I know its was amlodipine!

i think i get the same feeling too @Nessie...it's off and on now (head buzzing/swimming and it feels like i'm hyperventilating??) i've been back on Lisinopril and off Amlodopine since Monday (5 daysl) and it wasn't until Wednesday at noon-ish that i started feeling normal...no buzzing or feeling lightheaded...yesterday was an ALL clear headed day...i even took note that my vision was crystal clear again (course i didn't notice vision was off b/c my head was spinning and i had a constant feeling like i was going to pass out. had a headache and low grade fever last night (i can count on one hand how many times i've ever had even a slight fever). today was a bit of an off day...i "didn't feel good again" but wasn't sure if it was me working too hard and the heat (101 degrees today!) or this junk isn't completely out of my system....right now i'm "O.K." and as far as the swelling in my legs/ankles, back down 100%!!! Going to go back on the protein and complex carbs thing Monday and pay close attention to my BP readings...this may be the key to managing it without ANY meds?

I consider my self very fit but let myself go last Christmas, I put on lots of weight and my blood pressure shot up, due to me having too much salty food and salt.

I was put on ramipril and my face swelled up and my lips were the three times there original size. I looked African. Im not joking, my face looked completely different. I am Indian.

Then the Doctor took me off ramipril and then put me on Amlodopine 10mg daily. I know cant walk for more than 10 minutes without severe cramps in my calfs and shin splints.

I am just gonna lay off salt for good and not take these pills. Im tired of being a guinea pig.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to this forum as my octogenerian mother has had so many of these symptoms but we did not realise they could be because of the drug. She has been taking the drug for some years now and the symptoms seem to be getting worse but she is worried about side effects when she stops. Has anyone any ideas?

Hi Alison

I think the side effects seem to occur mainly at the top 10mg dose of Amlodpine. I have just recently been started on a tiny children's size dose of 2.5mg and have still managed to get the slightly swollen and stiff ankles side effect. I haven't really been expecting this tiny dose to be very effective; however my extremely high blood pressure has reduced from 200/90 to 170/80 so it's heading in the right direction.

To help myself, I've been religiously walking for at least half an hour each evening (avoiding the heatwave during the day!) and have commenced reflexology. I've only had two sessions so far but am finding them incredibly relaxing - I could sleep for England for the rest of the day following a session! During my years without BP treatment I attended a Tai Chi class which had an amazing effect on my blood pressure with normal readings of 180/40-44 - I'm in my 70's so can't expect to have really low readings. I'm at present on the lookout for a new class. If your mother is mobile and has a local community centre, it's possible they run a Tai Chi class.

Thank you very much, MrsO, for replying. I am glad that you are getting some relief. Unfortunately my mother is housebound and unable to get out to classes or groups, but it is good to know that these things are helping other people. Anything which reduces our dpendence on drugs seems like a good idea!

Has anyone mentioned that there is a dangerous drug conflict with Amlodipine and Simvastatin? If you take both check it out at www.drugs.com and see your doctor. A safe change would be another channel blocker like Felodipine. Good luck

To Quote Drug Interactions - Amlodipine and Simvastatin taken together, Dangerous, can cause liver damage, Rhabomyolsis- the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, kidney damage even death.

Thanks for the heads up, Jeff20. Some of these cocktails are very scary!

OMG decided to look up about this drug that ive been prescribed. Doctor started me on 5mg for one month, now put me on 10mg. I thought i had been working to hard. Now i realise its the drug. I have felt like a zombie, no energy, always tired, sleep like a log. When i commented to doctor about how I felt he didn't seem interested. I have had reflux, never had it before. Feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I thought it must be my imagination. Now I know whats caused it.

Such a relief, isn't it, when you find out ? I know that sometimes in the short term taking a drug can provide

the body with the therapeutic boost it needs, but from all everyone has written here it really does seem that

tinkering about with the body's chemistry long term can be a very dangerous thing to do. I Am sure doctor. prescribe what they have found to be effective in each situation, but they cannot predict how an individual Is going to react. Thank goodness for forums like this!

THIS IS WHAT. WROTE IN APRIL

Further to my post on 19th February, I did voice my concerns to the doctor but was persuaded to start this medication. I have been on 5mg for almost 7 weeks. After 4 weeks my blood pressure was down and almost in the normal range. More importantly I haven't, to date, had any side effects at all.

I realise this is fairly early on in the treatment and am keeping an open mind.

THIS IS NOW

I had given up smoking in February as well as going on to this drug, and had bleeding gums and was very short tempered - all to be expected. However by early July my gums were pouring blood each time I cleaned my teeth, I was having an occasional nosebleed, my husband was walking on eggshells and could do nothing right, I veered from bad temper to emotional crying for no good reason, my weight had soared, i had intense almost constant headaches at the base of my neck. Blood pressure was reasonable.

My life is wonderful yet I was prepared to go to the docs to get something to help anti depressants or something - I knew it wasn't giving up smoking - that time had gone.

It all came to a head when I lost my temper at work and walked out having used a very bad word (just not me!). Went straight to my surgery and was able to see a doctor as an emergency.

I was in a terrible state and I told him what had happened and that I thought it might be amlodopine - he looked up the side effects, took my blood pressure and said stop taking them. I was to monitor my BP at home for the next 5 days and go back with the results but to contact them if they went over certain parameters.

5 days later and guess what bp had IMPROVED DAILY and he took the decision not to put me on any medication. My husband said he felt I was returning to him, my gums were bleeding only a little, I was different.

