Is it common for MG patients to develop high blood pressure? I am thinking Son has hbp due to prednisone. He is coming to our house tomorrow to get it checked again. Have any of you ended up having to take hbp meds while on prednisone?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Interested

Diet can play a key role in whether someone has high blood pressure while on Prednisone. Does he eat a diet high in salt? Processed foods? If Pred were such an easy drug to take, there wouldn't be entire books out there telling you how to live well while on it.

Did his doctors say to take vitamin D and calcium while on it? Flax or olive oil? Since Pred is an antiprostaglandin, he needs good prostaglandins while on it (i.e., olive oil). Does he let his doctors know everything he intakes, such as supplements?

There are many causes for high blood pressure and it is not necessarily associated with the poor breathing that can come with MG. He should probably be thoroughly checked out by a cardiologist to determine what the cause(s) might be. High BP can be dangerous and it all depends upon how high or if there are other mitigating factors like diet, exercise, etc. involved.

Throwing a drug at a situation can be harmful too. There are times when drugs are necessary but can you imagine the scenario where every time you take a drug, you need yet another drug to handle the side effects? And then another, and another?

Perhaps Pred is not the right drug for him. He should discuss all of this with his neurologist and primary care physician. Did he have high blood pressure before going on Pred? He shouldn't make any changes, especially not with Pred, on his own. Going off of Pred too quickly or lowering the dose too much can result in an adrenal crisis, which can be life-threatening.

There are usually no simple answers while doctoring. He really needs to thoroughly research and think through any decisions his doctor and he make.

I hope that helps.

Annie

Stress too can be a contributing factor to high blood pressure. Before I retired, I was in a high stress job and was on 4 different blood pressure meds. About 2 months after I retired, my bp dropped and I started dropping meds. I am now on 1 very low dose med (2-1/2 years after retirement) Just another thought to add to the mix.

Prednisone causes fluid retention. This can cause high blood pressure. I believe that high blood pressure is a common side effect of prednisone.