Does the benifits outweight the side effects?

Hi David,

I presume you have no symptoms and A is controlling your BP?

Personally, I came off the drug because of the symptoms and because i did a fair bit of research and found out that it had been banned in the Netherlands and was only used on animals in other countries. I followed this up,as I was concerned, through a friend who is a nurse in a hospital in Amsterdam, she confirmed that A is not used in the Netherlands. It was considered that there are better BP medications that do not cause the symptoms that A causes. The symptoms vary in intensity from slight swelling of the ankles to legs and feet that become extremely swollen and painful, memory loss, sleeplessness and the list goes on. If you have no symptoms and your BP is controlled then you have a difficult decision to make. Good luck.

 Most doctors would describe Amlodipine as a "dirty drug", yes that's the term they really use. It has a wide range of possible side effects due to the molecule of the drug reacting with a lot of receptors in the body. However, as you have released  the benefits of reducing high blood pressure outweigh most of the risks, although clearly a GP will not keep a patient on them if they suffer adverse effects.

Unfortunately high blood pressure if untreated can have serious negative long term effects on our health, and that is the reason why some BP's sufferers have to put up with a level of discomfort from side effects in an effort to control dangerously high BP. Fortunately, there are many methods available to relieve high blood pressure, and given some time, most patients arrive at a drug combination with their GP that works for them without making their lives miserable.

If you have been taking them without noticible side effects you have no need to worry; however, should you notice the onset of side effects speak to your GP.

I was also on Amlodipine for several years and it did a very effective job of controlling my blood pressure.  Over time my blood pressure crept higher and the doctor increased my dose from 5mg to 10mg.  That's when all hell broke loose.  I now have Afib and a pacemaker for life.  Other's have reported the same.  I'm sure not everyone will have the same reaction.  If you are doing well at your current level you are probably OK, but I would not let the doctor increase your dosage.  There are other medicines you can use.  For the record, my doctor could not find proof that it had been banned in the Netherlands other than a comment by someone in this forum.  He is still a believer tha this is a good drug for most people.  You'll only hear the problems with this drug in this forum, no one will seek out the forum if things are fine.  I have no way of knowing how many of us have had adverse side effects, but in my case I am furious what has been done to me for life by this drug.  It has totally messed up my lifestyle.