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I know its was amlodipine!

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Nigel
Nigel

I am a healthy 58 yr old and normally very active. BP was rising over the last year or so to 178/98 and so this Jan my Doc put me on Amlodipine 5mg. Thats when it started. Firstly with a loss of energy, then total loss of stamina, I felt like a Zombie all the time. As the month progressed I started to get forgetful, dizzy spells, very tingly left hand and painful joints all througfh my left side. BP did not drop as fast as hoped so Doc added Lisinopril 2.5mg. Hey... off with the faries now! After two weeks I could not concentrate on anything people were telling me and to the point that I was becoming detached from the real world. And that was only after a couple of weeks on the cocktail. I decided to trial which drug was causing this and first removed the Lisinopril for a few days then swapped over to stopping Amlodipine. Cor.. what a difference. Almost the next day after stopping Amlodipine I started to recover. After just one week people at work are now saying 'welcome back' and I know what they mean. BP not down yet but I am never going near Amlodipine again, its a wrecker!

Has anyone else had anything like my reaction?

42 likes, 815 replies

815 Replies

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  • craigthornton
    craigthornton

    Posted

    I am SO pleased I found this thread. I started taking Amlodipine last Thursday alongside my Losartan which had never caused a problem. Since yesterday I have had severe muscle ache from the left side of my neck down to my lower arm, but have not done any physical exertion to warrant that! I ache in other parts too to a lesser extent. Thought my time was coming to an end! Time to stop taking them and see what happens, though from the above posts I can guess I will get better!!
  • Stacy
    Stacy

    Posted

    Hi every one I am a very active 56yr old and hold down a very responsible job. However after losing both my parents in the space of 15mths I began to suffer from stress related anxiety and last month constant severe nose bleeds. I was admited to hospital and it was discovered that my BP was 220/102 and I was prescribed Amlodipine 5mg. Well what can I say only that I have never felt so ill in my life after taking this medication. I wake up fine but an hour after taking the tablet I feel nauseous, dizzy and lifeless also I am experienceing burning pains in my feet. I also understand what other people have reported as a feeling of being on another planet. I have had to take three weeks off work so that my BP becomes more stable which it has now reading 140/80, however I will never be able to function in work if these side effects do not improve. I have been back to my GP three times and they just keep telling me to persevere because the tablets are doing their job. I am a staff nurse and need to be constantly alert and have a good head on my shoulders however I feel as though I am on the planet Zannusi. I am going back again on Monday to see if they will change them because I am afraid to just stop taking them in case my BP shoots up again.
  • senora_c
    senora_c

    Edited

    Like all the others, I am so glad I found this thread as I was now beginning to lose the will to live. Got a prescription for amlodipine in December to bring down blood pressure which was at 160/90. Read the leaflet and so expected some side effects which I hoped would get less and less as time went on. This was followed up with Simvastatin end of January to control high cholesterol which I next was diagnosed with. Again the GP had warned me about muscle pain and also reading the leaflet I thought OK there will be some discomforts. Nothing prepared me for the effects of this cocktail. I have felt every single symptom that everyone has listed on this thread. But worse was now the crippling pain around my lower abdomen, the whole waist area and the back! I bore the pain stoically for a couple of months especially as my blood pressure taken in February had come down to 120/60. However, my symptoms only got worse but I still persevered in the hope there would be an improvement until just before Easter, overwhelmed by depression, crippling pain, feeling like I had been hit by a ten-ton truck, forgetfulness, insomnia and general hopelessness, I decided to stop both drugs. Started feeling better even by the next day but worried about blood pressure rising again. Went back to the quack after Easter. He ordered a blood test to check liver functions and took me off the Simvastatin for now but instructed me to go back on amlopidine. What if these drugs have done horrible things to my liver. As I write all the horrible pains and feelings are back and I am going to have to stop taking them again. What next? God help me! Due to see the quack when the tests are in. Medicines are supposed to make you feel better and not make you feel 'why did I bother waking up this morning!'
    • xizziz
      xizziz senora_c

