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Prescribed Bendroflumethiazide for loweringblood pressure

Posted , 4 users are following.

pat62
pat62

I had been prescibed Amlodipine for high blood pressure,  but that caused my legs to swell.  I was then put on Ramiplin, which although was effective for the bp, gave me a constant dry couch which kept me awake at night.  My blood pressure was coming down significantly due to taking more exercise sometimes as low as 117/69, so I came off the Ramiplin, and lost the couch.

It has recently gone up again due to a stressful situation, and the Dr has put me on Bendroflumethiazide to see what this will do.

As my system healthily flushes in the morning already, a dash to the loo first thing, several drinks and several more visits to the loo in a short space of time.  I was wondering what on earth would happen once on diuretics.  

the peculiar thing was after taking the tablet in the morning of the first day,  I did not need to pee when I first got up on the second day,  and did not have anything to pee for about three hours, even though I was drinking plenty. I thought it was meant to increase the flow, not stop it.  Now on the fourth day, and though not so extreme as the first day, 3 & 4 have been noticably less passing of urine than usual.   Not only has my top number stayed up, ranging between 130 & 162, but the bottom number has risen dramatically, usually around 71 to 81 it has now risen to as high as 96.

What experiences have others had with the meds for blood pressure.  are there many options,  and what are the drawbacks/side effects. 

I am trying to take exercise regulary as I have found this lowers the blood pressure,  but have to be carefull as I also have ME, and can easily tip the balance of energy if I do too much.

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • mrsmop
    mrsmop pat62

    Posted

    Hi Pat,  I take Bisoprolol and have had no problems with it.  I took Ramipril alongside the Bisoprolol but developed a cough, which is apparently a known side effect, so they stopped that and prescribed Bendroflumethiazide alongside the Bisoprolol.  I knew it was a diuretic and it seems to suit me.  However,  I was aware that my BP has started to rise again, it seems to be because I am also taking Methotrexate.  My GP has added another drug this week, Losartan.  This is day 4 taking 3 drugs to control my BP.  It is back down at a reasonable level, with no adverse effects.  The Methotrexate makes me feel dozy, and I don't think these other drugs make me feel any worse!

    I remember taking Amlodipine at some point but I forget precisely when!

    My GP has given me enough for 6 weeks and told me to go back then.

    How long have you been on your new regime?  

    • pat62
      pat62 mrsmop

      Posted

      I have only been taking them for 4 days.  What is worrying me is that it has always been the systolic (higher) readings that we too high.  The diastolic (lower) readings have never been a problem and now suddenly have shot up. 
    • mrsmop
      mrsmop pat62

      Posted

      When I first started the Losartan, mine went up as high as ever, though the diastolic has always stayed at 90 or lower but now, it is about 135/77, which is pretty good for me!  If it goes any lower,  I feel unwell.

      One of my GPs told me that they start to become concerned when the diastolic exceeds 110 and the systolic, I think he said, 150/160

      Did your doctor tell you when to go back to him?  Mine also told me that the wrist type bp monitors were not accurate and the best ones to use are the ones where the cuff goes around the upper arm.

    • mrsmop
      mrsmop

      Posted

      And another thing my GP said, was only check my bp twice a week.

      If you're worried, telephone your surgery, talk to a doctor or nurse and they will tell you if they think they need to see you.

    • pat62
      pat62 mrsmop

      Posted

      I have had a cuff monitor for some time.  I took it into the surgery and asked the nurse to check that it was calibrated correctly.  My husband got me a wrist moniter thinking it would be better when travelling, but it is wildly inaccurate.  Telphoned the surgery this afternoon and was told Dr is away for several days.  They are going to get the duty Dr to ring back but it might not be until tomorrow. They couldn't tell me if I needed to speak to the Dr or not.

      I have changed Drs (within the same surgery) twice in the last few years.

      The first was because he would not even consider investigating the chronic fatigue that I was experiencing, telling me that I was probably depressed. 

      He has know for some time that my Bp was a bit high but told me that it was not high enough to worry about.

      I changed from the second Dr because she would not switch me from Amlodipine, and my legs were very swollen and painful preventing me from walking.

      Dr 3 put me on Ramipril, and then told me that the cough that occurred was nothing to do with it.  

      Is there a real Dr in the house???

    • mrsmop
      mrsmop pat62

      Posted

      I know the feeling Pat!  I mentioned my cough to a Dermatologist because she was the first doctor I saw.  She told me it could be any one of 100 things, it could be cancer - very helpful!

      Our GPs used to be really good but they have really gone off recently

  • margaret132
    margaret132 pat62

    Posted

    After being on Ibersartan for several years I was taken off it in Feb fue to suspected side effects. Since then I have had several different tablets which have caused side effects some serious, like the new diuretic I was on which caused my sodium levels to falll so low I was almost needing hospitalised. The most recent one was lercanidipine which has few side effects. I have been ill since starting it and my bp kept going up and down. Last week my doctor put me on prozac as I was becoming depresssed with all the side effects. Result the combjnation if thd 2 tablets made me worse so on advice from the pharmacist I stopped the bp medicine then saw my doctor. He agreed and now I am taking only prozac which appears to be keeping my bp at a fairly normal reading
    • mrsmop
      mrsmop margaret132

      Posted

      That is interesting Margaret.  We have to be really on the ball, as patients don't we?
  • anne616
    anne616 pat62

    Posted

    I too, found that I could go nearly all day without going for a pee dispite drinking loads of tea and coffee during the day. 
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