Amlodipine 5MG for 6 Days

Thanks Sandy.  I just started to see this doctor so I am going to see what he says after my next visit.  Hopefully I will have been successful at getting my BP down without meds.  But I am going to tell him how many other people have suffered side effects similar to mine.  Hard to believe he doesn't know already.

Of course the doctor knows about the side-effects, Patty! He's just taking the usual medical line. Doctors are trained to deny side-effects in the firm belief that if they reassure the patient, then the patient will stop complaining about them. Sorry to be a cynic, but I'm a former nurse!

Thank you Brenda.  I know I am not crazy, but it's not the first time a doctor has made me doubt myself.  I will stand firm and figure out another method of getting my BP down.  Exercise will be the key, I am certain of it.

Very balanced reply Ian.  Most GP/MD's will change your meds if you are having 'problems'  The vast majority on Amlodipine have no or very little side effects.

On a personal note I have been on them for 16 years without any 'problems' - am I unusual - NO.

YES I think you are unusual and very lucky mybe you havent any other medical problems I had a thyrotic storm (Graves) which caused a few problems. One BP med. caused me to have kidney problems another lowered my BP so much I was passing out. It is all very well DR.s lookin g  in a drugs book and deciding which one to try next we are all different. It would be lovely to see a doctor I am supposed to have blood tests every 6 months lucky to get one every year. My surgery is so overloaded it has had to close the doors to new patients.

     

Alberta23 - I would strongly counter your assumtion that I'm unusual. As an example I was started on 5 mg and after 2/3 years was upped to 10 mg (due to my age and the known 'problem' of raised BP as you get older) after I started steroid treatment in 2014 my BP went down and I went to my doctor who reduced it back to 5 mg.

I do have another medical condition - Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) - an auto immune disease which has no known cure which I contracted two years ago.  The only thing that is available is steroids which 'cure' the symptoms - again not very nice meds, which have a listed 83 side effects - but it's an attitude - would I prefer to be in constant pain in every muscle in my body and be completely immobile and increase the chance of cardiovascular problems or have a life?  I know what my answer is!

Hi John,

Sorry to hear you have polymyalgia rheumatica. I know this isn't what this thread is about, but I think comments on acceptance or rejection of medication are relevant, since the subject has been raised.

I've had flare-ups of polymyalgia rheumatica for nearly 20 years now (part of another autoimmune condition - Sjogren's syndrome). I find that if I wait them out and move enough to stay flexible without over-tiring myself they eventually clear up. I had a particularly bad attack last year, combined with flare-ups of RA, tendinitis and a pinched cervical nerve for good measure, but I'm fine again now.

We're all different. Some of us would prefer to suffer pain for a while rather than sentencing ousrselves to the side-effects of drugs, while others opt for the medication route while accepting the inevitable side-effects. Both routes are valid. I suspect that what people on this thread are really talking about is the importance of doctors listening to their patients and entering into honest dialogue with them. I've been extraordinarily lucky with both my last GPs but I realise this isn't the case for everyone.

How funny Ian.  Of course I would not dismiss all doctors good works.  I just believe they get so defensive when you don't agree with them about everything.  I am hypersensitive to  all medications. For example, most people would take one or two vicodin for pain and I would get the same effect on 1/2 of one pill.  I am a wimp.  I am not resorting to an organic treatment other than diet and exercise.  The Grapeseed extract is not a cure of any kind, but is proven to help with the health of blood vessels...can't hurt right.  If I cannot get my BP down by these means I will certainly try another med.  Thanks for your input.

Hello John Graves disease is also auto immune the thryroid controls the immune system after I went down to 5 stone I had radio active iodine treatment and now have to take thyroxine for the rest of my life. I have been left with crepitus in my bones which mainly effects my neck shoulders hands wrists and ankles. My body seems to fight against BP medication. Felodipine 10 which I have been on for the last two weeks has caused my ankles to swell and become very painful, my stomach distended and in two weeks I have gained 9lbs in weight not good for my bones. I live in Dovercourt Bay Essex England unfortunately it is not easy to see a doctor as the surgery is overloaded with patients and several of our doctors have taken early retirement.     Best wishes Jacky     

Hi Jacky - sorry for the delay guest around the house this weekend, up to my neck in waiter service etc.  I think the answer is, as other have said on here and other forums - 'we are all different' but I strongly believe we should not succumb to our various ailments but have a positive attitude - also makes the world a better place.  I see so many folks around me just give in (they are not on this forum). 

An example a couple of weeks ago – whilst I was waiting at my very rural bus stop, to go into my local town, when a very elderly lady (well into her 80’s) slowly walked up the road to the bus stop, I just said ‘Good Morning’ and made a general comment about the weather, this lead into a more in depth conversation about her family, which it turned out lived many miles away.   As we got on the bus she thanked me and said ‘You are the first person I have spoken to, in a proper conversation, for well over a week!’ – WOW - certainly did me a power of good and I hope her as well.   I do make it a practice to greet people as I walk around my neighbourhood on my exercise walks, I generally get two types of response, one ‘Am I from another planet?’ or a smile that says ‘It’s good to communicate’.   The amount of particularly younger folks are so tied up with a LED screen between their eyes and a cord from it attached to their ears and are in a parallel universe and totally oblivious to anyone around them.

Life is for living!