      Posted

      You may want to check your dosage on the simvistatin as there can be a reaction between this drug and the amlodipine - I believe no more than 20 mg simvistatin, but if that is what you are taking - I would reconsider this - as 20 is the  cutoff point - what if you are taking 20.  My doc prescribed both of these to me at a time but agreed to change my bp med because of the conflict between the two.  [b]https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/norvasc-with-simvastatin-172-78-2067-0[b].html

       

  • Stacy
    Stacy

    Posted

    Oh Senora I really feel for you . I am laying here in bed putting off the moment that I will get up and take the dreaded tablet because I know that within an hour of swallowing it I will be feeling dreadful. I will be back at my GPs on Monday and will ask if they will put me back on the Bendrofluside that I was on years ago. I stopped taking them because I was too busy looking after my parents, holding down a job and helping my children. It was a very stupid thing to do but I will promise the GP that I will take them as prescribed and monitor my BP to check that it is not going up again. However it may now have gone up too high to be controlled by water tablets. I have read some of the other side effects of different blood pressure tablets and they all seem to be effecting people's quality of life. It is bad enough knowing that you have to live with a chronic illness without having to put up with the devestating side effects. I hope that you feel better soon and please keep in touch

    because it does help to know that you are not alone . Take care sad

  • Les_L
    Les_L

    Posted

    After taking amlodipine 10mg daily (plus other meds) I was concerned by the lack of reaction to my increasing inability to exercise, despite my GP encouraging me to do so.

    2 years ago I comfortably ran half marathons in less than 2 hours. Now I can't even manage more than a slow Km or so and this with considerable pain in both calf muscles. I put on about a stone in weight (from 10 to 11 stone), felt sleepy all day long and experienced really painful swelling in my lower legs, feet and ankles. My whole body itched and caused me to scratch to the extent that I made myself bleed, even while asleep.

    About 3 weeks ago the frustration caused me to stop taking everything and in a little over a week I lost 12lbs and the swelling all but disappeared. My GP finally listened and asked me to restart all the meds without the amlodipine. The weight has stayed off, the swelling has gone completely and I am starting to feel more alert.

    I realise that stopping all my meds was rather dangerous and my blood pressure quickly returned to pre-treatment levels, but I feel that my GP now accepts that I really was suffering instead of just saying - 'well that's probably the amlodipine'.

    I sometimes wonder how many drugs would be prescribed if GP's had to take them for a month before giving them to their patients!

  • Stacy
    Stacy

    Posted

    Hi Les I have been back to the Doctors four times regarding the side effects that I was suffering after taking Amlodipine and have finally had a result after a vein popped in the back of my leg. It has now been documented on my notes that I suffered an adverse reaction to the drug and therefore have had to be taken off it. I have been prescribed Lorsatin Potassium 25mg instead and have noticed that I am slowly coming back down to this planet. However the new drug is not without it's own side effects and I am feeling dizzy and muddled after taking the medication. I picked up a vase of Yellow Tulips yesterday and asked my collegue to put the Blue Bells onto a table, so that is not good either. However the nausea and loss of presence has stopped so I am trying to work through the fatigue that the new drug is causing. What worries me is that we risk a Stroke if we do not control our BP yet the medication prescribed causes more anxiety because it robs you of the person that you are. I have also looked at my life style and have cut out all salt and only now have the occasional glass of wine which I used to enjoy every night. I have to go back to my GP in three weeks and will ask her to put me back on Bendrofluside which suited me but I stopped taking four years ago because I felt better. I totally agree with you when you say that the Doctors should try these drugs out before they prescribe them, then they would know how horrible and frightening it is to experience the side effects and how they stop your life as you know it. I am a very keen walker but it is all I can do to stand upright after taking the medication and I spend the rest of the day trying to stay awake. When I was on the Amlodopine I would lose five hours of the day after taking it which for an active professional person is wrong. I know that if my GP had not taken me off of that drug I would have had to give my job up because the side effects were gettig worse. Keep in touch and let me know how you are gettigng on
  • Stacy
    Stacy

