According to the Mayo Clinic, discover which type of treatments or medications are available to help treat pulmonary hypertension.
1. Blood vessel dilators (vasodilators)
Pulmonary hypertension is a disease which narrows the blood vessels, so using blood vessel dilators as a treatment will help since they work to open narrowed blood vessels. Epoprostenol (Flolan) is one of the vasodilators for PH most commonly prescribed. However, as this is a medication whose effect only lasts a few minutes, epoprostenol needs to be injected over and over again via an IV through a pump which PH patients have to wear in a pack on their belt or shoulder. Like all medications, it has its side effects which include jaw pain, nausea, diarrhea, and leg cramps, among others.