Erectile Dysfunction Health Center

High Blood Pressure and Erectile Dysfunction (ED)

To treat erectile dysfunction (ED), you have to lower high blood pressure. Some people are able to do that through lifestyle changes alone. Others need help from prescription high blood pressure medication.

A problem for many men, however, is that some types of blood pressure drugs can actually cause erectile dysfunction. That may make it difficult to stay on medication, especially if high blood pressure never caused any symptoms before. An estimated 70% of men who have side effects from high blood pressure medicine stop taking it.

Many drugs used to treat high blood pressure have been linked to erectile dysfunction. But some are much less likely than others to cause problems. Certain high blood pressure drugs may even improve erectile dysfunction for some men.

It's known that diuretics (or water pills, like hydrochlorothiazide) and beta-blockers (like Atenolol) can also cause erection problems. These are also the first drugs that a doctor is likely to prescribe if you are not able to lower your high blood pressure through diet and exercise.

If taking a diuretic, you should stay on it until high blood pressure is under control. If erection problems persist, or blood pressure goes back up, then your doctor might switch to a drug that's less likely to cause erectile dysfunction. Or, a combination of medications might work better to control high blood pressure and reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction.

If you take a beta blocker you may also want to ask your doctor if it might cause erectile dysfunction. You might be better off on a medication less likely to cause a problem.

High Blood Pressure Drugs Not Likely to Cause ED

Some families of high blood pressure drugs rarely cause ED as a side effect. They include:

• ACE inhibitors
• Alpha-blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• ARBs

ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors -- such as Lotensin, Capoten, Zestril, and Prinivil, for example -- widen blood vessels and increase blood flow. Erectile dysfunction is rarely a side effect, occurring in less than 1% of patients. There are several different drugs in this category. This seems to be true of all of them.

There are also drugs known as calcium channel blockers, such as Diltiazem, Verapamil, or Amlodipine. As a group, they rarely cause erectile dysfunction. But erection problems may be less common with some individual drugs within that group than with others. Your doctor can tell you which.

In general, alpha-blockers do not often cause erection problems either. In one study, a small number of men actually had a 100% improvement in their erectile dysfunction after two years on the alpha-blocker Cardura.

Drugs known as ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers, like Losarten) are not only unlikely to cause erection problems, but they may actually improve sexual function in men with high blood pressure.