What are the side effects of blood pressure medications?

Side effects of blood pressure medications vary depending on the class of drugs (medications) that are used to manage high blood pressure. Some side effects include: dizziness; excessive urination; erection problems; weakness; leg cramps or pain; fatigue; cold extremities; depression; asthma symptoms; problems sleeping (insomnia); dry, hacking cough; or skin rashes.

Medications to lower blood pressure cause fatigue, lightheadedness, and loss of balance. The medications can lead to falls in the elderly potentially causing hip fractures, and they can lower diastolic blood pressure excessively (as they lower systolic), which increases the potential for cardiac arrhythmias, leading to death. The excessive use of blood pressure medications that lower diastolic blood pressure too low have been also shown to increase the occurrence of atrial fibrillation, another serious rhythm disturbance of the heart.