2 weeks on and my BP is good for an over 60 year old at an average of 121/79 (am125/84 pm 118/77)

My gums no longer bleed, my weight will get lower.

Best of all I am that happy woman again and my husband can make mistakes now and again (only now and again mind you!) without me nearly killing him. I obviously had to apologise at work, but even they commented on how different I was.

I question whether I ever needed the meds in the first place- stopping smoking was probably the answer all along. I hope this helps someone else.

Hi everyone.

I thought that after 3 weeks off the amlopidine I would do a quick update.

After being on the drug for about 7 years I can identify with so many of the side effects listed by you all on these pages and it's so reassuring to read about all of your successes. I am sure that I still have some of the drug in my system because although I have lost so many symptoms especially the constant feeling of oppression, but every so often I still have a feeling of complete hopelessness and self pity, crying, always at an emotional moment, with so many negative thoughts. As soon as it's begun, it's over. As these 'incidences' are becoming fewer and fewer I am hopeful that they will eventually go for good. Unfortunately for me, my darker side has put so much strain on my marriage that I don't think my husband will ever trust that I won't turn into the 'mad woman' again. This drug has very well cost me my 28 year marriage so I URGE anyone who is on this drug or knows someone who is on it, to come off it now before you lose any more of your life.

Blood pressure can be managed with other drugs so please don't let this one ruin your life!

Okay, my mom is almost 80 and has had high blood pressure for decades. For some reason, it's uncontrolled now - about 180/80 and has been for months. Nephrologist (she has one non-functioning kidney due to kidney disease) has maxed out her dosage of enalapril and hydrochlorithiade. His plan - starting at our dr appt tomorrow, is to ADD amlodipine to her meds. She was on this drug for a couple of weeks a few years agobut started getting achy and tired and was taken off it. I can't honestly find an alternative drug that the nephrologist can add. Something has to be done, but for heaven's sake, there are studies going back 20 years showing this drug can cause sudden death and heart attacks, especially in elderly women. I don't know what to do.

My heart goes out to you, Susan! If my mother's experience is anything to go by, your mom's blood pressure may not drop even if she takes amlodipine. My mother's BP is regularly at 180 (it peaked at 220 a few years ago which was scary) and she has been on amlodipine and furosemide for about six years. Recently, when we discovered this website and learned more about the drug, she decided to come off it, and has just started a weaning off programme. Our doctor is sceptical about the side effects (!), but even though the programme only started on Tueday my mother is already feeling better. Blood pressure is so volatile that it can be hard to know how it is averaging out, so it may be that your mom's blood pressure is not so high all the time. My feeling is that on the whole a better diet (like the DASH one) and non-physical things like resting and prayer are just as effective as medication, and definitely non-invasive. How does your mom feel about taking more medication? Mine says that she does not want to take any more as all of it has side effects, and she would prefer to take her chances without.

Hello Susan and Alison

I so empathise with the predicament of your Mothers. I am 71 and my blood pressure has been a bit of a problem over recent years and recently went up to 200/90 - admittedly the first reading at that level was taken immediately after a car in the surgery car park reversed into mine and then drove off! Also over the previous year I had experienced quite a bit of stress with my hubby being diagnosed with prostate cancer and then our son suffering a 'silent' stroke in his sleep. Luckily hubby has been treated with radiotherapy and apart from the side effects of that is doing well, and our son is so very lucky in that bodily he is fine - his eyesight was affected to the point where he is not able to drive so he's now cycling and taking public transport. However, my BP failed to come down but having experienced a beta blocker for 3 years some 10 years ago which slowed me down considerably, followed by Ramipril which was stopped after just 2 weeks as I became very ill with what turned out to be an auto immune illness attacking my muscles, needing steroids for the next 6 years, I baulked at starting on another BP drug - I had also taken Candesartan for a couple of weeks before being told to stop it by the GP as the first blood test came back showing raised creatinine.

Like your Mum, Susan, I have a low functioning kidney (Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3 with an eGFR of 48 - normal reading should be 60). In fact I only have that one kidney as the other was removed when I was 12.

The GP referred me to a kidney consultant a few months ago and his recommendation was that I should start Amlodipine at 2.5 (a children's dose) to see how I got on with it. Well I'm not getting on with it in that my ankles are swollen, inflamed and stiff, with the red area covering about 4 inches of my lower legs. I had blood tests yesterday and am due back at the hospital next Thursday when I'm sure the Amlodiipiine will be stopped, and Candesartan is already being suggested again, with the hospital saying that they will not be worried if the creatinine increases as long as it isn't by more than 15%. However, I feel concerned about it rising at all as it has always been a test that has been carried out over the years to ensure that my sole kidney is functioning well!

I have now had 4 sessions of reflexology in the hope that it might lower my BP. I bought a good home BP monitoring machine and over the last week I have certainly achieved lower readings in the region of between 137/72 to 159/74

I so understand your Mum's view of not wanting to take any more pills with their side effects - I find it very difficult to accept that whereas I feel well without them, I get all sorts of problems when on them, although I know that untreated BP can be a silent killer. We really are between a rock and a hard plac

I have a friend in Australia who failed to reduce her blood pressure with numerous BP meds so has had renal artery ablation to control her BP - although it was successful, she still takes some BP pills!

I gather there is another operation that is being trialled in London where they insert something that resembles a paperclip and it seems to be proving successful, but I doubt whether they would consider that to be cost-effective for us older people!

How lucky your Mums are though to have such lovely caring daughters.

I'm sorry this post is a bit lengthy but, if you are interested, I will let you know the outcome of my next hospital visit.