Blood pressure medications are not one size fits all. When I went on BP medication my doctor had to adjust it several times until I wound up with a pill of higher dosage with a fluid pill included. I would notify the doctor if it has not gone down any further after a month of taking it.

thanks

Blood pressure medications are surprisingly ineffective!
A major study called ALLHAT and another large study published in JAMA reported on the average blood pressure drops as a result of taking bp meds from the four major classes. There results for systolic drops were as follows (JAMA/ALLHAT/Combined with another class):

Thiazide-type Diuretics: 7.3/12.3/14.6
Beta-blockers: 9.3/NA/18.9
ACE Inhibitors: 6.8/10.5/13.9
Calcium Channel Blockers: 8.4/11.5/14.3

I would highly recommend trying the DASH diet and maybe adding CoQ10 and garlic supplements. I would also look into either the Resperate or Zona Plus devices. (I am partial to the Zona, but do your own research:)

JAMA Study was called "Combination therapy versus monotherapy in reducing blood pressure: meta-analysis on 11,000 participants from 42 trials." Also, the data from the ALLHAT trials reflects drops after 5 years of use.

norx, I didn't see the exact systolic results from the study. They were not included in the results shown on the National Institute of Healh website. But here are the results they did list:
Results:
If you need to begin drug treatment, you should definitely try a diuretic first.
Beta blockers are another option to begin treatment, especially if you're younger than age 60 and do not have diabetes or peripheral artery disease (in which blood flow becomes reduced, especially to the hands and feet). Beta blockers also may be needed if you're taking the drug for another condition, such as heart attack or heart failure. If you're now taking a beta blocker, talk with your doctor about your total health needs.
If you need multiple drugs to control your blood pressure, which is common, make one a diuretic. If you already take more than one drug but your blood pressure is not yet under control, talk with your doctor about adding a diuretic to your treatment; if you take more than one drug and your blood pressure is controlled, ask about switching one to a diuretic.
Your doctor may consider giving you a calcium channel blocker or ACE inhibitor if you can't take a diuretic.
If you have angina (chest pain from heart disease), you may need to take a calcium channel blocker. It should be used along with a diuretic. Check with your doctor.
Your doctor may consider prescribing an alpha-adrenergic blocker if you take more than one drug to control blood pressure and/or that drug is being used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. Talk with your doctor about your total health needs.
Good luck, martin_ij.

Hmm... give this link a try: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1927249 0 . The results are in the abstract.
Good luck in your battle with hypertension!

Thanks for the link, norx. It looks like Greek to me. The readings don't really tell me much. (What is a confidence interval???) I was trying to figure out how we read the same article and came to such different conclusions. What I understood from the results were that different combinations of pills and/ or the addition of a fluid pill are effective at bringing blood pressure down to normal levels. You read the same article and found that blood pressure medicines are ineffective.
It's not my intention to debate, just to understand. But, as I said, the numbers don't mean anything to me so I'll have to let this one go. Thanks for providing the link.