Clonidine for Hypertensive Emergency User Reviews

• Neura...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 20, 2013

Catapres (clonidine) "All I can say is THANK GOD for clonidine (Catapres). I'm just taking the pill form .2mg, and within 20-30 minutes my BP goes from about 172/105 to around 115-125/75-80. Only side effects I get are a little bit of dry mouth and some drowsiness. That beats the heck out of a stroke or MI, imo. BTW, I'm 6'2" and about 190. First med the doctors have found that actually WORK without nasty side effects. I hope your results with it are as positive as mine. Ciao."

• Anonymous
• January 25, 2019

"Just want to add something to my comment of Sept 25 2017 above. I have subsequently learned of a condition called "secondary hypertension" that is not the same as "resistant hypertension" or "isolated" because it has another cause somewhere in the body. Could be renal, could be pulmonary, or a couple of other possibilities, and if you are struggling with systolic hypertension that is hard to treat, the advice is to look for an underlying cause and leave no stone unturned. In my case, renal and pulmonary have been ruled out through echo/doppler tests, and I am scheduled to see a specialist in secondary hypertension next week. The fight to maintain healthy BP can get exhausting."

• Anonymous
• September 2, 2023

"My blood pressure was 188. I am 83. In the ER, they gave me a dose of 0.1 clonidine when my pressure didn’t come down. After a few more hours, they gave me one more of 0.1 at 10 pm. My blood pressure finally came down to 122. It took about 8 hours to get it under control. It was the most effective treatment I’ve ever had."

• Bayou...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 11, 2018

"I went into renal failure and my doc discontinued HCTZ. Then put me on metopolol and losartan 100mg. Amlodipine made my legs swell terribly. ACE inhibitors made me cough. Hydrazaline gave me petechiae, cough, shortness of breath and severe headaches. Clonidine worked and only gave me dry mouth. Problem is clonidine is only effective ~6hrs and the doc wants to cut it down. My BP goes to 180/110 without clonidine. I like clonidine, it works. I only take it when my BP gets to 140/90 or higher. We are going to try the transdermal patch."

• broke...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 5, 2015

Catapres (clonidine) "I was given 0.2 mg of clonidine after having a hypertensive crises due to an interaction between a MAOI and another antidepressant. The first dose of clonidine (0.2) brought my blood pressure from 208/163 to around 140/110, at which point I was ready to head to the ER, where I got other meds. A few days later I had another crisis, but this one not as bad as the first: 173/140. The scary thing about the second crisis was that it took a total of 0.3 mg of clonidine to get my blood pressure to go down even a little. But overall, thank god for the clonidine! Maybe woulda had a stroke or something without it. My skin was all purple and the whites of my eyes were completely bright red, so I think the blood was trying to get out somehow."

• ALano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 25, 2021

"So I ABSOLUTELY despise using pharmaceuticals unless necessary. Yesterday was horrible. My blood pressure just wouldn't come down! I was extremely anxious ALL day and my husband was doing what he could but it was getting worse. I remembered I had a breakthrough drug for hypertensive crisis. I was initially reluctant as I was afraid of the side effects but the other choice was Emergency room during a national pandemic. I took this clonidine and within 40 minutes I started feeling relief, my anxiety lifted and I smiled for the first time all day long because I wasn't scared and in pain. So I'm very grateful. I'm working to get my stress levels under control so I don't have to take anything but I am so glad it worked so well, so soon, saved me a visit to a more stressful emergency room. So this morning my pressure is rising a bit, I'm taking another. It worked and my side effect? Dry mouth. I have that anyway upon waking so yep. lol"

• SSRId
• October 4, 2015

Catapres (clonidine) "Clonodine has saved me more times than I care to remember from opiate to benzo withdrawal. I'll never understand why it isn't prescribed more often and why on earth benzodiazepines are given out so carelessly given they are nearly impossible to get off of after years of use and seizures-death are possible if quitting too suddenly. You can also experience withdrawal symptoms from benzodiazepines for up to three years. Rant over...."

• vjm
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 11, 2018

"Be very careful with Clonidine. It worked well for me, but then my bp started spiking every day and I'd need the Clonidine again to lower it. It was causing a blood pressure rebound. They have switched me now to a different med."

