I know its was amlodipine!

Kikky, how are you getting on off the drug- have you seen your gp yet?

I have to wait another week for mine- in the meatime i'm down to half a tablet for another day then off it till then.I plan to be off it completely by Saturday (two days time) such is the problems I'v had. Shoulntd this drug be taken off the market??

 

Hi ivan_rtw, the last tablet I took was on Saturday, on Monday I had more energy and a whole more positive outlook on life. Still tired and slightly hazy vision. Today (Thursday) my BP is 134/94 which is higher than it should be, I am cutting out as much salt as possible, and am off to the pool for a swim this afternoon, I haven't wanted to go for the last 6 months or so, my weight seems to be dropping very slightly also, I just feel healthier than I have in ages.With regards to taking it off the market, my OH is on it 10mg and has no side effects whatsoever. So I just think we should be more aware of side effects that can happen and maybe be quizzed alot more at checkups about how we are, as I really didn't put all the different things together and work out it was down to the tablets, until seeing this site. Seeing GP in just over a week and hopefully he will agree with me - Good luck Ivan. 

Hi Kikky - yes, my hubby is fine on Amlodipine too, as is a friend.  Hubby developed swollen ankles when they increased his dose from 5 to 10mgs so the GP reduced the dose back down to 5 and added in a small dose of Ramipril, and has no swelling at these doses.  Apparently, the latest thinking is to put patients with raised BP on 2 or 3 medicines to achieve optimum BP all at low doses in preference to a single medicine at a higher dose.  I suffered severe ankle swelling even at the 5mg dose (but then I'm seemingly sensitive to so many of them!).  But if Amlodipine works for some then we can't discount it - still odd though that it appears to be the one most complained about on here.......I wonder if that's because it is the one most widely prescribed at present?  It was interesting reading about your weight dropping slightly.  On the latest pills I'm on I'm noticing that my weight has suddenly started increasing - I suspect the pills are causing fluid retention.  I'm now trying to go without as many carbs as I can such as bread and potatoes, and completely avoiding anything with sugar for a few days to see if it makes a difference.  I do hope you continue to feel better off the Amlodipine and that your GP can offer something to reduce your diastolic reading.

Good luck with your recovery. I was only on them a few weeks and had really big problems had to stop working on second week as I couldn't function. My head felt clearer the day after I stopped. Most of the other side effects gone. Still suffer with my memory and tiredness. Get aches and pains walking about, but I think that is my body settling in after a long period of inactivity. 5 weeks sleeping most of the time and too exhausted to do anything else. 

I am trying to build my fitness back up. 

All the best to you. I hope your doctor finds a tablet more suitable for you. 

Ginette

Has your memory came back

Malcolm, I've interested as to why you have weaned yourself of Simvastatin as it was prescribed following stroke.  My son was prescribed Clopidogrel and simvastin following a stroke as routine treatment, even though he'd never had particuarly high cholesterol.  His cholesterol is now extremely low but I believe the treatment is now for life.

Hi Susan

I was on Amlodipine for several months and did just stop it with no noticeable side effects, just a terrific relief in feeling the ankle swelling subside and my legs return to normal!  However, a pharmacist once told me that when we come off any drug, we should taper it slowly over about a week or so for each year that we have been on it.

I'm not a medic but, as your Mum will still be taking other meds for her BP, I think it's unlikely that she will have any problems just stopping the Amlodipine.

As you mention it is a nephrologist who has advised your Mum to stop taking Amlodipine, I am wondering if she also has reduced kidney function - I am under a renal consultant due to reduced kidney function and it is he who is trying to control my high BP.

I came off "cold turkey" and started feeling better the next day.

Head started to clear up in about 3 days.

This stuff is poison.  Treat it as such.

Hitch, thank you and I'm pleased to hear that you feel better since coming off Amlodipine, but it isn't very helpful for those in need of medication to read such statements as "This stuff is poison". 

Although, we are hearing of many adverse reactions to this drug I know of many people who are taking it without any problems.  The point I'm really trying to make is that those of us who suffer from high blood pressure, do need treatment if natural methods don't work - yes some drugs do cause some of us very unwanted side efects but not all, and many of us have no choice but to find something that suits or face the risk of organ damage and worse.

Mrs. O, I agree with you on this. My mother has been on diazapam (low dose valium) for years for irritable bowel. It has worked wonderfully for her, and I also took it in the past during my menstrual cycle. My friends Dad was put on it and became violent and disoriented and it took days to resolve. He insisted Valium should be banned completely! By the same token, my father was given Xanax in hospital by a nurse who wanted to quiet him because he was asking for a breathing treatment for his COPD. My father suffered permament memory loss and was never the same again. But I know other people can take it okay. You never know what is poison to one person and what is a lifesaver.

Yes my mother lost one kidney to renal artery stenosis years ago, so she has the one functioning kidney and with upping the BP meds the function of that has gone down. Her creatinine went to 2.0 but has evened out between 1.8 and 1.9. Frankly she has been off the amlodipine for 5 days now and doesn't feel any better. I was hoping she would improve.

Snap!  I also had a kidney removed aged 12 (13th birthday in hospital!).  My creatinine seems to be measured differently to your Mum's (I'm in the UK).  I've never had raised Creatinine in the past but my levels went above normal to 112 when I first started Losartan but at the last test some 6 weeks ago it had reduced to 101 so only very slightly above normal.  My eGFR (estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate) kidney function test also worsened to 42 but crept up to 47 at the last test, so still within CKD3 (Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3).  Do you know what your Mum's eGFR is?

Your Mum and I are probably more susceptible to suffering from raised blood pressure due to having only one kidney, but my consultant is emphasising the importance of keeping BP low in order to protect the kidney long term - really find it difficult getting my head around the fact that  the BP treatment then causes a deterioration in the kidney function in order to protect it long-term.

I'm sorry that your Mum isn't feeling any better yet but 5 days may not be long enough to improvement - it took several weeks for my ankle swelling to go down after discontinuing Amlodipine.  I hope she feels better soon.  Lovely that your Mum has such a caring daughter.

Hi Susan I agree with one of the other respondors, it will take longer than 5 days to notice improvement.  It took about 2 weeks for me to notice that it was the amlodipine.  Hang in there.