I know its was amlodipine!

I'm a 76 year-old male and several weeks ago my GP halved my Simvastatin and put me on 5mg Amlodipine. I was talking to my brother, a nurse, describing how totally debilitated I was becoming and more forgetful. He found this site and referred me to it. This morning I didn't take it and already feel a bit better. It obviously affects different people different ways - I've had no pain, the osterao-arthritis in my knees is no worse and my sleep patterns haven't been affected but the fatigue and lack of stamina had reached a ridiculous level. My GP has told me my body will adjust - I don't think so. I have a good upper-arm BP machine and will be keeping an eye on my blood pressure. I'll report back in due course.

Omg, I have been feeling like I am going to loose it. Tired, can't sleep, depressed, tingling in extremities. Burning in stomach, I to feel like a Zombie. No energy, no desire to do anything. I was put on Amlodopine Benslate several months ago. I also take Losartin for my blood pressure, I think blood pressure sometimes to low now. 112/60. I am stopping the. Amlodopine 10 mg today. I have Dr appt next week, I will tell her a thing or two. Doctor's should know.the side affects of this crap and recognize them. Thank you all so very much for hopefully saving me. I will keep you updated.

Hi all, thanks for all comments and news. I am happy to report I am returned to normal happy nature, and limbs have stopped aching, I have energy to spare, and feel well again.......reckon due to stopping AM by my own decision. Thanks to reading & help from this column, I realised it was NOT my fault for feeling so queer.

Objective report - no axes to grind.

Feeling like my old self again, and am more pleasant to my loved ones too.

Mood swings gone.

Have not checked BP since stopping.

Taking an aspirin and one Lisiniprol without side effects.

Hope that you all get similar improvements.

Love, Geoff.

Like everyone else, I was prescribed AM 10mG. I was in the hospital with Kidney stones, and then a lot of other things appeared. I was taken off of Tribenzor and put on AM 10mG. I was in the hospital for 6 days. I was getting ready to leave the hospital and could not walk the ankle pain was so great. I did not say a

word to them. I wanted OUT! They take you down in a wheel chair, and I wiggled into the car. After a few

days it felt some better, then next day bad. back and forthI never realized the cause. left and went back

home (problem started in Mississippi, moved back to Illinois.) I thought I had gout so was on medicine to

help with gout. First got gout symptoms while on Lisinipril (spelling). Lost the gout symptoms with

Tribenzor. with AM 10 I was on crutches, a cane, and a walker because I could not walk by myself.

Doctors SECRETARY was first to realize they had another patient have problems with AM. I STOPPED

the am10. and went back to Tribenzor. with in a week, I felt GREAT! I could not only WALK, I could RUN! I am 2 months into the Tribenzor and find my neck, back and arm hurt badly. I thought it was a pinched

nerve. Finally in desperation I stopped the Tribenzor andmy aches and pain have stopped. Also

while on the AM10, I had experienced the tired feeling, and not being able to sleep. I was tired, go to bed, 5 minutes later get up go in watch TV till I passed out, would get up go to bed, and sleep maybe 3 or 4

hours then back up. I was out of work, so took frequent naps during the day...maybe 2 to 3 hour naps.

Once off AM 10 normal sleep patterns returned. Currently getting ready to go to a doctor and see what

else is available for blood pressure since i just checked it and it was 153/100 Tribensor had me at 130/80.

In November of 2010 new doctor added 10 MG Of this medication to 2 others I had been taking. I been having same symptoms as many of you, I wrote it off as part of my Depression and PTSD. I take generic Toprol XL and Generic Hyzzar in the morning, and 10 MG of generic Norvasc at lunch, it was in and is in afternoons that I get these syptoms, soon after taking that 3rd pill. Do any of you think taking 5 MG instead of 10 would help?

I see improvements since I have stopped Amlodipine-50mg for 5 weeks (see my 09/24/13 msg). I stopped with my doctor's approval. Here are my observations :

1) I don't have heavy legs anymore.

2) Things that used to make me depressed do not anymore.

3) My wife notices that I don't feel tired like I did (e.g., falling on my bed in the middle of the day for 2 hours). She notices that I am more cheerful.

