I have hypertension was diagnosed 8yrs ago. There is a family history of this. I have looked up some possible herbal medicines. My question is should I continue to take the herbal medicine in addition to my pills? and If I do continue, how long should I continue to take them both? Also, which one would should I utilize?
Comment by Archived User
Many reasons can cause hypertension, if you already have pills, you need keep take it, if you want herb also, you should separate time to take them at least 2 hours, to avoid the interactive. if your condition become better, first should stop herb, then consult to M.D. to reduce pills if available, never stop pills by yourself.
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
First, you should -never- treat yourself with Chinese herbal formulas. Understanding the proper application and choice of herbal treatments and managing the combination, reduction, and/or elimination of western medicines requires years of training. Quite simply, your long-term health - particularly if you can live both medicine and herbal medicine free, is worth the relatively minor cost of seeing a practitioner locally.
The proper answer to your question about which formula is appropriate would depend entirely on your overall Chinese Medicine diagnosis (see TCM diagnostic patterns). The answer to your other question would depend entirely on your response to proper treatment. For some we use both medicine and herbal formulas for awhile then leave out the medicine, then leave out the herbal medicine (all over time of course) and see how people do on their own. For others we use both often combining an herbal formula that is less for "hypertension" per se and more for them as an overall person/system - the way Chinese Medicine works best.
The main thing to watch for when using herbal formulas and western medicines together is strong drops in blood pressure. With proper application this can be avoided entirely and/or greatly minimized. Another reason why treatment should never be done without consultation and guidance from ideally both a Chinese Medicine practitioner and your western doctor.
For educational purposes you can read our acupuncture for hypertension page to see -some- of the common TCM diagnostic patterns related to hypertension.