has anyone else got depressed on Amlodipine ?

Hi, I don't have an absolute answer for you as it has just been a few months since I realized how Amlodipine was effecting my mental state. Depression/anxiety are not listed as side effects so it is difficult to get a Dr. to believe these side effects are ligit. They are legit. Thankfully I happened upon this forum which opened my eyes. I knew then that getting off amlodipine was the first thing I needed to do. My BP is 145/84 without drugs, so my Dr. agreed I needed to get off the Amlodipine. I have been off for 2 weeks and the fog, depressive thoughts, anxiety, emotionless mental war is lifting every day. I feel like my true self for the first time in months. At this point I am riding out the BP. I'm sure I will have to try something soon if my BP doesn't go down with holistic/naturalpathic treatments. I Do Not recommend going off your meds without your Dr.'s supervision. Find a Dr. who will listen to your concerns. YOU KNOW YOU better than anyone. Make them listen. Switch meds. There are other meds you can try. You are not crazy. You will get through this. Let me know how you are doing in your search. God bless.

Hi ann86026,  I have been off Amlodipine for 5 weeks. I finally feel like my old self again. I have joy, appreciation, I care... I could go on and on. Even though depression is not a side effect listed, I have my own personal experience which questions why it's not.. You know You better then anyone so trust your judgement. It is very frustrating going through this, make sure your DR. hears you and your concerns. As far as mood lifting herbs, I tried St. Johns Wort, 5HTP and GABA. None of these had a long term effect on my mood swings. For awhile I thought I was bipolar!. 5HTP helped me the most but you need to research before jumping into aminos. I have done a lot of reading on anxiety and depression to see if I could figure out what was going on in my head. My DR. is holistic and encourages his patient to educate themselves. He empowered me to do my research.  What I do know is my moods have lifted. I have found myself laughing and then thought, "Wow, that was a laugh! When was the last time I laughed?!",  since going off Amlodipine. I still have some physical anxiety, but not the mental stuff. Keep us posted with your progress. we are in this together.

Hi, Anthony, it has been quite a while since I wrote my original post which you can find earlier. Contacts like the ones found here have practically saved my life. Here are a couple of changes I made along the way. Treatment is different for everyone so know that this was my path it may not be your's and don't change without a doctor's knowledge. I sought out a functional med doctor who gave me confidence to trust my own judgement and listened to me. When you begin to take matters into your own hands you are your own experiment. Finding help on the journey is the hard part. Anyway, after going off amlodapine I went on a Very low dose of metoprolol. This helped but not the answer. In March I started Magnesium. My mood and Bp has improved much. I was loading up on all the food we consider healthy and I believe that was not helping with the medicines I was prescribed as I had a problem with another med as well. I am enjoying good food, healthy and tasty with variety. Eat to live not live to eat is my motto. It's worth it in the long run. Don't expect encouragement from traditional medicine. Natural is not encouraged. Work with a functional doctor or a DO. Start a quality probiotic. I read somewhere that amlodapine is hard on your guts. This I believe. Start low and work up the dosage. I use a prebiotics as well. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hi Joan

Thanks for the advice, I will take on board your comments, I'm planning to take things one step at a time, my first step is to recognise that I'm not going nuts and many many people have been having the same or very similar issues as myself. The feeling of detachment from my family is the hardest thing, but now I know I'm not alone and it's quite evident that Amlodipine can cause chemical induced mental illness I can now take steps (with the help of doctor) to combat this. Thanks once again.

I was having some emotional issues also. I was very angry and depressed. I had been on amlodipine for 10 years. I had been feeling this way for so long I thought it was normal! During my annual visit to the doctor I learned that I had become prediabetic. I am not overweight and exercise regularly. I did some research and found out my BP meds can increase blood sugar! I was on amlodipine amd benazapril. I gradually reduced my dosage. I also use Resparate. I was coming home from work one day and I felt so happy! I asked myself what had changed. I couldn't think of anything except that I had reduced my BP meds! I was taking 14 pills a week. I am now down to 1 and a half per week. While I was reducing my meds I kept track of my BP so I would know if it was going up. I gave up gluten which causes inflammation which is a cause for high blood pressure. I use Resparate evey day which is a simple breathing system fpr lowering blood pressure. I highly recommend it. Upon my latest visit to my doctor my labs showed my blood sugar as normal! I hope this information will be helpful. I found my help and hope through this forum. I was so glad to find out that I wasn't crazy! My MD is not very supportive of my efforts so medically speaking O became my own best friend! Prayers for you in your struggle.

Hopefully more people will see this forum and they will see that they are not alone in the struggle, pharmaceutical companies are part of the most powerful ball players on this earth, people's metabolisms are all different and when it's obvious that a certain drugs has these side effects it should come with a warning, Doctors will mostly and I suppose can only go what the pharmaceutical companies say. But I bet worldwide their are hundreds of thousands of people in the same boat as all the people on this forum. I'm so glad that I discovered this forum as I thought it was just me and thought I was slowly losing it , forgetting things like names of people whom I have known all my life, forgetting the names of objects and having to really concentrate to find the words sometimes, feeling of complete detachment from a lot of things feeling as if I'm in the background looking at myself, not caring about anything which is important like family, wife, kids, being alone even when surrounded by people who love you. Although I am angry that this is common and has been known about, it's now been identified and I can act to get myself back to normal and hopefully save my marriage. Thanks for the support much appreciated.