask for a year's refills

Thank you both for your wise words. I personally know several people with high blood pressure and none of them sees their doctor more than once a year unless they have problems. I shall respectfully break the news to my doctor next appointment. I could certainly use a break!

Do you have a BP monitor at home?

If so, bring it to your next appointment. Show the nurse that your monitor reasds the same as his nurses. Ask the doctor just to see the nurse next time, insure that your home BP monitor is still working, and get a 3 month refill called in. This should cost about $30 (and many insurances don't charge a copy for a nurses visit).

After doing this a few times, he may allow alonger script time.

I can tell you that 99% of patients are not well controlled (as you seem to be), and home monitors are notriousily bad. If you can prove this isn't the case, the medicine itself is fairly safe. I have also seen many of those "once a year checkup" doctor's patient's in the emergency room with strokes.

I don't have a monitor at home, but I use the one at the Super WalMart once a week when I grocery shop. It's accurate, so I bring my doctor my blood pressure readings from once a week.

I'm willing to bring the readings to him every three months. He's also adamant about having an EKG every year, but I've read the AMA guidelines for frequency of EKG and for my needs, it's every 3 to 5 years, so I have refused.

Buying Time,
DO get a home BP monitor. They are cheap and last forever and work SO MUCH BETTER than the in-store units....they REALLY suck!
PLUS, who can relax at a Shopping Mall?

Relax in a shopping mall?? I live in Dallas with 1.25 million neighbors. That makes 5 million of us for the entire D/FW metropolis. In a city this size, you learn to relax in a crowd or become agoraphobic. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/round.gif

HI ..You sound like me ..my BP holds at 115/75 with just 25 mg of Toprol XL..

Itz ur call you may not have to goto ur DR that often if you are monitoring ur values closely..not just the start of the day end of the days readings but your office BP when u are work.

I would recommend that anyone taking medication for BP measure your office BP atleast twice a month.

They try to schedule so many appointments to avoid malpractice+. B/P was 124/74 today once again. Don't think I need another appointment after going 4-5 months ago.

Here in Canada I visit my doc every 2-3 weeks or even once a week sometimes. It is due to side effects of combination of BP medications. there are many kinds of BP medications and each has its own standard side effects plus some other side effects which depends on the patient. These should be monitored carefully otherwise can result in more damage to the body.

I even have to keep track of my blood test results and see how these medications increase for example my blood glucose, creatinine, etc. and mention this to my doc at each visit so he either changes the medications or add another one!!

For example Pfizer claims that Norvasc does not increase blood glucose. However, I discovered that Norvasc has been responssible for increasing my blood glucose, but my doc still denies that it does. However, I have my own statistical analysis and he cannot reject the results.

But these doctors are working like businessmen selling drugs: as soon as you complain about a medication the doc can change it to another one, and the number of these BP drugs has no end!

--Max.

Geeze, Max, I'm sorry to hear you're having such difficulty getting your medication under control. I am fortunate that I only need a very small dose of medication. I'll count my blessings.

I finally got wise, did the research, and got a home monitor. I had to undergo an extensive weaning period (nearly two months) but am now happy to report that I have been completely off BP medication for three weeks, and averaging a 118/74 BP reading.

Nearly three months have passed since I started weaning, and I'm finally rid of the chest pain and the awful little adrenalin rushes at every tiny little stimulus. I'm amazed at my dramatically improved running ability and exercise tolerance.

Nothing I have discovered so far will make a person feel quite so bad as taking HB medication that is not needed. Shame on doctors with evil motives!