Are you currently taking medications for high blood pressure?
Do you ever use amyl nitrate or Viagra?
If you’ve said yes to any of this questions this report could help reduce your risk of harm – please read on to learn more.
Hey there Guys,
I had an interesting case this week and thought it was important to share. Of course I have changed the name and a few details to protect privacy, but that being said Dave was keen for me to share this story.
Dave, a long term patient of mine has been taking blood pressure medicines for many years. He had recently become single on the scene and was a bit apprehensive about meeting other guys. Unbeknown to me he was suffering some problems with erections, so one of his mates offered to help him out by giving him a Viagra tablet.
Dave is a pretty cautious bloke so decided to only take half the tablet to see how it went.
Dave was pretty happy with the result, he even said “I haven’t had an erection like that since my 20’s”. Needless to say both Dave and his new friend were happy with the outcome.
Of course that was until they were both getting ready “to finish the session up” and decided to “crack open a bottle of amyl to make it that little bit better”.
Dave’s partner had a sniff and all was fine. Dave took a sniff and 30 seconds later he was passed out on the floor having hit his head on the bed head, blood gushing everywhere from a gash in his forehead.
Needless to say it was a bit of a dampener to the evening. Thankfully Dave came to pretty quickly and his partner knew first aid. A slightly embarrassing trip to the emergency department later Dave has a cool new scar to show off to the guys.
I’m just glad that nothing worse happened.
So what went wrong?
Dave experienced an all too common side effect of medicines that don’t play nicely together.
Being on a blood pressure medication his blood pressure was actually pretty good. What Dave did not realise is that Viagra can also make the blood pressure drop. Viagra was actually developed as a blood pressure medication until they discovered that all the male patients were getting erections as a side effect; the drug was quickly rebranded and Viagra was born.
In this case, Dave had two medicines that lowered blood pressure in his body. With the addition of amyl, a substance that also drops blood pressure, he was a sitting duck for an undesirable drug interaction. As the amyl kicked in the blood rushed down to his legs, away from his brain and he fainted…the body’s natural reaction to help get blood to the brain again.
Once blood was able to get back to the brain he woke up, a little confused and dazed.
What can be done to prevent this?
One of the best ways to prevent this problem is to avoid these combinations. The tricks to to feel comfortable to speak with your GP if you are considering using Viagra or perhaps amyl.
Please don’t ever feel afraid to discuss these issues with your doctor as early prevention can stop some potentially deadly outcomes. If your family doctor is gay that may be one advantage to feeling a little more comfortable discussing these topics; after all we have pretty much heard it all before.
Please don’t be embarrassed if your doctor occasionally asks some probing questions, it’s certainly not to make you feel uncomfortable, we want you to have as good an outcome as you do 🙂 .
With careful discussion the good news is that Dave and I were able to work out a treatment for his erectile problems that did not effect his blood pressure. Dave has reported he’s cleaned out the freezer, saying goodbye to his amyl, and his new friend just happens to think that scars are sexy.
Good outcomes all round, yes?
So what can be learned from this?
Erection problems are quite common If your GP does not bring the topic up, don’t be afraid to mention it if you have concerns.
Be sure to let your doctor know what medications you take, even occasional ones as they can interact with each other. A good example is protease inhibitors used to treat HIV. These can reduce the breakdown of Viagra leading to potential problems of erections that will not go down!
I suppose the bottom line is to not be afraid to talk with your doctor if you are considering taking any additional medications or substances. We are not the police and our interest is your health. The more me know the more we can help. We may even be able to prevent an embarrassing trip to the emergency department in the middle of the night.
Got a question? Please feel free to leave any questions or comments in the box below. I’ll get back to you asap to make sure you get an answer.
Of course if you would prefer you comment a little less public, free free to contact me here.
Yours in good health.
Dr George
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