Key takeaways
- While high blood pressure itself might not directly cause tiredness, fatigue can arise as a side effect of medications used to manage hypertension, such as ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers.
- Stress and sleep loss, both of which are linked to hypertension, can significantly contribute to feelings of fatigue and low energy levels in individuals with high blood pressure.
- Adopting healthy lifestyle habits, managing stress through techniques like yoga and meditation, and maintaining regular sleep patterns are crucial steps in preventing hypertension and alleviating associated fatigue.
Overview
Though high blood pressure can often occur without any symptoms, some people who experience consistently high blood pressure report feelings of fatigue and low energy.
Why does high blood pressure make you tired? Though your blood pressure medication can play a large part in how tired you feel, there may be other factors at play.
Knowing these factors can help you understand your symptoms and manage your condition better.
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Reasons for tiredness with high blood pressure
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, occurs when the force of blood against the blood vessel walls, specifically artery walls, is too high. This can strain the heart, which is why it’s important to treat consistently high blood pressure.
Hypertension often doesn’t have any noticeable symptoms. If you do notice symptoms, these may include:
- headaches
- blurry vision
- chest pain
You may also feel tired if you have high blood pressure. There may be multiple reasons why high blood pressure is accompanied by feelings of fatigue. Here are some of the most commonly mentioned in the medical field.
Organ damage
Hypertension can narrow the blood vessels, ultimately weakening and damaging them. This can happen throughout your body, including in your kidneys, your heart, and your arteries. When this happens, it can lead to different conditions, such as:
- kidney disease
- coronary artery disease
- heart failure
- peripheral arterial disease
Fatigue and drowsiness may be symptoms of these conditions. If healthcare professionals think your organs may be damaged, there are lab or imaging tests they can do to diagnose you further.
Blood pressure medications
Sometimes it isn’t high blood pressure itself, but a side effect of the medication commonly used to treat blood pressure that can make you feel tired. These can include:
- Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors: ACE inhibitors, such as enalapril and lisinopril, prevent the body from producing angiotensin II, which can narrow blood vessels and raise blood pressure. A common side effect, in addition to dizziness and coughing, is tiredness.
- Beta-blockers: True to the name, beta-blockers (like bisoprolol and metoprolol) block the action of stress hormones like adrenaline to slow the heart down. This can make you feel tired, but it may also affect your regular sleep rhythm.
- Calcium channel blockers: This medication, including amlodipine and felodipine, blocks calcium from entering the heart and arteries, which allows them to relax and open. One of the main side effects is fatigue (low energy), along with constipation and dizziness.
- Alpha-blockers: These blockers, such as doxazosin and prazosin, prevent a stress hormone called norepinephrine from tightening the muscles in the arteries and veins. This improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. Some reported side effects of this drug are fatigue (low energy), general feeling of weakness, and dizziness.
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Get free cardStress
The relationship between stress and hypertension is well-documented. Stress stimulates the nervous system, which produces vasoconstricting hormones (hormones that narrow the blood vessels) that increase blood pressure, such as norepinephrine, commonly known as adrenaline. Stress is also one of the major causes of chronic fatigue.
People experiencing stress and hypertension may feel depleted of energy, no matter how many hours of sleep they get.
Sleep loss
Several studies note that hypertension can lead to sleep loss or even insomnia. Science suggests that the overactivation of stress system functions that occur with high blood pressure can interrupt regular sleep patterns.
Naturally, when you aren’t getting enough sleep, you’re likely to feel tired and fatigued during waking hours.
How to manage fatigue linked with hypertension
Managing your high blood pressure is the main way to manage any symptoms that come with it, including fatigue. It can also prevent your condition from worsening and causing further damage to your blood vessels. Ways to manage hypertension include:
- taking medications like ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers
- eating a heart-healthy diet
- getting more exercise
- maintaining a moderate weight
- avoid alcohol and smoking
There are also ways to manage the specific causes of hypertension-related fatigue.
Organ damage
The same strategies that help manage high blood pressure can also help slow the progression of the organ damage that causes fatigue. The same medications can be used, as well as the same lifestyle measures.
Medications
Some people can lower their high blood pressure with a healthy diet and exercise, while others need prescription medications.
If your medication is causing you to feel tired, you might consider talking with a healthcare professional about other medications that might work for you. Not all blood pressure medications result in the same side effects, and side effects may vary by person.
Stress
Stress management can take many forms, and will vary from person to person. Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises are all ways to manage stress that are easily incorporated into your daily life. Spending time in nature and more attentive self-care can also help.
Sleep loss
One of the recommended ways to regulate sleep patterns is through daily exercise, which is also a great way to lower blood pressure. Make sure your chosen exercise is not too close to bedtime, though, as this can make you feel more awake.
When to speak with a healthcare professional
As hypertension often doesn’t cause any symptoms at all, everyone should aim to have their blood pressure read by a medical professional about two times a year, though people with consistently high blood pressure should have it checked more regularly.
Note that a hypertensive emergency, defined as a blood pressure reading higher than 180/120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), requires immediate medical care.
Untreated high blood pressure increases the risk of major health issues, such as heart attack, blindness, heart disease, and stroke.
Treated or not, if hypertension-related fatigue affects your quality of life, do not hesitate to speak with your healthcare professional.
Summary
Having high blood pressure increases the likelihood of fatigue. This isn’t necessarily a symptom of high blood pressure, but it may come as a side effect of medications or stress associated with the condition.
Still, with good sleep, medication, and stress management, it can get better. Talking with a healthcare professional can help you manage the condition in a way that works for you.
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