Question

You are by the side of an alert and oriented 56-year-old male patient complaining of generalized weakness and a pounding headache. his pulse is 104, respirations 18, and blood pressure 218/110 mmhg. he has a history of high blood pressure for which he takes lisinopril. he states that he has not taken the lisinopril for two weeks and hands you a container with the medication inside. you would:

Answer 1

I would read the drug side-effects on the container to see if that was what was causing the symptoms. I would also ask him how long he has had these symptoms to see if there is a direct linkage between the two. I would also ask why he hasn't taken the drug in 2 weeks. If it appears there is a linkage and it's not causing any other issues, I would instruct him to take the drug as he had been doing. If there were other issues with the drug than I would prescribe him something else to take. Something that hopefully wouldn't produce the same side effects.