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Amlodipine Hell.. coming off it.

Posted , 56 users are following.

jeff09792
jeff09792

I was put on Amlodipine about 2 1/2 months ago for slighlty high BP. (Im 45 super fit kick box all the time) About 1 month in I noticed heart palputations laying in bed at night , and small bouts of blurry vision. 2 month mark I was tired all the time and had chest and left arm pain. Been to ER had stress test, EKG etc blood test eveything OK.

Then out of nowhere brain fog hit, head aches, overall weakness nuasea, arm and chest pain. It took me noticing when I took a pill, arm pain got worse and had trouble swallowing. So found this site and took my last pill 11 days ago.

First 3 days vision better no brian fog. Day 7-8 bad flash back of wekness nausea chest and arm pain. Now day 11 of being off, it I still do not feel 100% left arm chest pain little better, nausea comes and goes. I am convinced it is Amlodipine Docotor says no. Ive had additional blood test this week, all came back fine. So two months taking it hoping at two week mark of not taking pills I really start to improve. As far as BP drinking beet juice once a day keeps it in check.

6 likes, 154 replies

154 Replies

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  • s424
    s424 jeff09792

    Posted

     Hi Jeff it is the Amlodipine causing your problems - don't let them fob you off saying it isn't. it took me 4 months off the tablets to get rid of most the symptoms caused by Amlodipine. I too had heart palpitations and a list of other problems - scary when you are fit7 healthy it really upset me. Anyway after 4 months I was back to normal apart from dreadful heartburn which took around 8 months to disappear. Every symptom started with Amlodipine and disappeared in time after stopping the tablets.

  • Guest
    Guest jeff09792

    Posted

    Hi Chi000 and Debra16694 (jeff09792 +others)

    Chi - I think the slightly higher pulse (50 to 60) is normal. I wouldnt worry

    Just measured my pulse - 74 - and I usually have 60 when doing computer work and 52 when resting.

    Debra - sorry to hear that your fine progress suddenly came to a stop.

    I guess you will have to see the positive side of it - the three weeks that were good  :-)

    I know it's a challenge, but at some point it will stop.

    I only have small progress myself. I am very thankful that I am now sleeping 7.5 hours at night and the depression is gone. The irritation - ohh - you know how that feels...

     

    • Chi000
      Chi000 Guest

      Posted

      Hi Diffus

      I am sure the body is very resilient .. and pulse and pressure varies ... is just that like many here .. we become somewhat hypochondriac .. we start noticing things ..

      The question on hand is that we are not sure .. maybe there are these deficiencies and abnormalities all along .. but we now notice more .. the mind does play games ... it is possible that amlodipines causes is to be more sensitive and is all part of the tension and anxiety due to the drug .. i for one do get and notice more situations of tension .. like tension is there but u notice more ......

      I think for most .. time will relief the drug symptoms but more time is need to relief the sensitivity ... and then people drop out of this forum slowly when they forget bout these episodes ..

  • jeff09792
    jeff09792

    Edited

    Well just to update even though i was on for just over 2 months.. all side effects did go away after a full 2 months off to include heart palutations..they eere the last to go
    • debra16694
      debra16694 jeff09792

      Posted

      Well, great news Jeff!  You were one of the lucky ones to have only taken this poison for 2 months!!! Glad to hear you are feeling yourself again!  Such a nasty, nasty drug! Ugh!
  • Guest
    Guest jeff09792

    Posted

    Thank you for updating us. Good to hear. Hopefully we all get rid off these terrible side effects some day.
  • meikakay
    meikakay jeff09792

    Posted

    what does your BP run with the beet juice
    • jeff09792
      jeff09792 meikakay

      Posted

      Drops about 15-20 points top number bottom number maybe 10, drink half a glass mixed other half water in morning.

       

  • meles
    meles jeff09792

    Posted

    I am so glad I found this site. I was beginning to think it was just getting older as all these symptoms kicked in until I traced back to when I started this awful drug. The nightmares were just the beginning giving me a bad night's sleep. The 'fog' in the head kicked in after about a month, then 6 months in the palputations in the middle of the night started. After that, everything became worse and I started to feel like a cripple. All my muscles started aching, first in my right shoulder, then down my right thigh and I had difficulty climbing up steps. I have just come back from a scan and they have detected inflamed tendons in my shoulder and similar in my leg, I told the doctor that I no longer wanted to take this drug and within a month everything has started to get better. I have no question it is the fault of Amlodipine and the drug should be banned. I urge everyone to complain to their pharmacist and ask them to report it through the Yellow Card System. I am sure these side effects have often gone unreported.

    • Chi000
      Chi000 meles

      Posted

      Hello meles ...

