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Angioedema

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wes88685
wes88685

20 years on ACE inhibitors, 15 on Aceon, 5 on Lisinipril - I survived a terrifying episode of angioendema. Within two hours my face and lips blew up. Happens in about 1/2 %, at anytime. Thankfully I was not on a plane but was near a hospital. Recommend reading up on it in case you get symptoms- I was unprepared.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • mike92384
    mike92384 wes88685

    Posted

    wes88685...I'm confused here. You said you were on ACE inhibitors for TWENTY years!...15 on Aceon, then 5 on Lisinipril. Then you went on to say that in two hours you face & lips blew up, but it happens 1/2% of the time???

    HALF percent?????? Something isn't right here. If you've been on this medication for 20 years, but no symptoms like you describe...then it likely wasn't the medication at fault. If someone experiences their face & lips blowing up because of a medication, it wouldn't take 20 years to do that. Please clarify your situation. At this point, I wouldn't blame the meds.

    • wes88685
      wes88685 mike92384

      Posted

      I appreciate your surprise.  As I said, if you are on ACE inhibitors, search out ACE induced angioedema.  20-40% of presentations at ER's for angioedema are ACE related these days due to the millions of folks on the class of drugs.  It only affects about 1/2% of patients on ACE drugs, and it can occur at the start of taking the meds, or decades later.  Middle of the day after twenty years, I was hit by it.  Initial diagnosis was confirmed by later blood work and testing.  ACE inhibitors are great drugs, don't get me wrong - they do the trick - however, one potential side effect is angioedema.  I had no clue.  My goal is just to educate folks on awareness, if a person gets it, it happens quick, and they should seek medical help fast.  My luck was the doctor knew what drugs I was on - I thought he was crazy when he told me it might be my blood pressure medication causing it - he was right.

    • mike92384
      mike92384 wes88685

      Posted

      wes88685...I must admit, I've never heard of a bp medication coming back to bite a person in the a*s after many years. 1/2% is a very low number, which would be considered as very rare. I would guess that if my doctor found this out, then learned it affected just 1/2%of those taking it, he'd turn his nose up...but as the old saying goes...just because something has a very low % rate, or is very rare, doesn't mean it can't happen.

      I appreciate you trying to educate folks on the awareness.

    • wes88685
      wes88685 mike92384

      Posted

      Agreed-not to alarm anyone, but it is good to know as a ACE patient.  I am disappointed I can no longer take ACE inhibitors, because I had them for so long and had absolutely no side effects until then.  I am now on calcium channel blockers and they are causing me some ankle swelling (normal).  Oh well.
    • mike92384
      mike92384 wes88685

      Posted

      wes88685...Calcium Channel Blockers...hmmm...would that be Amlodipine or Norvasc by any chance???

      These are known to cause swelling of the feet, ankles & legs. Its' very very common. 5mg sometimes will have that affect, sometimes it doesn't. At 10mg, you're asking for it. If you're uncomfortable with the swelling, you can always ask your Dr. for an ARB, i.e...Irbesartan, Losartan, etc.etc. 

      Be mindful of the swelling going up the leg. I had this happen to me a few years back. I started on the 5mg, then the dosage was upped to 10mg. I had a different Dr. then..a young cocky know-it-all who gave me no education about bp medications at all. He just kept doubling the dosage to get the numbers down, which I learned should not be done. If a patient is having side effects with a dosage, then doubling it only increases the chances of the side effects being worse. My feet, ankles & legs were badly swollen, & the swelling got as high as to just below the knee. Finally I was taken off...

      So, my advice here is to speak with your doctor again, & if the swelling is bothering you, why not try an ARB??? Good luck Buddy. Let me know how you get on.

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