Blood Pressure Tablets: I Feel Fine, Can I Stop?

In short: feeling fine is no reason to stop your blood pressure tablets on your own. Many people with high blood pressure feel healthy and wonder whether they still need the medicine. High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms, so how you feel says little about your readings. Whether you continue, lower or stop is decided by your doctor. You can keep your readings and each dose in Sam, in a high blood pressure program. Bring both to the appointment as a doctor report (PDF).

This text is general information, not medical advice. It never tells you to stop, start or change a medicine. Your doctor makes those decisions.

Why feeling fine says little about your blood pressure

High blood pressure is hard to notice, because it usually has no symptoms. The NHS says many people have it without realising it, so people can feel well even when their readings are too high.

So your feeling is not a reliable measure. Feeling good says neither that the tablets work nor that they are no longer needed. Repeated readings over time answer that, not how you feel this morning.

Who decides about your tablets

The decision to continue, change or stop is your doctor's. It is based on repeated readings and your record, not on your feeling. A single good day or one good clinic reading is not enough.

If you are unsure what your readings mean, it helps to measure at home for a week and note it down. See how often to measure blood pressure for the routine. Your doctor sets your rhythm. Whether blood pressure tablets are needed for life cannot be answered in general. Your doctor checks that against your values and your record. For the weeks after a diagnosis, High blood pressure diagnosis: what now is a good place to start.

Why you never stop on your own

Blood Pressure UK is clear: if you stop taking your medicines, your blood pressure will quickly rise again. It says not simply to stop because your blood pressure will go back up. The NHS gives the same advice for individual medicines: its amlodipine page says not to stop taking it unless a doctor tells you to.

Stopping on your own can let your blood pressure rise again, and with it your risk for your heart and blood vessels, without you noticing at once. If something bothers you about the tablets, such as a side effect, raise it in the appointment. There is often another option. Your readings give a better basis for that talk than your feeling alone.

What your doctor needs to decide

So the conversation can actually decide something, your doctor needs more than your feeling:

• Repeated readings over a period, with dates and times.
• Your medication list with what you take regularly.
• Whether you really took each dose, or where the gaps were.
• Readings taken soon after a change.

You can mention how you feel, but it is only one part. The NHS says most people with high blood pressure will need long-term treatment with amlodipine, and that how long you take a medicine is for your doctor to say. For overall appointment prep, see the doctor visit checklist for a chronic condition. If someone comes with you, the Sam for family page shows how they can help.

When you need urgent help

Some values and symptoms should not wait for an appointment. The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says a reading above 180/120 mmHg needs medical attention, and to call 9-1-1 if a repeat reading is also high and you have a sudden severe headache, difficulty breathing, sudden severe pain in the abdomen, chest or back, numbness or weakness, a sudden change in vision, or problems talking. If that happens, call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US). Do not wait to see whether your blood pressure comes down on its own.

Without such symptoms, a single very high reading is not always a crisis. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute advises waiting 5 minutes and checking again. If it is still high, contact your doctor straight away. The living with high blood pressure guide explains the daily pattern.

Log your tablets and readings in Sam and take the report

You go to the appointment with a picture of what you actually took and how your readings ran over weeks. You are not relying only on the memory that you felt fine.

• Instead of a loose list: you tick off each dose and enter each reading with date and pulse, so taken and forgotten sit visibly side by side.
• Instead of recalling from memory: the doctor report (PDF) from the high blood pressure program brings together your readings, intake days and the period you choose.
• Instead of a vague note: sleep and resting heart rate from Apple Health sit next to your values and your medication list in the same app.

What is medically right is your doctor's decision. Sam reminds you of a scheduled dose and records it, but it neither advises for nor against stopping a tablet.

Try Sam for free

Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. The app does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition or health state. Always consult qualified professionals for medical decisions.

Related reading

• High blood pressure diagnosis: what now
• Living with high blood pressure: daily readings
• How often to measure blood pressure
• Doctor visit checklist for a chronic condition

Sources

Updated: October 2026

• NHS: High blood pressure (page last reviewed 19 July 2024). No usual symptoms, home and clinic thresholds, medicines.
• Blood Pressure UK: Medications for high blood pressure. Do not simply stop because your blood pressure will rise again; lower dose or stop after years of control is a decision with your doctor.
• NHS: Amlodipine. Do not stop unless a doctor tells you to; long-term treatment for most people with high blood pressure.
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH): High blood pressure symptoms (updated 25 April 2024). Above 180/120: wait 5 minutes, check again, call 9-1-1 with symptoms.
• British Heart Foundation: High blood pressure (hypertension).