Candesartan and gastrointestinal side effects

derek, I don't think that having a side effect means anything about your BP, it can even be a sign that the drug is "working"!  

?It may be a sign that you might try a smaller dose, see if that still helps the BP but avoids the side effects.  No guaranty of course, but worth a try.

 But now high blood pressure is back again,  and the irregular heart , i do need a medication -  i think one just has to choose the least unpleasant class of drug.

Weeks? I have not noticed this, but of course it's hard to notice. It has seemed to me I get some effect on the order of four hours after taking my ARB (olmesartan, generic Benicar), and it lasts on the order of 24-28 hours, so yes it might build up slowly over time, and I have no opinion as to how long it might take a built-up effect to fade away.

I have taken it sporadically for many years, fwiw, and not noticed anything much different when I do take it regularly for weeks.

Everyone is different, and i can see from reports, and chatting to pharmacists, that generally ARBs have the least side effects of bp meds, i seem to be unlucky re most meds, not just bp ones. Despite side effects soon after starting i did persevere, as i was told by the pharmacist that these effects might calm, and to wait. I did, it was only after a while that bp went down very well, and side effects eased a little. i kept on as bp perfect and irreg heart also cleared up, a perfect medication apart from the side effects, but the side effects continued on, the abdominal ones just constant irritation, and then that and the others just got too much, and 2 months after stopping the abdominal ones had gone. still trying other meds. Was replying to Elaine re advisable in my opinion to keep a doctor involved.

Always wise to keep Gp informed esp concerning bp i suspect all bp meds have side effectsalso important to take control of own health etc and if you thinka chemical is causing s prob to stop it

thank you for helpful replies

Supposedly innocuous, 'inactive' ingredients in many drugs may not be, a new study finds.

Drugs are made using certain active ingredients - those meant to act on our biology and instigate a change - as well as 'inactive' ones that complement the active ones to ensure better delivery.

But new Massachusetts Institute of Technology research found that most medications that come in pill or capsule form contain substances that could trigger an allergic reaction in some patients.

And when doctors prescribe a drug, they usually have no idea what version - and therefore what supposedly 'inactive ingredients - a pharmacist will end up giving their patients.

Over half of the ingredients in a pill are considered 'inactive' - but 93 percent of those drugs contain at least one substance that some patients may be allergic to, a new study finds

Hospital emergency rooms see about 1.3 million visits for bad reactions to a drug very year.

But new research suggests that many of those reactions might not be to the ingredient that's supposed to be active in the body.

All ingredients, active or inactive, in a drug have to be disclosed, either on the label, the package or in the package insert.

Inactive ingredients may not be as immediately obvious as the active ingredients which must be clearly marked on, for example, a pill bottle.

And inactive ingredients are mostly things that are GRAS - generally regarded as safe - by the FDA.

Something that's safe for the vast majority of people, however, could be pose serious risks to a small percentage of the population.

One in every 133 Americans, for example, has celiac disease that makes them gluten intolerant.

And yet, a 2013 study of the top 200 most-prescribed drugs found that the majority had some amount of gluten in them - however small - that could have sickened a person with celiac disease.

This very reaction was the inspiration for the new study.

Senior study author Dr Giovanni Traverso discovered about five years ago that one of his gastroenterology patients was having a hard time while taking the common anti-acid, omeprazole.

He discovered that his patient had celiac disease, and the medicine he'd been prescribing her contained gluten.

'That really brought it home to me as far as how little we know about tablets and the potential adverse effects they might have,' said Dr Traverso. 'I think there's a tremendous underappreciation of the potential impact that inactive ingredients may have.'

So he and his team set out to try to quantify that impact, pouring over studies that mentioned bad drug reactions.

A whopping 93 percent of medications contained ingredients that could trigger allergic reactions, including dyes, peanut oil, gluten, lactose or sugars.