My "recovery story" from the misery of Amlodipine
Posted , 46 users are following.
I apologize in advance for the lengthy post. For a very long time, I had been suffering from a lot of intense aches and pains in my joints and muscles and was not able to get any proper diagnosis for it. I was beginning to very worried that I had some serious illness like cancer. Thanks to the posts in this site, I was able to pinpoint amlodipine as the source of my misery. I shall try to put as much details as I can regarding my own experience in journal form, in case it becomes helpful to others.
Background: I am male, 40yrs old, former competitive swimmer and in good shape (apart from the hypertension which is genetic). I was placed on 5mg amlodipine after being diagnosed with hypertension 6 years ago. 5mg seemed to work fine with no side effects. In July 2016, I went to our local clinic due to a serious case of the flu. The GP on duty was not happy with my 130/90 and said that I should increase my dosage to 10mg. Thinking nothing of it, I complied but did not consult with my specialist. In hindsight, this is when my symptoms started to appear.
Symptoms: It first started with muscle pain in my left forearm and joint pain in my left shoulder. I assumed that this was due to carrying my newborn baby in the same position for hours on end. These disappeared but then I suddenly started suffering pain in my hands and feet as if someone had taken a hammer to them. I felt like my bones were crushed. In December, pain in my knees and elbows followed. My knees felt swollen at the back while my elbows felt as if there was constant pressure on my funny bone. There wasn’t any actual swelling or inflammation, just the sensation of pain really. I then started to have muscle spasms at the beginning of this year. The spasms and twitching were almost constant at night.
How amlodipine became a suspect: After researching everything from arthritis to cancer, I stumbled across this site and the symptoms posted seemed similar. So I figured, what the heck! Let’s give this a shot. So on 29-Jan, I decided not to take my medication and felt some relief almost immediately. My “recovery” is detailed in the journal below:
Day 1 – 0mg. By the end of the day, muscle spasms stopped completely. Have not had any ever since. This was my first clue that amlodipine may be the culprit. Pain in my right knee completely disappeared with pain in my elbows and left knee lessening and not constant.
Day 2 – 2.5mg – Afraid of rebound hypertension, I decided to still take 2.5mg. Pain in right elbow, completely gone. Less pain in left knee and elbow. Developed slight occasional shoulder pain though. Pain in right thumb and toes.
Day 3 – 2.5mg – No more knee and right elbow pain. Though pain in left elbow remains but significantly less. Foot and toe pain greatly reduced.
Day 4 – 5mg – Started getting a headache and uncomfortable feeling in left arm so I thought I could be getting hypertension again so decided to take 5mg. Slight pain in left index finger and right thumb. Slight occasional shoulder pain. Joints in elbows, shoulders, knees and ankles started popping and clicking.
Day 5 – Back to 2.5mg – No more pain in elbows and knees. However, shoulder pain increased and developed lower back and hip pain. This was after I took the 2.5mg at mid-day. Also developed a stomach upset about ten minutes after taking it.
Day 6 – 2.5mg – No knee and elbow pain. No pain in fingers and toes but have feeling of stiffness. Joints still popping and clicking. Shoulder pain increased. Felt like stabbing pain. Something new is that the front of my neck felt sore and muscles felt swollen.
Day 7 – 0mg Since it was the weekend and expected less stress, I decided to try and not take amlodipine. No pain in major joints. Neck and shoulders felt stiff and sensation of neck swelling still there but not constant.
Day 8 – Still 0mg – Felt almost normal. Neck soreness was there upon waking but became negligible towards the afternoon.
Day 9 (today) – Pain free!!!! Still some tightness in the neck from time to time but nothing like it was in the past days. In fact, it is non-existent as I type this.
Observations – Symptoms seem to get worse before they get better for each joint. Improvement also seemed to start from the bottom and progress upwards with pain in the upper joint getting worse or appearing just as the bottom joint was feeling better. Example, as my knees were getting better, my left elbow pain got worse; and as my elbows were getting better, I started to develop pain in the shoulders and neck which I did not have previously.
Conclusion – I am not sure if I shall be getting off amlodipine completely. I actually plan to take 2.5mg again for a few days and work my way back to my normal 5mg dosage. I did not have any side effects then. I do plan to go back to my specialist but he only comes in on weekdays and it is a problem for me to get time off from work.
Again, apologies for the length of this post but I do hope that it is able to help someone.
