“Do you have to stay on high blood pressure medication for life?”

Yes. Stopping will lead to long-term damage. Good control decreases stroke, heart attack, and vascular disease. Your doctor can monitor your blood pressure and adjust as needed. Due to the hardening of the arteries, blood pressure tends to increase as you get older.

Hypertension can be a temporary reaction to stress, medication, or possibly some other illness, but mostly it develops because of a genetic factor. These genes are not going to change so once hypertension has developed, treatment needs to be long-term. Sometimes, if the treatment is very effective the BP can go down to normal and stay there even without continuing it for a while, but after a month or two it gradually starts to creep up again. Occasionally, successful lifestyle changes can be sufficient to overcome the genetic tendency, but this may only work for a few months or years, so you have to keep monitoring it.

Most people do. However, some can come off meds if they lose weight and exercise regularly. Either way, ideal weight, and exercise will drop the BP at least allowing you to take fewer medications.

Medication requirements for hypertension vary over time from person to person. One goal of blood pressure medication is to normalize blood pressure measurements to 120-130/70-80. A second very important goal is to reduce blood vessels’ thickness and wall tension. This takes time and is essential. A third goal is reducing heart muscle tension and any abnormal thickness, too. This takes time. A fourth goal is the normalization of body salt balance. This is essential. If a person tries medication cessation, relapse may occur because all internal organ changes have not regressed enough. Regression is possible… Takes time… And necessitates diet changes, body weight changes, activity changes, stress reductions, and then their maintenance.