Posted by King Vultan on March 13, 2004, at 11:34:23
In reply to Story: Hypertensive Crisis, posted by Questionmark on March 13, 2004, at 6:11:18
Well, the quality of medical care you received was inexcusably poor IMO. I have a paper on MAOIs in which they debate the wisdom of providing 10 mg nefedipine to MAOI patients for emergency hypertensive crises, as their concern was that people would just take these instead of going to the emergency room, the latter being what one would think would be the more prudent thing to do. In light of your experience, however, I think having the nefedipine available is a good idea; indeed, it might almost be considered mandatory, as in all of the 29 cases of hypertensive crises mentioned in the paper (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: Adverse Effects, Perry and Lund, latest revision, March 2001), "the nifedipine was rapidly effective and no adverse reactions were noted even when the nifedipine was taken for the wrong reasons."
As for your experience, I would not worry too much about the level your BP reached. My grandma had severe essential hypertension, and her BP would get up to over 200 on its own, with associated severe headaches. You can bet that before she started taking medication, she suffered under these conditions for drastically longer periods of time than what you did, and she wound up living to age 87, anyway. Also, the younger you are and the better condition you are in, the better chance you have of emerging from a hypertensive crisis successfully, as your circulatory system can more easily handle the overload.
I would suggest obtaining some 10 mg nefedipine pills for any future hypertensive crises. I carry one with me in a small pill container along with my ibuprofen and daily supply of Nardil. I believe the pill needs to be crushed between the teeth rather than just swallowed, this to insure as fast a release as possible of the nifedipine. My doctor says it has a very bitter taste, but better this than what you went through.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:323875
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040313/msgs/323945.html