Can Hydralazine Cause Nausea And Weakness?

Posted on Fri, 10 Nov 2023

Question: my Mom was put on hydralazine 25 mg after a stay in the hospital 2 times per day. she was treated for CHF and Stage 4 kidney disease with chronic anemia. she has a home health therapist come to her home to monitor her bp and other vitals. He feels as do I that as my mother never had high bp that this drug is keeping her weak and often nauseous. I mentioned it to her cardiologist at her last appt 2 weeks ago and he told me it is necessary to continue because of her condition. As a lay person I don't know enough to argue effectively with her Dr. any advice would be appreciated . her bp today was 90 over 60

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (28 minutes later)

Brief Answer:

It is used for heart failure as well

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

It is not being used for high blood pressure in your mom , though this is one of uses.

It is also used in persons with heart failure though if it is not if it is not agreeing with her, you may need to speak to your doctor again.

It relaxes the blood vessels and therefore reduces the pressure in these blood vessels. This means that the resistance in the blood vessels is less, which is a good thing.

Through its actions, the cardiac output, which is how much blood the heart is able to pump out in a minute, is increased.

This means that the amount of blood that is sent out the organs is increased, also good.

Nausea is a side effect so it could definitely be contributing to that and if she cannot tolerate it then you can speak to her doctor.

He or she would be the best person to suggest another option since they would have access to all of her information.

Hope I have answered your query.

Take care

Regards,
Dr Michelle Gibson James, General & Family Physician

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar