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Losartan causing me to feel so sleepy during the day

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Pip78
Pip78

Hi all - I wonder please if I may ask the help of anyone with personal experience of the BP medication 'Losartan'. I am a 79 year old male, having been on various BP medications over the past 30 years. Over the past 18 months I have been prescribed a daily dose of 1 x 25mg of Losartan. The only side effect I seem to suffer from is feeling so sleepy during daytime, even after a good nights sleep.  I am normally quite an active sort of person, walking daily and generally undertking various jobs around the home, including gardening, painting and decorating, etc., etc. But this sleepyness often steps-in to hold me back. Even driving the car can become very tiring, causing me to eat sugery foods to keep me awake. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I am hesitant about approaching my GP as I feel that there is no other BP medication for me to try, having been on all the others at various times in the past?

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  • Sigatoka
    Sigatoka Pip78

    Edited

    Like you I have been on various BP medication over the last 15 years.  Amlodipine gave me bleeding gums.  A few weeks ago GP changed it to Losartan 25, then increased it to 50mg together with Indapamide 2.5.  Losartan was giving me same effects as you plus balance problems - I already suffer with Menieres.  Last week another GP suggested I go back to Losartan 25.  I am due for a review next week so will need to discuss it with the doc.

    My husband is on Losartan too and I do notice he looks quite drowsy during the day.

    I think you need to take it up with your GP.  I suppose they dont really know how any medication would reaction with his patients because our metabolism are unique to one.

    • mike92384
      mike92384 Sigatoka

      Posted

      Sigatoka...Now you're taking Idapamide 2.5. This is a good quality

      diuretic..but keep a watchful eye on your potassium levels. A lot of times,diuretics tend to flush potassium out of our systems. I would recommend that you suggest to your doctor that your potassium levels be monitored every now & again..just to be on the safe side. Also, the doctor has suggested you go back to the Losartan 25mg. That's cutting your med dosage in half..but what about the diuretic?

      Is he suggesting you not taking that also? Now this bears the question...would reducing the Losartan to 25mg & discontinuing the diuretic..cause the bp to rise? In many instances, this is what happens. I for one would not want to be in the habit of having to monitor bp all the time.That can cause anxiety.

    • Pip78
      Pip78 Sigatoka

      Posted

      Thank you Sigatoka for your reply. Bye the way, I too suffered with what a consultant considered to be Menieres disease. It lasted for nearly 10 years, and those 20 long minute spins changed many things in my life, including being very fearful of travelling away from home. He advised removing all salt from my diet. My wife now makes all our own bread. I have not had a spin now for (touch wood) 3 years. So good luck on that one. Pip
  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey Pip78

    Posted

    Pip, I have been taking Losartan Potassium for about 3 years. It seemingly has failed to control my blood pressure on its own so my renal consultant has tried adding in various other medications. Unfortunately, side effects have proved intolerable, with some of the medications actually causing rapid reduction in kidney function whilst others have reduced my sodium levels resulting in me hardly being able to put one foot in front of the other. I have just a sole kidney now operating at just 38%. There are only a few BP meds that are supposedly helpful to the kidneys so there was a risk from the others anyway. From my personal experience - and, of course, we can all be a little different in both the way we present with our symptoms and in how we respond to treatment, but Losartan has been the med with the least, if any, side effects for me. In fact, a very experienced and trusted pharmacist has told me that it is the BP med about which he receives the least complaints by patients. Now whether it is the cause of your tiredness, who knows. But don't rule out Losartan, especially if it is controlling your blood pressure, until you have had blood tests to rule out other possible causes, for instance low iron, low B12, low Vit D, thyroid function etc. If you are managing the gardening and all the painting and decorating at the age of 79, that is no mean feat - makes me feel tied just reading that.....and I'm a few years younger!!

    • Pip78
      Pip78 MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      Dear MrsO - Thank you so much for your very detailed reply, you have given me a few things to get checked out. It would seem from what you say that I will have to stick with Losartan, although I will speak to my GP about it. Thank you again, and my best wishes to you and yours. I feel sure that there must be many of us who use this site that have benefited greatly from the advice and help you have offered. 
    • mike92384
      mike92384 Pip78

      Posted

      Pip78...Mrs.O has some very valid points. Apparently, Losartan does have the least side effects according to a lot of people, including Pharmacists.

      Most bp meds in the ARB class, which Losartan is, give off the least side effects. Another med in the ARB class that seems popular with people is Valsartan.Strrength of the medication is important too. The higher the dosage, the more likely there will be side effects. We are all different. What doesn't bother me, may bother you.

      As Mrs. O said, don't dismiss the Losartan...it's controlling your bp. Not to make light of your problem of tiredness, but if that's all that's bothering you, I'd take it in an instant. Your active, gardening, etc..Not many people of your age would have that sort of stamina. 

