Hydralazine is a medication used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). According to Drugs.com, it belongs to a category of drugs called vasodilators that widen your blood vessels and allow more blood flow through your blood vessels. This subsequently reduces your blood pressure. Typically, hydralazine is available as an injection and you will receive 20mg to 40mg of it as necessary.
Common Side Effects
MedlinePlus indicates that hydralazine's most common side effects include nausea, a poor appetite, diarrhea and vomiting. Vomiting and diarrhea are both symptoms that result in bodily fluid loss. This results in hypokalemia (low potassium levels) and dehydration. Understand the signs of hypokalemia. They are the following: constipation, muscle weakness or cramping and fatigue. You can eat raisins, bananas and apricots to elevate your blood potassium levels. Symptoms for dehydration include decreased urination and dry lips. Remember to drink 8 to 10 cups of water a day to add more fluid to your body. Hydralazine can also cause a headache, dizziness, anxiety, nasal congestion, a skin rash and joint pain. Notify your doctor if hydralazine's common manifestations do not subside in four days.
Serious Side Effects
The National Library of Medicine says that hydralazine may increase your chances of suffering from a myocardial infarction (stroke), anginal attacks (intermittent chest pain) and changes in your electrocardiogram (a method of measuring your heart's electrical conductivity). Signs of a heart attack include a crushing chest pain that radiates down one of your arms, diaphoresis (sweating) and nausea. Call 911.
Drugs.com indicates that hydralazine can cause easy bruising, tachycardia (fast heartbeats) or palpitations (pounding heartbeats), confusion and abnormal behaviors and thoughts. Disruptions in your heart rhythm such as in tachycardia and palpitations can compromise the quantity of blood that pumps out to your body. Easy bruising can be the result of thrombocytopenia, a condition in which your platelet counts are extremely reduced. Platelets clot your blood. Hydralazine can also cause fainting spells, paresthesias (numbness or tingling) and fatigue. Hypotension (low blood pressure) is typically to blame for syncopal (fainting) episodes. Low blood pressure prevents blood from reaching your brain. Call your doctor at once if hydralazine causes these physical manifestations.
Additional Concerns
Avoid hydralazine if you are hypersensitive to vasodilator medications. Signs of a hypersensitivity reaction include facial or throat swelling, trouble breathing and hives. The National Library of Medicine warns that you shouldn't use hydralazine if you suffer from coronary artery disease (heart disease) or mitral valvular (type of valve in your heart) rheumatic heart disease. Hydralazine can worsen these heart problems. Drugs.com says you must notify your physician if you take diazoxide or monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) such as rasagiline. Hydraline can interact with these drugs and cause the aforementioned effects.
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