Allergic to most HBP pills
Posted , 6 users are following.
I am a 65 year old female and have dealt with HBP since my 40s. The problem is that all HBP meds affect me greatly. I have tried around 13 meds and am still experimenting with new ones, lucky for me my Dr is patient and understanding. The side effects of these pills keep me from having quality of life. The side effects are many: violent diahrrea, asma, severe rash, exterme fatigue, pains in my legs and hands .Is there anyone out there with this ame problem? At this moment I am taking half of a 4 mg pill of Candesartan every other day, and my HBP is usually around 140/90. I worry that it should be lower but dont know what to do. Any suggestions and or recomendations will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Mia
1 like, 9 replies
mike92384 frances_89322
Posted
How well I know the feeling of pills not agreeing. Forget your thoughts about "lucky for me my Dr. is patient & understanding". This has nothing to do with him, but everything to do with you. YOU are the patient. It's HIS job to try to find the right medication for you. Why is it you're taking 4mg of Candesartan every other day, rather than every day? I'm with the understanding that BP medication is taken EVERY day, unless it's a very strong medication, & not necessary to take every day.
I don't know what the atttitude in medicine is where you are, but I was told by my doctor (here in Canada) that a person of my age (same as you) taking medications for BP..it's quite ok to be at 140/90. It's a "little" elevated, yes...but
the quality of life for the patient is very important also. The more pills, or stronger pills..the more liklihood of feeling sick, or the risk of dizziness & a fall. I'd be inclined to check this out with your doctor & see what the atttitude is. It may be the same, or he may disagree.
It may not be the medication itself causing you to feel ill, it could be the 'fillers'.
Hope this helps.
Lizzie46881 frances_89322
Posted
I'm 58 and my BP is around 145/75 ish. My gp wants it lower, I'm already on amlopidine to which I have had an easy ride, but she started me on on lisinopril as well and I bad reaction, specifically rash all round my neck and tummy, and feeling faint and light headed like I thought I was going to die, I came off them after 3 days. Seeing doc in two weeks time as I'm not especially worried about my my bp at these levels, just don't want to feel like I did on the lisinopril ever again
Love
Lizzie
mike92384 Lizzie46881
Posted
145/75 isnt' all that bad, really. You're on Amlodipine?? Good luck with that one. A lot of people have problems with it, me being one of them.
Lisinopril is an A.C.E. Inhibitor. 3 days is a very short time, however if you're having a reaction such as rash, & feeling faint then it's best to come off it. Your Dr. may suggest you take an ARB (she'll know what that is). You may recognize some of the names such as Valsartan,
Irbesartan, Candesartan, etc. There are different classes of BP medication. Amlodipine is a Calcium Channel Blocker. Your doctor may even suggest a diuretic which helps in lowering bp but these topics are something you should discuss with her.
Lizzie46881 mike92384
Posted
I'm currently trying to wean myself off codeine again,as I have repeptive problems with my wrists and arms but can't take any anti-inflamtories or stuuf like amitryptilene for other reasons, so I'm stuck with opiates, but every time I get dependent and have to go through the withdrawals when the pain subsides. My BP is the least of my troubles as I'm also bipolar II !!!!
Thansk again
Lizzie
carol57829 frances_89322
Posted
mike92384 carol57829
Posted
You did say you've tried most of the alternatives without much luck. Has your Dr. mentioned an Alpha-Blocker? An example of that is Doxazosin.
Also, has your Dr. had you try a combination of bp meds? Sometimes
it takes more than one med at a time to get decent results.
Good luck with this. How well I know how frustrating this can be.
aetl frances_89322
Posted
Hi, I am 60 years old. I have only been on 4 HBP meds, 2 were repeated. I also reacted badly to them and one did nothing.
I stopped taking them almost 2 years ago because the last one I took (not the repeated ones) had the worse experience I have ever had in my life and after that I said never again.
The horror story was that one of them (I can't remember the name anymore) caused anxiety. One day I was in the laundry room and felt weird, it was a feeling of dejavu, I know it sounds weird but I don't know how else to explain how I felt. I said to myself, well I do come into the laundry room often so of course I feel like I've been here before. Not too many days later I was talking to my daughter about a dress. I had the same feeling but extremely intense. I had to stop talking to my daughter and went into the other room where my husband was sitting and started crying I was so frightened by what I was experiencing. Another feeling of been there done that.
Then I was alone watching some silly t.v. show and the feeling came again. This time I wasn't really caught by surprise. I recognized what was coming. It started in my stomach, like going down on a roller coaster, then it came up to my chest and my heart pounded. I really thought I was going to die. It happened again and I was able to sit with it while it happened but it was a horrible feeling.
Usually when something is wrong in my body, I think about what have I been doing that is different. The only thing I'd done was take HBP meds. I looked the specific brand up on the internet and looked at the side affects. ANXIETY was listed. I stopped taking them. I went to my doctor for a follow up. The follow up was to see if the meds were working. I told the nurse who was doing all the blood work, etc. that I had stopped taking them and why. She said oh no, there must be something wrong with me not the meds. I said no, and I told her that I looked it up on the net. She did too and at first she couldn't find anything. I asked her if she wanted me to go home and print out what I had found. Eventually she found it too.
Now 2 years later, from that day those anxiety attacks are still with me. Right now they are 98% less horrific but I can recognize the anxiety when it come. It has taken all this time to come down this far down from the anxiety. I compare it to a snail who leaves a trail of - snail stuff behind
I would like to know if you have had any similar experience? Having a reaction or side effect that kept on effecting you even when you were no longer taking it.
My other side effects from the other pills were coughing and exterme fatigue. Then there was one that did nothing in any way shape or form.
I haven't taken anything since. I try to find other things to bring down my blood pressure. Change my eating habits (hard to maintain), take magnesium, exercise in the form of walking. I am really so truly afraid of taking yet another med that's going to wipe me out. Now after reading your 13th+ attempt to find something I don't have any faith.
Why are we so hard to "cure"
xizziz aetl
Posted
I would be afraid if I weren't on bp meds. I never had been and suffered a subarachnoid hemorhhage which I told was mostly caused by high blood pressure - and it was always around 137/90 when I saw my doctor on visits - he didn't warrant bp meds - and I so wish I had seen a different doctor. I hope you find a blood pressure medicine that works for you - there is a reason why they called high blood pressure a silent killer. Take care.
xizziz frances_89322
Posted
Hi there, my first blood pressure med was Amlodipine which I took for around 2 months, I experienced chest pain and it lowered my bp to about 140/90. I was not happy with this so switched to Lisiniprol HCTZ 10 12.5. My mother and father and brother had good luck with this and it has been around a very long time so I asked for that. Within a day my bp averaged 120/80. Needless to say I am one happy camper. Different things react differently in different people. If you take other medications, research carefully and check for interactions. Good luck