Medication failing to lower blood pressure
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hi there im a 46 year old female. i was first made aware i had raised BP ten years ago and was advised by my GP to go on a low dose of ramipiril around five years ago now. side effects were a constant cough so meds were replaced by candesartan 2mg and a duretic. after a few months side affects were awful with itching all over and pins and needles. GP stopped the duretic and i continued on candesartan 2mg. referal was made to the BP clinic but each time all i was ever advised was to cut out salt added to foods (i never add salt) dint eat crisps (again never do) and the ysual one of trying to lose weight. i have to add that my cholestoral was spot on and still is, i am slightly overweight according to BMI but im very active and always have been, walk at least 5 miles a day and swim. even when i was at my lightest my BP was still raised. so...december 2020 the BP clinic decided that 2mg candesartan was a joke as its the lowest dose and as my BP went between 135- 160 yhis shoukd be doubled to 4mg. i was advised to take home readings but still my BP was raised to high. 4 went to 8 to 12 then 16mg. each time my BP also went up until one night it was 197/110. i rang 111 to be told to speak to my GP in the morning. btw symptoms were pulsating veins in my hands and a headache. so the GP wanted to raise the candesartan dose to 22mg !!! i refused and the decision then was to try me on amlodopine 10mg alongside the candesartan 16mg. i have now been referred back to the BP clinic for investigation. i am at a loss to why my BP is so high and the increase in meds only raise it more, im also extremley annoyed that im on such high dose meds. my BP still flutters between 130/90- 160/100. even my parents who have raised BP only take a low dose. im not stressed and lead a healthy life style in general, any advice/experience would be very welcoming right now, thank you !
0 likes, 1 reply
rob55013 lisa79849
Posted
Hi Lisa,
I am also using Ramipril for almost 3years now, i had similar issues with the cough while using Ramipril 10mg and in my case iron and b-complex supplement called "Active Iron with B complex" helped me to get rid of that annoying cough, Ramipril is also depleting from the body zinc which is important for immune system.
There are many reasons why can bp spikes up sometimes its running in family, lifestyle, and so on, in my case when i am in stress my bp goes very high 190/110 and therefore i rather don't take bp measurements during these crisis and wait till i am calm and relaxed. Also i am 44years old. Deep and slow breathing techniques helps me to calm my bp down to safer level 140/90 within 20min. During the day when my bp is up to 140/90 i am not worried, it will never be 100% all day 120/80 like all GPs are wishing for. Also bp charts changed already a few times, 20years back 130/90 was considered good bp, then 20years even higher and so on. In the morning and evenings bp should be lower up to 130/90 was fine for me, visiting gp or hospital my bp jumps upto 170/100 because of the white coat effect, but gps they already knew that when they see me they just asked me to bring home bp measurements. Regarding my experience with amlodipine first 2.5 years worked fine, some side effects came as a part of this medication, but after 2.5years i developed serious side effects and i stopped taking amlodipine, but thats just me, many people don't have issues with amlodipine and some of us are more sensitive to it.
Best thing to do is go through series of cardio tests with cardiologist, like echo, stress test, ecg, ct, blood tests to make sure that there is everything all right, if all tests come back clear, then i would suggest neurologist and check thyroid and adrenal gland levels, cortisol levels, this is what i was going through myself.
Also some meds require some time to start working properly, at the start they seems doesn't do much, because they need to "build up" their mechanism, i remember when i started taking amlodipine at the start it makes my bp go up and i felt like i am having heart attack, but two weeks later all balanced to normal and amlodipine started working and helps lower my bp. Lisa I Wish you all the best and I hope all your bp /cardio tests come back clear and fine.