Hypertension Medication Side Effects of Gout

When your hypertension gets serious enough, your doctor may prescribe medication to control your blood pressure. Once you're on that medication, you may start experiencing intense pain in your big toes or ankles. That's gout, a painful form of arthritis. If this happens to you, the problem may be your medication. Some medicines for hypertension list gout as a possible side effect.

Gout

• When your body produces too much uric acid or can't get rid of enough uric acid, the excess can lead to gout. The uric acid crystallizes and imbeds itself in the joints, particularly the ankle and big toe. The crystallized uric acid irritates and inflames the soft tissue, causing you a great deal of pain. Chronic gout can damage your joints and cause kidney stones. About five million people in the United States have been diagnosed with gout.

Water

• Keeping your body hydrated is one easy way to help avoid a gout attack. It is your body's way of getting rid of uric acid. The more water you drink, the more you will urinate. This will help you whether your problem is you don't urinate enough or you excrete a below-average of uric acid per liter of urine. By drinking more water, you urinate more and if the uric acid per liter is below-average, you are ridding your body of more urine than average.

Diuretic Treatment

• The problem with hypertension medications is that some of them use diuretic treatment to lower your blood pressure. Diuretics are the least expensive way to treat hypertension. They cause your body to get rid of salt and water, which decreases your blood volume, making it easier for your heart to pump your blood. The problem is that a diuretic also elevates the level of uric acid in your blood, according to a report from the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. However, the same report also recommends that thiazide diuretics be used first to treat hypertension.

Problem Medications

• A number of medications have caused gout problems. Thiazide diuretics and loop diuretics list gout as a possible side effect. These include medications like chlorothiazide, Diuril, bumetanide and Bumex. Make sure to check the list of possible side effects to see if gout is listed. If you experience a gout attack while on a hypertension medication, consult your physician to see if the medication could be the problem.

What to Do

• If you experience gout attacks while on hypertension medication, then your physician may prescribe an additional medication for the gout, such as allopurinol. You might also take additional steps to control your hypertension so that medication is not necessary. This can include things like losing weight, quitting smoking and reducing stress. Watching your diet can also help you reduce your blood pressure.