9 likes, 89 replies
Dickie57 ramvin
Posted
I am bit older at 60 and play tennis and am fit and healthy with hypertension. I was prescribed a top up of Amlodopine 3 years ago. Had vertigo symptoms on 5mg so reduced to 2.5mg and have been fine BUT recently have been suffering with shoulder pains and metatarsal pad foot problems, Been doing physio but not resolving problem. Could it be possibly be related to amlodipine?
Dickie
Chi000 Dickie57
Posted
For me.... the issues started with shoulder pains and tension in the neck area .. after stopping Am ....now 5 mths .. still occasion bad shoulder tension and very bothersome... but the other issues have subsided ..
tim48404 ramvin
Posted
My story is similar to most here. I'm a 38 yrold male who just recently developed HBP. My Gp started me off on 10mg a day of Amlodipine exactly a month ago. I also started taking celery seed extract To Help. A week later my whole left leg went numb and tingled for two whole weeks. A week later I started experiencing aches in my upper back and shoulders. Then my jaw and my neck up through my temples. I was believing it was my wisdom tooth causing all this pain, but thought that was weird. The pains just got worse the past week or so. So bad everyday after work I came home to lay down and go straight to bed to relieve the pain. This is not me especially since I do so many activities once off work. The pain felt like my blood vessels in my neck and head where literally throbbing. My upper back would also tense up and my shoulder would also hurt. At times it did feel as though a nerve was being pinched. I started to wonder could it be this aweful drug? Well I did a search earlier and found some people say g they also had troubYes. Thank God I found this forum. Everything here is what I've been suspecting. I've only been on it for a month so hope stopping my dosage myself will eliminate my symptoms. I know my Dr will only laugh when I tell hI'm that the Amlodipine may be causing all this pain just as he did when I told him the Lysenapril was causing me to cough all the time
I will update my status if the symptoms improve.
meles ramvin
Posted
Michael9671 ramvin
Posted
jerzy22559 Michael9671
Posted
I dropped Amlodipine? 5mg about 8 weeks into taking it. Similar reasons. Next, my MD prescribed to me Valsartan 80mg and after about 2 weeks, this morning my numbers are about 120/80 with a heart rate around 75 in the morning and 85 in the evening. I am 67 years old, 174 cm tall. I implemented water fast at the time I started Valsartan, which reduced my weight by about 20 pounds which I think helped. I am still on water diet and I will be until I reach 165 pounds. My BP was 200/110 this past Summer and the weight was 203 pounds. I have lost some weight by improving my diet (190) before I started Amlodipine which reduced my BP to merely 170-160/110-90 on a good day. The side effects of Amlodipine were diminishing gradually and they are almost gone now (3 weeks). My disappointment is that doctors do not do their research and keep prescribing drugs like this. It seems they don't care as they ignore new knowledge. I guess, most of them are in the profession just for the money, or they are simply lazy doing unacceptable job. God bless the Internet. Ramvin, thank you for starting this conversation and thank you all for contributing. It helped a lot. Cheers.
meles Michael9671
Posted
Amlodipine is having obvious side effects on too many people. If your BP is normally 130/86, this is normal according to UK advice and you should not be on it. GPs seem to be trying to get everyone on it, but it has seriously damaged my muscles over 2 years which I juts hope is not permanent. !40/90 is not too bad according to my GP, the top range before you go on BP drugs. I would stay off them if you can, you don't need them. If you are worried, ask for a second professional opinion.
mandy_46010 ramvin
Posted
Sry if posting in wrong place but new to this site and in need of advice . Ok here's my story .
Early last year I went to dr about lack is sleep , hair loss, joint pain and swollen legs etc . Aged 52 dr said it's 'the change' . I continued with my day to day life but felt so unwell . In August I blacked out and fell breaking my shoulder. At that time I had really bad upset tummy so they put that down as cause of black out . I was given pain killers for shoulder and my tummy got worse so I went back to dr who did blood test which came back that I had high levels of protein in my liver . For then next 5 months I had reg blood test to monitor it . In Jan this year again I had upset belly etc so see emergency dr who did dif blood test and found the problem with liver was caused from my bones . Yesterday I had bone scan and await results on that to rule out bone cancer . My point is ive been on all kinds of dif BP pills since 2000 at first I reacted to 4/5 dif ones and then I was given one which I can't remember name and I was fine with it . But it was an expensive pill so again they played around till they gave me amplodipine 10mg .
