Difficulty walking, muscle and joint pain

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hi I was diagnosed with hypertension about 2 years ago and since being diagnosed have been on a variety of melds at different dosages. At the moment I'm on Amlodopine 5mg, Indapamide 2.5mg, losartan  50 mg,  Doxazosin 2 mg. Oh and Pravastatin 40mg the problem is I am having difficulty walking, so slow and hip pain, other joints are also quite painful, I've mentioned this to the GP but he doesn't seem to relate it to the tabs, but I do and I'm thinking of stopping all tablets for a month or two to see if there is a link.Anyone else experienced this problem please

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Posted

    I'm sure you are right to relate it to the tablets, you know your own body better than your dr!  That's a lot of meds for hypertension but you don't mention how high it is or your age either. 

    Were it me I would be thinking of the statin as being the cause of the joint pain.  Your GPshould know this [there is plenty of evidence] and if not then change him/her or ask him to change your statin.

    Is your cholesterol very high - why otherwise would you need a statin if hypertension is the issue?  Or is it just a case of being told that your Qrisk is over 10%.  Mine is over 15% and I refused a statin and on this site someone said that 15% might be a risk for heart problems but you have an 85% risk of not having heart problems.  That kind of puts things in perspective I think!

  • Posted

    Pravastatin - is the lessor of some evils when it comes to Statins.

    My husband a heart failure patient was on another statin and it caused him to have alot of joint pain, since changing, he has been better, less pain.

    Statins are implicated in joint pain.

    Don't overlook the possibility that you also have worn out hips joints, pain can be in the back of your buttock, the fold of your groin, and even running down to your knees.

    Can your GP get a hip x-ray done, and if not try another GP.

  • Posted

    As mentioned, that seems an awful lot of meds to be taking for blood pressure.  I am not a doctor and I wont advise you to stop all tablets.  But I do completely relate to the problems that come with taking BP meds - difficulty walking, joint pain etc.  I'm sorry that your doctor is not listening to what you have to say, I have had the same experience.  You dont say what your blood pressure readings are.; can you find another doctor who will listne to your concerns? Personally I am just getting more and more angered to read that doctors dont listen or help.  I stopped taking the Amlo after trying it for four months, it made life unbearable.  I am now on only one BP tablet which I take every second day in an effort to reduce the side effects, not sure if it is even helping bring down the BP readings anyway.  I started reading as much as possible about other things we can do to help ourselves lower BP readings and you will find lots of information on these forums. 

    Good luck diane96094

    Sue B         

    • Posted

      suean36 - Good girl, the more we educate ourselves about our own problems the better.

      I have had a crash course in Heart Failure nearly five years ago, and have go the the stage now, where I can have a learned discussion with the specialist.

      I use the correct terms, for body parts, and heart parts, and I do not treat him as a god, the nurses in the hospital are frightened of him, I refuse to be frightened of him, he has tried to bully me, and I just ignored his scowls, we have come I believe to a mutual respect of each other.

      He even said to me, if i had the nursing degree he would employ me in a instant in his wards.

      I use the question - please tell me WHY he is going to do better on the new medication rather than the old one.

      I have also done a presentation to the specialist on a medication I found, after reading up on side effects of different kinds of statins, as well as BP medication.

      I told the specialist why I felt he would do better on my suggestion rather than the tablets he had him on, and waited for the answer, he agreed, and changed his tablets.

      I also backed it up with printouts from the medication side effects online sites, highlighted the relevant lines, ones designed for Dr's and chemists, sorry not forums, and gave him those printouts, and said you might like to read. Never suggested that he sould have been the one instigating changes rather than me, but I think he knew what i was thinking. You do have to be very diplomatic, and not tread on toes.

      Dr would have taken no notice of forums opinion.

      I also found quiet by accident, that Nexium stopped him constantly coughing, and the cicadas in his ears, tinnitus, when I presented that to him as a change in medication, he confirmed they were trying it in the heart hospital, he had read about it in a chemists newsletter, of unexpected results.

      Interesting that I had reported the same to my chemist 3-5 months previous.

      I kept my mouth shut just smiled and said thats fantastic, no constantly barking/coughing patients on wards. He agreed.

    • Posted

      Hi Sue

      thank you for your reply, yes I think I should take more control over my situation and am going to have a discussion with my doc.

      thanks again Sue and take care x

      oh and happy Christmas!

  • Posted

    Diane - Your number of tablets worries me a little.

    I'm sure the Doctor knows what he is doing, but I would like to run a few things past you, and then you can run them past the Doctor, if you feel OK with that idea.

    Do you have a Dr you can really talk too, and discuss things with?

    Are you overweight?, having the same problem myself, I do know just how NOT EASY it is to lose weight, I'm lucky have finally found a really good dietian, and am finally making progress. downwards.

    How old are you?

    Are you diabetic?

    Is your urine nice and pale yellow?

    Yes I know a little personal, but have been looking at your medications list, and am concerned enough to ask.

    Some of your pain could be being caused by your medication, you do need to consider the possibility.

     

  • Posted

    Oh don't just stop your tablets, could be DANGEROUS.

    You could have a very nasty reaction.

    Some tablets you have to step down your dosage rather than just stop, you doo need to work with your Dr, if that is what you plan.

    • Posted

      Hi Lynn thank you for your replies, yes I am on a few tabs for BP but the doc says it's because I can't take the higher dosage of the tabs, eg 10 mg amlodipine made my ankles swell so much I couldn't get any shoes on, tried Ramipril but that gave me an awful cough. I'm not sure what my BP was when diagnosed, they wouldn't tell me! But started taking my t myself and it has been over 200/150, the doctor is trying to get top reading under 140. I think I will have a discussion about reducing the tablets at my next visit

      thank you and take care x

       

    • Posted

      What has the average reading been if you take it at regular times of day? They tend not to concern themselves about the spikes.

      I can be 210/110 in the morning but it goes down rapidly during the day whether I take a medication or not. They then say with an average of 137/78 that it is well controlled but I dispute that.

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