I know its was amlodipine!

Your story sounds just like mine except I've been taking this drug for years. It was changing my life. Legs hurt and fatigue. It was banned in holland. My doctors

I felt better

But now I take 2.5 instead of 5

I will watch and see. Unfortunately you have to be your own doctor

I am a medical biochemist by trade and although my expertise is in lipid (statins) disorders and autoimmune disorders, I also take amlodipine and am familiar with all 10 categories of BP medications.  My reply is mainly to everyone taking amlodipine or any BP med and quitting without replacing it with another BP medication . Although all BP medications seem to have the same side effects, Amlodipine seems to be one of the worst. I have researched all 10 classes and every one has fatigue, drowsiness and dizziness as a side effect. The exceptions are diuretics which have a different set of problems. I have to take "No Dose" as soon as I wake up in the morning and again at mid day to stay out of zombie land, but even that doesn't work.  My uncle had a BP of 180/140 for yrs even though I told him that he could have total renal failure if he refused to take BP medication and possible lose his vision before that.  Guess what.  About 2 years after that conversation  he started to lose his vision and subsequently had total renal failure and had to go on dialysis for 7 yrs before he died due his stubbornness at the ripe old age of 58. So the bottom line is to have your doctor let you try a different class of BP medication, not another BP medication in the same class which usually have the same side effects.  Living a short life on dialysis is a life of hell, so find one that can keep you at a max BP of 140/85 or you'll be pushing up daises' before it's time.  Don't get me started on statins.  One of the biggest scams in pharmaceutical history. It will take me too much time typing to discuss it here.  If your interested just google the following disasters.  "BayCol" , "catalyst heart of the matter youtube" (A 60 min type medical expose on the statin scam).  By the way a PhD in chemistry and myself developed the first commercially available blood test for HDL in the late 70s. 

Well that's really depressed me reading about your uncle, Hot Roder!  I have very difficult to control high blood pressure, mainly due to my body being highly intolerant of up to 9 different BP pills to date, even those at tiny doses.  And I have just one kidney and it is only operating at 38%. (CKD 3b)  At least my diastolic isn't anywhere near as high as your uncle's so fingers crossed there is hope for me yet!  My kidney function with just one kidney was perfectly normal for over 50 years until an undiagnosed, therefore untreated/uncontrolled, autoimmune disease got in the way, and either Ibuprofen, uncontrolled inflammation or contrast used in scans did their dirty work.   

My heart goes out to your tough situation.  Your labile (or erratic) type of BP is indeed harder to control.  I do not pretend to be a physician, but I can give you some recommendations and suggestions on some of your options based on my personal experiences on the subject. Although I do not have all of your medical history, I do know that BP does vary significantly depending on your physical activity as I'm sure you are aware.  I personally take 3 classes of BP medications. A "calcium channel blocker"(amlodipine), a Beta blocker (spectral) and a "Ace Inhibitor" Lisinopril which works for me, but your situation may require a different cocktail. Excluding the amlodipine class, the only other class that I have researched with a minimal amount of side effects is the ARB (Angiotensin II Receptor Blocking} class of BP medication. First of all I assume  that your seeing a Cardiologist and a Urologist.  The typical family practice or internal medicine physicians knowledge is all over the map with as many diseases are out there.  Regarding Cat Scans, I would highly recommend, unless absolutely necessary, to ask you Dr if an MRI would suffice instead of a Cat Scan.  The AMA in the U.S. has recommended that Drs only use Cat Scans when absolutely necessary due to the fact that ONE Cat Scan is equivalent to 100 XRays!!! Which is the equivalent of being about a quarter of a mile from the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima. I don't mean to get you more stressed about anything else, but knowledge is power.   I hope and pray for things to work out for you.

Thank you so much for such a lovely response with such helpful information.  You are on a variety of meds - unfortunately, whereas the original plan was to treat me with two or three low doses of different drugs, even adding a second was a disaster side-effect wise.  I'm on the ARB, Losartan Potassium, the only one that didn't produce horrendous side effects, but even that when doubled caused an all-over body itch/rash so now back to just 50mg.  I'm crossing fingers that I can remain on Losartan, having been on it for over 3 years, but I'm starting to wonder whether frequent UTIs this year (unusual for me) may be due to Losartan - it is mentioned as a possible side effect on the accompanying leaflet.  Amongst side effects from various other meds has been seriously reduced salt levels, plummeting eGFR, nausea, stomach problems and the usual ankle swelling - my renal consultant who has been patiently trying to control my blood pressure welcomes me as his "awkward patient"!  He has now decided to leave it ftb at just 50mg Losartan (latest reading was in the low 170's systolic, low 80's diastolic.  I haven't seen a cardiologist, but have recently seen a urologist due to ultrasound showing up a"grey area" on the bladder.  Luckily it was a benign polyp.  Very interesting what you have said about CT versus MRI.  Hopefully, I won't be having any more, although the urologist did carry out a CT scan a few weeks ago but without contrast.  After what you have said, I hope I won't need any XRays in the near future!  Thank you so much again for your very kind and caring message.  I do hope that you will continue to do well on your own personal journey with high BP.