      Could u advise of yr shoulder pain is

      1. One side or both?

      2. Persistent all the time or intermittent?

      3. Sharp or blunt or sour fatigue feel?

      Thanking you ..

    • meles
      meles Chi000

      Posted

      The pain in my shoulder is on my left only. It started 6 months into starting Amlopdopine. At first I thought I had been sleeping on it funnily, then it became persistent and is now a deep throbbing pulse making it difficult to rotate my shoulder (I also had the heart palpitation, foggy brain and nightmare mention by others on this site). The other similar pain was in my right thigh which came and went and was worse when working upstairs.  I have been for a scan recently and the doctor said I have a bursa on my shoulder - I just know it has been caused by the Amlodopine (5mg daily). The leg pain and feeling crippled is also going since stopping the drug. They said from the scan that it looked like toughened tendons. I am now on Candestaten but feel like coming off everything I hate these drugs so much. Still, I guess a stroke is worse. I am 60 and overweight so must try and change my life style.
    • debra16694
      debra16694 meles

      Posted

      Hi Meles - That is very interesting about your Bursa - I developed Achilles Tendonapathy two years after taking Amlodipine. The dr said anyone can get it, runners, overweight people etc.  The condition arrived overnight & is very painful some days and I basically can’t walk more than a couple of blocks without having great distress from discomfort from the pain.  I can no longer wear closed heeled shoes & at 60, surgery is not recommended since you are dealing with the Achilles’ tendon & at my age I don’t want to fool around with that.  I found it interesting that no one in my family ever had such a condition, I am not a runner, I am a bit overweight but nothing outrageous.  After investigating it further, I found one article suggesting that Calcium Channel Blockers can also lead to cause Achilles Tendonapathy.  I am convinced that this drug caused this deformity in me.  I also suffered from the shoulder & right thigh pain.  This drug needs to be taken off the market!

    • meles
      meles debra16694

      Posted

      Hi Debra, Thank you so much for sharing this. It makes me even more convinced Amlodopine is the cause. I talked to the pharmacist about this and she said it is known to produce muscular atrophy (irreversible in some cases) and she found it most interesting about the bursa.The fact that many of us here are having muscular/tendon aches and pains in the same areas I am sure doctors all over the world who are prescribing this drug are telling their patients the same, but they often do not know the side effects. I would suggest to everyone here, if they have muscular pains in specific areas to ask for a scan and share the result on this site. We may be the only people who are talking about it and sharing information, because I am sure the doctors are not listening (although the person who analysed the scan was interested - maybe she is seeing a lot of it!). While there is evidence that strokes are decreasing as a result of BP drugs, we may all becoming more crippled! I share your conviction about the cause of our tendons being ruined by the drug.
    • david44767
      david44767 meles

      Posted

      Nightmares and brain fog were two of my symptoms while on amlodipine.  Just felt bad all over while taking it.  Finally told my doc I wanted off it.  He obliged and I started feeling MUCH better.
    • chris21802
      chris21802 meles

      Posted

      That is terrible to know that I have read that they ban this drug amlodipine in the Netherlands I get a weak ankle every once in awhile in my back of my ankle becomes very weak and I can hardly stand up plus I have a lot of back pain I'm so sick of this medicine I just want to stop it they said you can't stop cold turkey would have a heart attack

    • meles
      meles david44767

      Posted

      I am so pleased you are starting to feel better. Please share with us what meds you are on now, and keep us posted on how your get on!
    • meles
      meles chris21802

      Posted

      If you go to your doctor and say you want to change your pills, then they should oblige. My concerns are that if Amlodopine does this to so many of us, what do the alternatives do? Anyway, please do try something else as we know Amlodopine is poison for some of us.
    • david44767
      david44767 meles

      Posted

      Hi, meles,

      In lieu of amlodipine I am taking HCTZ 12.5mg (hydrochlorothiazide).  It is a simple diuretic and it seems to be bringing my BP down just fine.  A few years ago I was on Lisinipril/HCTZ but, like the Losartan, it, too, was affecting my kidneys in a bad way.  Lisinipril is an ACEi (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor) while Losartan is an ARB (angiotensin II receptor blocker).  Neither one is good for kidneys.

      About the HCTZ...  I started out taking 25mg but could only do it for a week because it made me feel really bad... like I had the flu and couldn't sleep.  It also gave me severe dry mouth.  But the doctor had pre-approved me cutting them in half in the event of bad side-effects.  So I started taking the 12.5mg once a day and it is helping my BP to come down.  I notice just a little dry mouth which is tolerable.  I keep a glass or bottle of water with me which I  need to drink more of anyway.

      I want to try a beet supplement to see if that helps improve my BP even more, the way it has helped Jeff, the originator of this thread.

    • david44767
      david44767 chris21802

      Posted

      Interesting to know that amlo. is banned in the Netherlands!  😳

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