    Edited

    Well I have to say that I have been off Amlodopine now for over a week and I am starting to return to this planet. I am now taking Lorsatin Potassium which is still making me feel drowsy but no where near as ill as I was feeling whilest taking Amlodopine. I would recommend that any one who is having side effects which result in you feeling incapacitated then do not hesitate to go back to your GP and put your case forward so that they have to listen. Many people feel that Doctors know best and do not like to question their decisions, but why should we suffer just because either we are afraid to speak up, or when we do they do not take us serious. I have been made very aware of how a GP can just brush aside one's concerns, however I think that it was the fact that I am a nurse that persuaded the GP to change my medication and the fact that a vein had gone pop in the back of my leg. Yet I still feel that it is unfair that we have to wait untill something adverse happens before they will act on it. I wish that Doctors would LISTEN to our concerns because no body knows our bodies better then ourselves and we know when things are seriously not right. I hope that you get your GPs to listen to you because what I have read on this wall is scary stuff. xx
    • gerard62834
      gerard62834 Stacy

      Posted

      Hi Stacy

      I completely agree with everything you have said!

      You might be interested to read my post 'off amlodipine now', in this forum, to see what happened to me. I don't think my story is unique - many people will have similar, of perhaps even worse experiences!

      I strongly believe more tests should be done to check on underlying health issues before amlodipine is prescribed.

      Best wishes

      Gerard

       

    • donna56749
      donna56749 gerard62834

      Edited

      I am on amlodipine now. Been taking it for about two weeks. My feet and legs are turning red. Knees are hurting. Before taking this medicine I didn't  have these problems. Do you think it's related?
    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey donna56749

      Posted

      Donna, yes it probably is related.  The same experience as me when on Amlodipinewwith the inflammation in the lower legs eventually being  diagnosed  as varicose eczema.  It did improve when I stopped the Amlodipine but not by 100%.
    • donna56749
      donna56749 MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      I showed the doctor and she increased it to 10 instead of 5 mg even after she seen my legs. just didnt take it yesterday  pain knees and redness a ittle better. praying everything goes back to nomal. watching the blood pressure and gonna find me another doctor.
    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey donna56749

      Posted

      Donna, good luck with the second opinion.  There are loads of different BP meds that you can try until you find one that you feel well on.  I've tried 6 before reaching one that doesn't give me very unwanted side effects, but I'm sure I'm extra awkward!
    • donna56749
      donna56749 MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      They had my bloid pressure under control since 2006 after i ended up in the hospital with congestive hearr failure. Was blessed with no problems and functioned doing whatever i wanted until march of this year when I decide to start watching what i was eating and started walking. Lost 30 pounds in 2 months and landed in the hospital dehydrated. They pulled me off all my meds a week later i was back at the er with severe headaches and blood pressure out of control. they put me back on some and that new drug amlodipine a few weeks ago. i will never take that stuff again. It been a rollercoaster ride.
    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey donna56749

      Posted

      What a stressful time you had, Donna but well done on the weight loss - that takes lots of determination and willpower.  Hope you continue to feel better and find a BP pill that suits you soon.
    • ann37372
      ann37372 MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      Hello Mrs O

      I was reading up on Amlodipine after being taken off the drug, it was making my lower legs swell & turn red & blotchy. I read your experience were this drug had given you varicose eczema. After reading up on varicose eczema I realized that is what I had. This has lead to eczema on the rest of my body. I went back to the doctors & told them what I had found on the internet. They had not connected the eczema to the drug, even though I kept telling them that it has started with the rash on my ankle. It took the last of 4 doctors to finally diagnose eczema. Firstly thank you for giving me the starting point. So I had the information I needed, to work out what was happening to me so that I could go & tell the doctor!!. My main question is how long before the eczema went or has it ? Thanks for any help. Ann

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey ann37372

      Posted

      Hello Ann, I'm sorry to hear about the eczema you feel was caused by Amlodipine. Since my original post on the subject, I was asked by my consultant to give Amlodipine and subsequently Felodipine another try in an effort to tackle my over-the-top blood pressure. The same very swollen and inflamed looking ankles appeared and I tried to persevere but to my cost. Eventually both pills were again discontinued, the swelling resolved but unfortunately the bottom of mt legs/ankles remain very red where the blood vessels have been permanently damaged from Amlodipine and Felodipine. I hope you will be luckier.

    • ann37372
      ann37372 MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      Thank you Mrs. O.

      Hopefully the tablets were stopped before they did any permanent damage. The doctor did say that the eczema should go eventually. I hope he will be proved right.

      Thanks again for your help. Ann

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