      Low vitamin levels could be the culprit as well. The "B" vitamins are very important especially B12. I would suggest you put the idea forth to your doctor about having a blood test to check these levels..Vit.D (the sunshine vitamin) can make one feel tired too. Mine was at 63..whereas the start is at 75., so my doctor has me taking 1000 I/U daily..but it's a very slow climb upwards. He told me he has patients whose levels are in the 20's..certainly not great. So, he wants my reading to reach 100. That's going to take some doing, but I'll certainly follow his instructions. The weather is breaking now, so very soon we will be into the sunnier weather,& I'll be out walking more which will allow me to soak up some sunshine. 

      Please let us know how you get on. All the best, Buddy.

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey mike92384

      Posted

      Good point about the Vit D, Mike.  I am only advised to take a Vit D supplement for the 3 winter months.  The reason being that taking Vit D allows more calcium from diet to be absorbed into our bodies and for anyone with reduced kidney function making too much calcium could lead to problems from Hypercalcemia.  Of course, this can be avoided by having blood tests from time to time to monitor calcium levels.  Anyway, this last winter I didn't start taking my 3 month course until late into December.  Whereas I'm someone who rarely gets a cold, I have now had 3 chest infections, a throat infection and urine infections since late December.  I haven't had a Vit D blood test for a few years, so I asked for one as I wondered whether my Vit D might have gone much too low and led to a lowered immunity.  The blood test was carried out after 5 weeks of my 12-week course at 1,000 units a day, and the result came back at 45, so at a guess my Vit D levels before treatment were somewhere in the 30's, if not lower.  I continued the course, had the test repeated and levels had now been restored to 85 so within the normal range which according to our local area health trust is between 85 and 200 - it can vary across the Trusts.  My kidney consultant doesn't want me to take the Vit D throughout the year but advice is to get out in the sunshine (if it ever arrives this year in this part of the UK!) to keep levels up and then repeat the course next winter.  I will start it earlier next time, perhaps end October/beginning November.  My kidney consultant said that very little research has been carried out on Vit D to date so little is known.  But I have read today that low levels can definitely lead to lowered immunity to infections.  Your Vit D at 63 was not too low, so I would expect that you might successfully reach 100 in the not too distant future.  Certainly, if levels are severely low, then a very large daily dose is needed for a few months to pick the levels up, following which a smaller maintenance dose will suffice.

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey

      Posted

      Sorry, correction - typing error.  ......."normal range which according to our local area health trust is between 85 and 200....." should read 75 and 200.

    • MrsO-UK_Surrey
      MrsO-UK_Surrey Pip78

      Posted

      Aah!  Thank you and bless you for your kind words and good wishes, Pip.  Stay well and do keep in touch and let us know how you get on.
  • brenda04786
    brenda04786 Pip78

    Posted

    I have been on Losartan for about 2 months and it is making me sleepy.  I am getting visits from the sandman at 4 in the afternoon.   I am ready to revisit if this is the right bp medicine.     I am in fear that I will come down my steps faster than I going up due to being dizzy.     

     

  • brenda04786
    brenda04786 Pip78

    Posted

    I am 62 yrs old and was put on Losartan 2 months

    I am 62 yrs old and was put on Losartan 2 months ago along with Bystolic   The Losartan is making me sleepy at 4 in the afternoon   And I am not having problems sleeping at night.   I am scared I am going to fall down my steps and get hurt. Break bones. I understand what you are going through

    My doctor kinda just does not want to hear me.  It is scary when you think something is helping but then the side effects scare you to death

     

  • miketdc
    miketdc Pip78

    Posted

    I believe I am suffering the similar side effect from Losartan Potassium (50 mg/day for a year).  It always makes me feeling so sleepy and barely staying awake after taking Losartan Potassium in the morning.  And I also have this general feeling of unease and depression.  I mentioned these side effects to my primary care physician.  He does not think these have anything to do with Losartan Potassium I am taking.  He wants to look into my sleep problem.  
    • mj1166
      mj1166 miketdc

      Posted

      I have the same Symptoms plus muscle aches in legs and arms. 50mgSymptoms plus muscle aches in legs and arms

  • joshuapryce1987
    joshuapryce1987 Pip78

    Posted

    Take the medication hours before bedtime, instead of in the morning, if this is the case, and its causing you to feel sleepy.

  • tom82347
    tom82347 Pip78

    Posted

    Pip,

    I have the same issue with Losartan, and I'm only 63. Instead of fighting lethargy with sugar, I drink caffeinated coffee all day. And I still fall asleep right after supper and sleep all evening. Seriously - two cups of coffee followed by a two hour nap! That's not a random coincidence, it happens almost every day. My dose was 50 mg and was recently increased to 75 mg. Before going on Losartan, I would hit the floor running in the morning and be able to work all day. Other than that, though, Losartan is the only BP medication that I can tolerate (so far). I do supplement with vitamin D, iron and magnesium, for what it's worth.

    I space out my doses, 25 mg, eight hours apart. Losartan takes up to six hours to work, and starts wearing off fairly quickly. That is based on my own readings at home. The stuff works to lower by BP, though, no doubt about that. Lowers both my systolic and my diastolic by 25 points.

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