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Why Do I Need More Than One Medication?
Commonly, your doctor may choose to put you on more than one blood pressure medication. Several combinations of two or even three medications may be used. The cause behind that is the complex nature of high blood pressure. Primary hypertension is the one for which we know no cause and it forms the majority of hypertension cases above the age of 40. In this case, tight control of blood pressure coupled with close follow-up is needed to reach the optimal goal of blood pressure. You will almost always be started on one medication and then followed up for 4-8 weeks with some modifications to diet and lifestyle to assess the effectiveness of the blood pressure medication.
If no response is achieved, then your doctor will choose a combination depending on your age, previous medical conditions, and other medications that you are using to minimize side effects and drug interactions. It is unlikely that your doctor will start you on a third blood pressure medication before running some blood tests and imaging studies to confirm that your hypertension has no underlying cause.
