Tales from the emergency department: Antihypertensive drugs and how he escaped from a stroke

A few days ago, I was at the emergency department. I was meant to attend to a medical emergency for the whole day. I saw a lot of cases and there was this v=striking one. He was a 51-year-old man who was diagnosed with hypertension about 5 years ago. He presented to the hospital at the time of diagnosis and was put on drugs that will help him maintain stable blood pressure. Somehow somewhere, he went to the pharmacy to get his drugs and suddenly fainted and by the time he woke up, he had a generalized weakness, slurred speech, and facial deviation. He was given his drugs immediately and after about 30 minutes he reverted back to his normal state. He was rushed to the emergency out f fear and we asked a few questions to determine the cause.

At first, he lied and gave an obviously false history. Later on, he started spewing the truth.

He stopped taking his antihypertensive medication for about a week. W asked him why he said anytime he took it he usually feels weak and so when it finished, he didn’t buy it immediately.

It was when he started having headaches that he went to the pharmacy.
Anyways we ran some tests and he suffered a transient ischaemic attack which is like a mini-stroke but fortunately had complete resolution of symptoms.

We however found out that he had a cardiac abnormality incidentally.

We admitted him for observation for one day and then discharged him in a very much stable state.

Key point

• Hypertension is a chronic disease and this means management is for life.
• Drugs given to reduce blood pressure are called antihypertensives. They have a variety of ways in which they protect us from developing complications. Some of the ways include reducing the progression of heart damage, increasing perfusion to vital organs, and dilating blood vessels.
• When a person is placed on antihypertensives, the person is meant to take it for life.
• If you are experiencing symptoms from a drug, your duty is to go to the doctor for a review of your drugs
• Facial deviation, arm weakness, and speech abnormalities are one of the earliest signs of a stroke.
• Complications of hypertension include heart failure, myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, stroke, and a lot more.
• A sudden headache in a hypertensive man might be a pointer to a stroke

Finally, it's not about reading health posts.
When last did you check your blood pressure?
When last did you check your blood glucose?

Try to check these two today and take action if they are needed.

Thank you for reading.