Has anyone else had these systoms ?
Mandy
meles mandy_46010
Posted
Hi Mandy,
?Many of us on Amlodopine have suffered sleeplessness,heart palpatations and swollen joints and tendons. These are known side effects. Like you, I also thought it was post menopausal symptoms, or 'getting older', but it is not, it is the Amlodopine. I found out after the GP doubled my dose and I could hardly stand the next morning. I was crippled. Simply giving you painkillers for your shoulder pain is simply unacceptable. They should have given you a scan. They did with my shoulder and found an inflamed bursa and thickened tendon, also in my upper outer thigh - cause is Amlodopine. I do hope your tests come back negative. But please do ask your doctor to change your BP meds and find something more suitable for your body. best wishes for your health, Meles
deborah53662 mandy_46010
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jerzy22559 ramvin
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Hi Mandy,
?I was on amlodipine (5mg) for a while. It did not helped much except of feeling tired and having muscle pain in shoulders and lower back. I stopped for a while and got to feel normal. The MD I was seeing switched to Valsartan. It lowered my BP to normal (117/75 the best reading), but all the unwanted symptoms returned and I was not willing to do anything. I quit all the drugs all together and concentrated on exercise, eating well, and taking vitamins and minerals. I attempted water diet but quit it because of the cold winter we had. The weight loss is a must. I am 5'8'', 190 pounds, athletic 68 years old. I am determined to lower my BP naturally. You may want to see site of Dr. Mercola and his take on BP. Also, good cardiologist always has better knowledge of drugs related to BP. Not all family doctors know about these specific drugs. Another thing is that all drugs have side effects and once you start on them it takes lower doses for w while before you can be completely off them. I still haven't got my hair to what it was before this amlodipine wonder drug, but I'm my case it could be the age factor. Good luck Mandy.
Jerzy
angela64424 ramvin
Posted
Thank you for taking the time to post your findings on Amlodopine.
My husband sleeps all the time and can’t be bothered to do anything, although he does walk every morning for an hour, as he was instructed to do by a cardiologist.
Having read your article- when he wakes up we are going straight to the pharmacist .I will post what happens next! Realising now there is so much on the market I can’t understand why they are not withdrawn.
Thank you to everybody
Angela
sarstan ramvin
Posted
I know this post is old, but it helped me figure out why my joints and muscles were in constant pain. I had the same problem, plus swelling of the ankles. It was awful. I could not function because everything was painful. I was wondering whether I'd ever get better and whether I should get a walker. I had gone on amlopodine during a period of immense stress and anxiety, which I believe made my blood pressure increase. After taking 5mg, my BP had not gone down at all, so I went up to 10mg. I thought I was just tired because of everything going on in my life. I also injured my knee at the time (and moved across the country scrunched up in a car), so thought that my knee was causing the rest of my body to compensate and that's why I was in pain. The joint and muscle pain and stiffness did not go away for weeks and weeks after the move so I began to think about what else the problem could be and found this post. Amlopodine! I dropped from 10 to a half pill and felt some relief within days. Eventually I stopped taking it all together and it's like a new lease on life! I am only 42 and could be in better shape, but was not able to exercise while on amlopodine. I got my BP checked last week and it's down to 135/80 without meds. The doctor put me on a low dose of a new medication and I am exercising, so hoping that I will be able to lower my BP enough to go off all medications entirely. Thanks for this post! I was in some despair and wondering whether I'd be in pain forever. Now I feel pretty great.
sarstan
Posted
Also, I don't think the amlopodine helped my BP at all.
margaret90930 ramvin
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I am 80 and have resisted various GP attempts ( since I was 60) to put me on BP medication because most people have white coat blood pressure. i.e. the doctor's reading is not true because the tension caused by a medical person taking your BP usually make the reading higher. No account seems to be taken of the individual either. What is "normal" for one person might not be for another. I had never needed any medication until a few months ago when I was feeling very unwell and the GP prescribed amlodopine. I reluctantly took 2.5mg that night and 2.5mg the next morning. By late afternoon I was suffering stomach cramps and by the evening I was so ill I called 999 and ended up in A&E. After lying on a trolley all night following various tests I was discharged next morning at 6am. I slept till noon, threw the amlodopine in the bin and have been perfectly fit ever since. I take a magnesium supplement and drink a glass of beetroot juice every day. My BP has been normal for someone of my age ever since and I will never take another BP tablet of any kind again.