If you are afflicted with high blood pressure that isn’t helped by using medications, you might have a problem called resistant hypertension. What is the reason for this and how can you influence it?

A medical condition that is very common, which is hypertension, can be placed under control with a combo of changes in lifestyle and high blood pressure prescription drugs. It is a misfortune that some people have a hard time managing their blood pressure, although they use more than one kind of medication for high blood pressure. When blood pressure can’t be managed even though more than three various high blood pressure medications are used, doctors consider this ailment to be resistant hypertension or resistant high blood pressure.

As many as twenty-five percent of those afflicted with high blood pressure may suffer from resistant hypertension, and this can be a tough problem for the patient and his/her physician. Luckily, there are various ways of getting your blood pressure under control if you suffer from resistant high blood pressure, but under no circumstances should you alter your treatment without checking with your physician.

One issue to think about if you blood pressure stays elevated is that it is possible that you may have white coat hypertension. Some people have high blood pressure readings only when they are in a medical setting; when the blood pressure is taken at home and these people feel less stressed, their blood pressure is in the normal range. It might be good for you to take your pressure readings when you are away from your physician’s office at various times, daily, for several weeks. Inexpensive, easy-to-use, portable blood pressure cuffs are usually sold at drug stores, so anyone can have one to monitor themselves, anywhere. It will make it easier for your doctor to determine if your condition is really resistant high blood pressure if you keep a record at home of your blood pressure.

Another condition to think about with resistant high blood pressure is the way you live your life. Even if you follow the instructions for taking your blood pressure prescription drugs to the letter, you may be exacerbating the problem if you are consuming lots of sodium. Not only can a diet with a lot of sodium increase blood pressure, it can also make heart disease more likely. Get into the important habit of reviewing labels while shopping so that you are aware of how much sodium you are ingesting every day. Sodium intake should be kept under 1500 mg. each day to help decrease the incidence of resistant hypertension. The body is provided with potassium by a diet heavy in vegetables and fruits, which is an important mineral for the control of blood pressure and assists in the reduction of resistant high blood pressure. If you have additional weight on your body, loosing the extra pounds as well as doing daily aerobic exercise will help bring down the blood pressure.

What happens if these basic lifestyle adjustments do not produce results? If stubborn high blood pressure continues to be bothersome in spite of lifestyle alterations and medication variations your doctor makes, it might be because of an undiagnosed medical ailment like kidney disease is causing the blood pressure to stay high. Your physician might have to do extra tests.