Ramipril side effects that dreadful cough

you must come off Ramipril it is known to cause coughs in a number of patients please ask for alternative blood pressure pills which are available

Hi, you are so right! Came off Ramipril two months ago. Am now on a Candesartan and what a difference! Still have wee bit of phlemy cough on waking but nothing like before. Feel so much better.

I am glad I found this site, I thought I was going nuts, I started this tablet six months ago, the dry cough and running eyes are awful, couldn't put up with it any longer, went to see dr today and was surprised when he said it was this tablet I assumed it was the statin he has lowered the dose from. 5m to 2.5m and said in two weeks if the cough has not eased to. Go back and see him, I wake up during the night and go into spasms and can't catch my breath, now I can see on this site that everyone who takes it has the same outcome 

 

My poor husband has suffered with this dreadful cough for over 3 years. He was started on Ramipril and a few weeks later slipped and fell on concrete steps, breaking several ribs and having a huge haemothorax, twice.  When the cough started, sometime later, he attributed it to the injury.  In the last year or so he has been back to the doctor several times and specifically asked if the Ramipril was causing this cough.  The doctor replied with absolute confidence that a 'Ramipril cough' is dry and annoying and in the afternoon.  My husband's cough is gut retching, vomit making, eye popping,producing white frothy sticky sputum eventually, for at least an hour every morning and sometimes throughout the night.  I am so angry that he has suffered this for all this time, here is no way that this is a dry irritating cough, it is life limiting and probably 100 times as likely to cause a stroke than the moderate blood pressure it was supposed to be treating.

Our new strategy (I only started researching side effects to blood pressure medications because he was put on an additional medication which messed up his electrolytes - and the doctor actually said that was more dangerous than the high blood pressure) is to fully adopt a High Fat low Carb diet (counter intuitive, but it eliminates high blood pressure in many people because of it's anti-inflammatory action) and walk at least 5 miles a day.  His blood pressure is 10 points lower than it has been for 2 years (already in 3 weeks) and the plan is to gradually eliminate 1 Ramipril tablet per week, fortnightly so long as BP stays down.  We hope that he will be totally drug free in 3 months.  I would urge everybody who has posted here to fill in an Adverse reaction to drugs yellow card (just google it, it's easy to do).  The drug manufacturers must know of this dreadful debilitating side effect, why do our doctors not know?  It's a scandal! 

Hi I too have had that horrible cough and put it down to ramipril. I have had very HBP for some time and the last time I saw a doctor he decided to it was still a bit high so he put me on ramipril as well as the Amlodipine I had been taking. After abot two weeks into the second month I decided to give it a miss and within a short time my throat was feeling a lot better. I had basically had a Rhinitis causing mucus to flow down my throat and that was causing the cough. I too was having trouble sleeping at night with the cough. I will be visiting the doctor very soon to explain my situation to him.

Yes I,ve had the same dreadfull cough for about 8 months and my doctor reckoned it was hayfever and had me on antihistamine 6 a day .That did nothing to help so I went to another doctor who immediately took me off Ramipril,it several weeks to clear but the cough went .So definately see your doctor for an alternative

Yes...I was on Ramipril 3 months ago and I still have the cough and itchy throat and watery eyes, cough not as bad as when taking it though.  While I was taking it, I coughed so hard I thought I would cough up a lung!  I had every symptom you have.  So hard to drive when your eyes are watering and you are coughing.

I think they do, but the constant battle with costs per practice means that as one of the perhaps cheaper alternatives, they are expected to use it. Then of course it is up to the doctors to stay abreast of current trends and findings with medications. In the old days they used to allow pharmaceutical reps in to talk to the drs but I think those days are passed. 

Yes I have. I have been on ramipril from Dec , had bronchitis which I've never had before, cramps, coughing , mucus , doctor sending me to see chest specialist , thinks it could be lung related or copd . I was ok until Dec. Apart from high blood pressure. I feel fine apartment from the nasty coughing

Has anyone on Ramipril experienced migraines during or after quiting?  I took myself off of it without telling my doctor and now have a severe migraine which as lasted over 70 hours, it's been 12 days since I quit taking it.

I am so pleased that I found this discussion as I thought that my dreadful cough was a result of the pulmonary embolism that I suffered when I had my stroke.

I will now go back to he GP and ask for Ramipril to be changed to another drug. Thank you everyone and I wish you all good health.

Hi

Yes I am having the same experience with Ramipril.

I've been talking them for two weeks now and the cough I've developed is nasty.

I saw my gp today and he said "let's not rite rampiril off yet" come back and see me in a fortnight.

I don't think I can last that long so I'll stop taking this drug as from tomorrow.