Can say with 100% confidence that it is about amlodipine? No, but I certainly refuse to take this stuff again

PS: Never stop a BP medication without a doctor's approval. The inconvenience of side effects may be acceptable compared to the primary benefits.

Glad you had such results. I had doctor reduce\ me to 5MG daily, almost all side effects have gone away in just 2 days.

I am excited about this forum. I absolutely hate how I feel since beginning amlodipine. I know that I need

medication for my hypertension, but there must be something better than this! I have been hypertensive for almost ten years. I have tried many medications and found Prinivil to be the best for me. I take the brand, not generic. It has now ceased to control my pressure. I did not realize it as I was going through a difficult period in my life as my closest friend fought cancer. My doctor at the time wanted me to go to therapy--she was not concerned about my elevated blood pressure. I was feeling sick, almost passing out, and she was not concerned. I quit going there. Last month, I started with a new doctor. My first visit, i was impressed because she seemed to be concerned. She did an ekg and discovered that I had heart damage. She prescribed the amlodipine and my life has been reduced to sitting on the sofa, dozing. I cannot do anything else. I have severe ringing in my ears, insomnia, aching bones, red eyes, blurred vision, flutters in my chest, acid reflux, constipation, and severe depression. I have no joy. I can't walk without feeling like I am staggering. The list just goes on and on. I am looking for a new doctor because this last one accused me of not taking the medicine, so I know that she would not change it. She added coreg and increased amlodipine from 5 mg to 10 mg. and added lasix since I cannot take hctz. Too much med. My reading this morning was 145/77, pulse 66. I am adding beet juice, garlic, CO Q 10, and magnesium. I do not trust doctors anymore.

I am really glad I stumbled across this thread.

For the last 18 months I have been taking Amlodipine along with two other blood pressure tablets on a daily basis.

Since I started taking amlodipine I have felt like I have been in a car crash. "Zombie" I can associate with !

I have had no energy, no enthusiasm, permanent tiredness and weary limbs, difficulty in concentrating for any period, blackness under the eyes like I have done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and permanently look like it may be my last day on the planet.

From being a fairly active 57 year old, I now feel like I am 70.

Since this period my quality of life has been almost zero, I have not wanted to go further from my home than a few miles because I became paranoid of feeling dizzy and sometimes disorientated and didn't want to end up in a hospital miles away from my kids.

3 months ago my G.P. increased my dosage from 5 mg to 10 mg and bang, sledgehammer time!

I now do little more than mope around the house and spend most of the time sleeping or lay down.

I have continually told my heart specialist and my G.P. that I cannot cope with the continual tiredness and lethargy and that it must be one of the pills that does it. My replies from them have been "pick any one from the 3 pills". I think they are trying to say " you are better off being totally exhausted and alive"!

Hi I am a 59 year old female living in the UK. This forum really helped me about 18 months ago when I had been taking Amlodipine for a few months with awful side effects - I did put a post on this forum at the time saying how dangerous it had been - I had no concentration when driving and once just stopped at a crossing and my partner had to nudge me to get going again - also drove through a red light - scarey. I stopped taking Amlodipine and felt almost back to normal within 24 hours - it was like waking up again. Now I take Ramipril and feel like my old self again. Fortunately my GP was helpful but I don't think she ws particularly concerned about how bad the effects were.

Thanks everyone for this great thread .. living in Sweden and after a few years on Enalapril 15mg my BP decided to loose its cool .. ended up in a hospital here where nothing wrong was found.. was put on along with enalapril 20mg and 5mg of AM I see you guys call it .. that was the 24th of October .. took almost two weeks of feeling bad for the major side effects to ramp up ... and looking up its side effects, it looks like I had most of them .. last sat and sun it got ugly .. quit taking the meds mon 4th nov ..went to the doctors walk in at 8am all swollen and hard to breath, swallow, chest and back pain and general feeling it was the end for me .. doc took one look at me and decided that he was not getting involved ..sent me to emergency room with a referral and up the back way so I wouldn't need to stand in line... nasties there kicked me out and told me to take a number..so about 5 hours later and swelling is gone down a bit I see a doctor and a short exam and get booted with a receipt for Loratadin 10mg..in case I needed it, says on the sticker ?? mild pollen antihistamine ?? and to keep going on the pills ???

so .. now its Thursday the 7th of November and have not taken any pills since Sunday and still the horror story continues .. found this thread yesterday and now have gotten Beat juice, MSM and Magnesium.. checked BP a few hours after taking 1dl of Beet juice and was happily content with it .. well below 200 ..

would like to know though .. how long will it take to detox off this AM thing after taking it for two weeks ??

again .. would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread .. sad as it might be.. it has helped me enormously ..