• Anonymous
• September 25, 2017

"My underlying condition is sinus bradycardia of 48-58 and low diastolic BP in the 50s and isolated systolic hypertension, resistant to many meds and often spiking into stroke territory. Currently on HCTZ, atenolol, losartan for BP. Have also tried adding aldactone, amlodipine, and one other (forgotten) with no effect on systolic. Because of the bradycardia and low diastolic, my BP is more difficult to control. So....an ER doc about a year ago advised 0.5 Clonidine for spikes >200 systolic. The problem is worse now, and I am promised a Clonidine patch for control. Highs have been up to 246/90. Been in ER 3 times recently. Really appreciate Clonidine. No side effects. Tonight BP was 235/96; took .175 to bring it down over two hours."

• Bandit
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 11, 2014

"I have night time spikes in my blood pressure and I also have Polycystic Kidney Disease which affects my blood pressure a lot because sometimes its too low, sometimes too high! I take lisinopril 40mg Norvasc 10mg and Cadurra 8mg for blood pressure maintaining but I have a script for clonidine 0.2mg twice a day as needed and what usually happens is I take first full dose at night when my blood pressure begins to rise then I wait an hour and check blood pressure and take .1 mg of clonidine and do same thing in another hour and what I've learned is that for me clonidine effects my heart rate within 30 minutes which is not good because I don't really have a high heart rate and clonidine has made me drop into the 40s a few times while trying to lower blood pressure."

• tsberry
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 11, 2024

"I am 75 years old and come from a family with chronic high blood pressure. I've had doctors that couldn't control it before, but I have two bits of information you might find interesting. First, I was admitted to the emergency room with 225/115, and it took about 4 hours to bring it down with hydralazine intravenously. The doctor was amazed I didn't have a heart attack or stroke. They released me from the hospital, and when I tried to get the prescribed medications the hospital gave, they were in short supply, so I had to wait until the next day. My blood pressure started going up again to about 180/100, and when I finally got the clonidine, I noticed the blood pressure went down very quickly with no side effects. I believe clonidine is a short-term relief from high blood pressure because you need to take it more often. However, if you can't find something that works for you, I would recommend it."

• Garde...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 8, 2022

"Clonidine works quickly and is a necessary evil at times. I am 73 years old and since age 50 developed high blood pressure. I'm very active, get plenty of exercise, eaten healthy and have never been overweight. I now keep Clonidine stocked at home and it has saved me trips to the ER when having a Hypertensive Emergency normally brought about by getting too excited. Watching Game of Thrones caused my first crisis. However I dread taking it because it makes me so stupid. My short term memory is dramatically effected. I feel like a zombie. I need several blood pressure meds daily, Atenolol, Valsartan with a diuretic and Amlodipine. I needed 10 mg daily of the Amlodipine, but have learned I can get away with 5 mg if I add 130 mg of Hydralalzine. 10 mg of Amlodipine causes painful swelling of the lower legs and ankles. 5 mg of Amlodipine causes none of that."

• Aggies
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 25, 2024

"I have been on antihypertensives for 18 years. I went through each one from ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, etc. My problems continued to escalate with BP, tachycardia, shortness of breath. Four years ago, I changed physicians and the first thing they did was put me on a beta-blocker and clonidine PRN. I experienced a run of malignant hypertension during Covid that persisted. I decided to take a 0.1 clonidine, my BP went from 205/130ish to normal in one hour. I always have clonidine in my purse; it has proven itself time and time again."

• Susan...
• December 17, 2008

"I only use it when my blood pressure shoots up. It does a very good job of bringing it down, with a very low dose."

• Bill...
• July 4, 2016

"I now know how a baloon feels when it is deflated. I went to ER with 195/145. Clonidine brought it down very quickly. Only side effect was serious drowsiness shortly after. Thanks clonidine."

• web
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 22, 2015

"Unexpectedly my bp was 202/120 when I showed up for my annual visit. Brought it down ro 178/100 quickly. Given a prescription for Valsartan and was back to 110 over 70 in a few hours."