Amlodipine

hi, I have been on 10mg of amlodipine about 3 years my bp was around 212 over 120 very high , I was put on ramprilthat started to mess with my kidneys so I was put on amlodipine I can honestly say the only after effect I have had is a cough from time to time, it seems to be the only blood pressure med that I can take. sometimes I feel like I have cold when I have not. but to me the benefits out way the side effects

I have been taking Amlodipine 10mg for 18 months now, after suffering a stroke due to high BP - a condition of which I was unaware. The GP also prescribed Rampiril and Aspirin ( 75 mg. ) daily. I have since suffered a persistent dry cough, swollen ankles and the most horrendous abdominal cramps and stomach pain.

I am not a wimp and have a very high pain threshold, having done outdoor work and worked with big stroppy horses for years. But the pain from the cramps has frequently caused me to scream involuntarily with the pain. They are far worse than labour contractions. ( I have given birth three times so know all about labour pains. ) I have visited my GP on many occasions during the past 14 months at least, asking him to change the meds as I consider they are the cause of my pain which is having a disastrous effect on my life. The pain is so severe that it can take me fifteen minutes or more just to try to sit up and crawl out of bed in the morning.

The GP keeps saying that it's indigestion or that perhaps I've been lying awkwardly in bed!!! He refuses toconsider that the pain could be caused by the medication. I requested an ultrasound scan which he reluctantly agreed to, In the mean time, I paid for one privately ( which was arranged the next day because I was paying! ) The NHS one took 14 weeks to come through.

Fortunately both of these scans found nothing amiss in the organs they could see. Interestingly both sonographers told me that they expected to see gall stones because of the way I was walking, holding myself and the difficulty I had in getting up again from the table. GP then ordered a CT scan. This, too has shown nothing amiss internally.

Of course, I am mightily relieved because I had been dreading some awful news. So I now have an appointment with a surgeon to discuss the next step as the unexplained pain MUST have a cause. I put it down to side effects of one / two or all of the medication.

Interestingly, I have during the past week had two sessions of acupuncture. After the first one, I was able to get up from the table unaided and within about twenty minutes of walking around outside, I realised that I was totally free of pain for the first time in more than 18 months! I had a few twinges again a few days later, so had another session of acupuncture and the same wonderful relief was felt.

However, as a pensioner on £110 a week, I will not be able to continue to pay £80 a week for this alternative treatment even though the results are incredible. I have two more sessions booked but after that, they will have to stop or there won't be money available for heating. My last hope is an appointment with the surgeon next week to discuss the cause of these pains.

I am going to insist that he contacts my GP to tell him that the medication must be changed for ones which do NOT have abdominal and stomach cramps and pains as admitted side effects on the insert in the packet!

Other than that, I cannot afford weekly acupuncture sessions. I doubt whether they are available on the NHS, so I may not have a choice other than to stop taking the medication and risk high BP and the possibility of another stroke. Several websites similar to this suggest that Rampiril and Amlodipine are the cheapest drugs available which is why they are so frequently prescribed by GP's. I currently have no quality of life whatsoever owing to the constant pain and abdominal cramp. The only days without them were immediately after the acupuncture.

Prior to suffering the stroke I had always been fit and healthy and never suffered from anything remarkable. The chronic pain which I now experience began less than one week after I began on the BP medication and has continued and become more and more intense ever since. It really is intolerable and I currently have no quality of life as a result,

hi laura, I am very sorry you are having so many problems, it could be your meds , but finding out what one or what combination it is needs medical supervision. I was on rampril as well as clopidogrel and bendroflumethizide after a stroke but my kidney started to breakdown after 1 month so they took me off rampril and put me on amlodipine 10mg I was fine for about 6 months I had blood tests my potasiam was down to 2.1 it should have been 5.5 it was the bendrflumethazide so I am off that now an so far so good. sometimes it takes a good doctor and a bit of time to get your meds balance right because we are all different. I hope you are feeling better soon all the best.

Most of the side effects on this site refer to exhaustion and lack of stamina. Reading the posts was a Eureka moment for me and explains such a lot. I can't seem to get through the day without my batteries running low.

However, just as annoying is the constant rhinitis. I had these symptoms with Ramipril but at least I had some energy. I keep being asked if I have a cold, and being accused of being unfit because I "always have a cold". Add to that the post nasal drip and the morning cough (I don't smoke), life is not what it used to be.

Back to the drawing board, I'm afraid Mr GP!