So glad to read all of this. I'm a 30 year old woman, diagnosed with hypertension 5 weeks ago, and also suffering from anxiety. I was initially given 5mg of Lisinopril for two weeks, and my blood pressure remained high. The hospital decided to take me off Lisinopril, and gave me 10mg of Amlodipine to take instead. After 5 days, I began experiencing terrible cold shivers, dizziness, shortness of breath, palpitations, and shakes. I decided not to take the tablet for one day and immediately spoke to my doctor. I was advised that I should continue with the tablets. They then added 2.5mg or ramipril to this. All of the effects of been feeling got worse, especially the uncontrollable shakes, coldness and dizziness, but then to add to this, my feet became very swollen and went blotchy and purple when I didn't move them. I've never felt worse, and my whole life has been thrown upside down. I have been so weak and zombie-like. I couldn't drive because my legs were so weak. After much begging from me, my doctor agreed to lower the amlodipine and stop it, but for me to continue the ramipril on a dose of 5mg, with a diuretic. Today is my first day off of amlodipine, and although the swelling of my feet and the shakes have gone, I'm still having an overwhelming feeling of being unwell, palpitations, anxiety and dizziness. I've been uncomfortable all day. Would be grateful if someone had any advice on how long it may take for the amlodipine to get out of my system? Thank you in advance! Katie

HI Katie .. do I ever feel for you.. sounds like you have been poisoned like I was.. I am on my forth day from any pills and it just keeps coming .. different every day .. but for me it may have been the combination of pills used that made my experience so extreme .. hopefully that will not be the case for you. did hear today at the health store that these things can take a while.. depending on a heap of things of course .. and might get worse before they get better..think she meant on the detox side of things.. and of course that all depends on each individuals metabolism.. but 4 days in and after taking MSM, Beet juice and Magnesium today.. I have felt a clear feeling of improvement .. last BP test at 9mp was 158/87 with a marked drop in heart rate to 87 from around 100bps

so I am with you on that as to how long will this really take to clear the system

please take care and check out some supplements which might help .. found all mine in here :-)

Hello Katie

After coming off Amlodipine at the tiniest dose of just 2.5mg a day, it took 3-4 weeks for my legs to completely

return to normal. However, the ankle swelling and inflamed appearance improved within just a couple of days. I did develop a rash at the bottom back of my legs shortly after starting Amlodipine and this has now been diagnosed as varicose eczema on the lower back of my legs although, of course, the Dr is unusure whether this was caused by the Amlodipine or is purely a coincidence. I do know others who are taking Amlodipine quite successfully, my hubby is one although on just 5mg - when he was increased to 10mg he had immediate uncomfortable ankle swelling. It might have been less of a problem for you Katie if they had started you on the smaller dose of 5mg first - I think 10mg is too high a starting dose I have now been prescribed Diltiazem but haven't taken it yet - scared as the first and most common side effect mentioned is swollen ankles! Also scared of the risk of not taking it too!!!

Scoundrel - Good luck with the beetroot juice etc - I'm trying Flax (Chia) seeds at the moment.

I was with the Doctor at the hospital he now wants to add yet another tablet, I no longer take Amlopidine but am on another form of this, also a diuretic and simistatin, Thought I was ok after changing off the Am but I now feel as if I am having an out of body experience like the lights are on but nobody is home, When driving I am on automatic pilot, depressed, tired haven't the energy to do anything, I went from swimming 50 lengths of my 20metre pool 4 classes a week and walking to lying around barely able to leave the house, I have no quality of life. Now he has prescribed me with yet another tablet to add in, I feel if one tablet is not doing its job change it don't add more as that one is obviously not working, So now am going to give up this chemical connocotion and go the health route