Should I take clonidine if my bp is 140/106 and my heart rate is 73?

Your systolic is borderline and diastolic is pretty high but I’ve had much higher. I would say you need clonidine for a while until you get it down. My heart rate was in the 50 s when I took it. I don’t think your blood pressure is high enough to be on clonidine for an extended amount of time, just to try to get it down then change to another blood pressure medication. You don’t want to get addicted to clonidine, it’s hard to get off from. Don’t be afraid, the drug will get your pressure down but after that, have a talk with your Dr. Or see a cardiologist like I did, he took me off of clonidine after my bp went down and put me on 2 other drugs. I did get pretty tired on clonidine and was glad when my bp went way down then switched. Hope this helps. You probably need a follow-up with your Dr to see how things are going, clonidine is probably the most powerful BP medicine out there. God bless.

Hello,

I know this is an old post, but it may still help you and other members, click on the link for relevant information on Clonidine:

https://www.drugs.com/tips/clonidine-patient-tips

Regards, masso

Actually I was on a beta blocker for 25 years that kept my heart rate down to 57 even smoking and poor diet, but not very good for BP. Clonidine is tricky, very very strong. Cannot take more than .005mg 2 times a day or I am in hypotension... I only changed from Corgard to clonidine 3 months ago as I was taking 5 40mg tablets a day from CKD. So, clonidine I had used 3 years ago to wean myself off of opioids', and today keeping a steady 105/60 pulse 59 daily... Got to be careful with clonidine... Powerful medication and tricky. What works for one, doesn't work for the other...

Your blood pressure, especially Diastolic (bottom number) is too high. Clonidine is an excellent drug for lowering blood pressure and, unlike BetaBlockers, won’t lower your heart rate. It is the only medication that works for me personally.