TOPIC:

I would be very grateful of you knowledgeable people let me know whether anyone is aware of possible side effect of high blood pressure. I never suffered from it before. A couple of bp readings done for unrelated reasons while on medication were really high (diastolic was 90). I feel no different and it was not consistently high so I kicked the issue in the long grass. It's been a month since my treatment finished and I am thinking I would better deal with blood pressure now.

Hello countless, You're right, it's always best to check high blood pressure readings further. Many people feel completely unaware when their BP is too high, and that means they do not get access to prevention measures. We all month by month get older, so bad BP can eventually catch up with anyone. On the other hand if you were being monitored in a clinic, it may be wise to monitor yourself at home too just in case you got a high reading purely due to your body's reaction to the clinical setting.

Hi countless,

I've never read of the DAA drugs contributing to high blood pressure. However, the most important fact here is that you are done treating. You state your treatment ended a month ago. That means these drugs are out of your system. If you have high BP it is being caused by something else. Probably your diet; saturated fat, vegetable oil, salt or lack of exercise. Talk to your doctor.

Mine went up and so did my total cholesterol. Bothe were in the low range pre treatment.
This was probably a blessing because I have known for a while that I need to clean up my nutrition.
So I have and since the end of January have lost 8 kilos and my BP is back to what it should be. Haven't checked the cholesterol yet but I'd say it's normalising.
In another post Doctor James aka The Legend explained that seeing as cholesterol is made in the liver it's common to have low levels when you have liver disease, and when it starts getting better starts to make more of the stuff. It could be that the 2 are related (but then I am not a doctor)

Hi countless,

There have been a few reports of increased blood pressure on treatment here but I'm not aware of a direct causal link to these medications. I am on blood pressure medication and during treatment mine rose at first but didn't reach alarming levels so we monitored it and it settled back down again over the next couple of months and has stayed okay with my normal BP medication since then. Perhaps it was an effect of the HCV medication? Or maybe just the 'excitement' of being on treatment and all the emotional implications that brings for most HCV patients?

As the others note, many of us are of an age where health issues like high blood pressure start to surface regardless of whether we have HCV. Please keep in mind that most people (including myself) "feel no different" when they have high blood pressure so I would recommend that you consult with your GP for a check and follow their advice.

With blood pressure, it's generally nothing to panic about. You need to run high pressures for many years to do damage.

Most high blood pressure is Essential Hypertension - so called because it happens for reasons we don't understand.

It does happen a little more commonly on treatment but happens before, during and after treatment so the simple reason.... it happens.

We used to use 160/90 as the treat/no treat limit. It's crept down over the years to (depending on country) to around 145/85 (lower for diabetics)

www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/upload...ideline-2016_WEB.pdf

But the extra benefits for getting diastolic (the small number, and the more important number) below 90 (ish) are small so at best your problem is mild.

Keep an eye on it for a while, and if it stays up an ACE inhibitor or and ARB would be good choices for treating it.

Because we don't know the cause we do observe that some patients can stop their medication after, say, a year and everything is back in whack.

Thank you all. Been measuring BP every now and again , diastolic was in the range from 65 to 85. Suppose should get a monitor and measure it consistently over a few days.
I am fairly sporty 44 yo with not an ounce of unwanted fat on me and my nutrition does not have obvious downsides apart from high dietary cholesterol. That is conscious decision as to the best of my knowldege dietary cholesterol accounts only for about 5% of daily cholesterol input; most of it is made in liver so limiting dietary fat while there is no need to lose weight or decrease calorie content seems counterproductive. Specially as replacements of high fat natural products tend to be artificially created / modified products of which I have deep mistrust. To be honest major factor is that they dont taste nice !
Shall ask a doctor to do my cholesterol levels.

Hi Countless, Yes, you might as well get your cholesterol levels checked. As you say, dietary cholesterol is pretty much irrelevant in terms of its contribution to total blood cholesterol levels however it is always good to know your own numbers.

Occasionally folk discover they have one of those genetic hypercholesterlaemias. Whare their body simply manufactures and or fails to clear cholesterols to normal healthy levels. It is only a small minority who have this, but if you are one of them then it's important to treat. Go well! Mnem *)*