Can you adjust your medication intake yourself?
While the initial prescription and the basic adjustment to specific blood pressure medications naturally belong in the hands of a physician, there are various instances where a patients adjustment of medications is considered.
However, certain prerequisites must be met, and the procedure agreed upon with the doctor must be followed. The foundation is regular monitoring and documentation of ones own blood pressure values at home. For this purpose, the BloodPressureDB app is suitable, where the measured values can be entered. The resulting trend curve makes it very easy to see when values are outside the personal norm. To then independently adjust the medication intake, affected individuals need to have a very good understanding of the dosage of their medications. They have been trained to recognize when a change in medication intake is necessary. For this, they receive specific instructions on how the intake or dosage can be altered to achieve the target values set with the doctor. And, of course, the most important thing is that they must also trust themselves to correctly adjust the medication dosage if necessary.
In principle, it is therefore the case that blood pressure medications should be taken at the times and in the doses prescribed by the doctor. As is known, adjusting to medications or changing an existing medication always takes some time to make their effects visible. The body does not respond immediately to a taken tablet but requires some time to absorb the active ingredient and adjust. Additionally, different active ingredients create what is known as a therapeutic window. They build up a certain concentration in the body at which they are effective. Therefore, a new adjustment or change in therapy can take up to four weeks before the desired effect occurs.
This fundamental adjustment of the medication must be carried out by the treating physician. Under certain conditions, however, it is possible for some patients to adjust their medication intake themselves within specific guidelines set by the doctor based on the measured values.
Sources:
- https://www.leitlinien.de/themen/hypertonie/version-1/kapitel-5#5.5-selbstmanagement
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2819951
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2818560
- https://www.apotheken-umschau.de/podcast/episode/ne-dosis-wissen-der-medizin-podcast-fuer-menschen-im-gesundheitswesen/sollten-patient-innen-ihren-blutdruck-selbst-einstellen-1121063.html
- https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/koennen-patienten-ihre-arzneimittel-selbst-anpassen-147531/
By Sabine Croci.
This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (07/2024).
Information on the website and within the app cannot replace a consultation with a doctor, but can certainly complement it.
We hope you found the article on the topic helpful. For good blood pressure management, it is important to take the medications correctly. Our app BloodPressureDB is happy to remind you of the intake times.
It also manages the supply and informs you in good time when it is running low. This feature is also fully available in the free version. Get the free app now.
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