Still looking for a hypertension medication !

You are so lucky to have no bad side effects from Losartan ,,most of the people i know who take it are like you and have no problem , i so wish it could be me ! yes all tablets can cause these side effects and if they are mild it is no problem , however when life is curtailed by feeling so bad i do not think it feasable to continue ! I just wish i knew what to do as the medical profession have no answers ! no im not on a statin !

Gwen, how high is your BP? If your doctor is refusing to prescribe any drugs at all, that would suggest to me that it's not all that high and could possibly be controlled by other measures.

Hi Lily , my BP is very eratic but usually not all that high ,however i do need medication now as i have tried all the natural ways and its not enough ! Im getting old , mid 60s and also have fibromyalgia which i think can cause a chemical imbalance and therefor some intolerances ! My dr is not refusing prescribe ,she just wonders if there are any i can take ! i have tried about 10 and have had so many side effects im now at my wits end ! i have to wait to see  consultant but he can probably only give me another tablet ! I have found that the medical profession have no understanding of intolerances and that is not good as it sort of leaves people like me out on a limb ! as i was a nurse i get very worried about how i feel , i have met a lady from Spain on here who has tried even more than me ,, its all no fun

Hi Gwen, I was a nurse too. What you say is interesting. I've stayed in touch with several of the friends I made when we all started our training more than 50 years ago, and I've noticed that having trained as a nurse can send you in one of two opposing directions. Some of us - like you - worry about every symptom, whereas others - like me - go in completely the opposite direction and are very laid-back about our health. There doesn't seem to be any middle way.

That's not to say I'd ignore an important sign or symptom like a lump or unexplained bleeding, but I generally find that not paying too much attention to symptoms is the best way to make them go away! I haven't totally escaped minor illness. I've had Sjogren's syndrome for more than 20 years, but I've been let down very lightly by that too. It's only in the last year that it's shown signs of attacking my lungs. That might be luck, of course, but I suspect not getting too worried about my symptoms has helped too.

I am a little concerned about my isolated systolic hypertension now, as I'm well aware it's a sign of atherosclerosis. I average around 140/60 but my "record" was 160/50 - and that was in my doctor's office. Fortunately, I have a very sensible GP who accepts that medication wouldn't be a good idea, as it would take my diastolic too low, and I already suffer from occasional dizzy spells. That's why I'm always on the lookout for natural methods of reducing the systolic while not taking the diastolic any further down. And in any case, I'm well past my biblical three-score-years and ten now, and hey - we all gotta die of something!

If your BP is high enough constantly over 160 and not controlled by your medications you can be referred to a Hypertension Centre. If you Google it you can find one in your area.

Thanks Derek , yes i do know that ,but as i am under the care of a cardiologist who has done a hypertension screening i think i will try to see him sooner than December  ! My B P does respond to medication but its my body that decides to be stupid about it all ! oh the joys of old age !

Hi Lily , interesting that you were a nurse too ! Yes i think you are right about the ones who note every little thing and those like you , i wish i was like you ! I also keep in touch with a few i trained with and they are all healthier than me ! My cousin in St Andrews has MS and Sjorgens Syndrome as well , Im sure your outlook has helped ! and i hope the symptoms stay at bay for a long time yet ! If my bp was 140 over 60 id be happy but its not !  and i think once you take tablets the body becomes a chemical dependent machine ! Once you get over 60 the arteries will get narrower anyway and sometimes i wonder if people are given tablets just for the sake of it ! I too look for all the natural stuff but  its not enough ! I now live in a place for retired people and most of them can take the medication with no problem ! it makes me depressed ! Yes you are right , we have to pop off with something but there are many 80 yr olds now who are living good lives with no problems ! Oh i wish !!!! take care Lily , would be noce to hear from you again , sometimes i feel so alone !

We look forward to the joys of retirement but are not always fit enough to enjoy it.

This is so true Derek , It gets to me as my mum lived into her 90s and did enjoy most of her old age ! My brother is so far doing the same ! What ever happened to me ????

At 82 I am the oldest ever on my side of the family as far as I can trace back.

My mother was a spritely 82 year old until she needed to have a kidney removed due to a tumor. She had postponed the operation for a couple of months as she was going to Canada on her own,

After the operation her memory was badly affected whether she had been deprived of oxygen or if it was the anesthetic we could never find out.

After a couple of years struggling we had to get her into a retirement home. Physically she had recovered from the operation and she was the only person in there not on any medications. She lived until she was 92 and would have gone on much loner but for breaking a hip. The replacement was not a success and had to be repeated and that was the breaking point.

You are doing well Derek ,to get to your 80s and be  quite fit ! your mum sounds as tho she was an inspiration being able to travel to Canada in her 80s , its sad she had to have that op as an anaesthetic in older age can lead to other problems ! She did well to live until 92 ,  a broken hip is sometimes not a success in older age ,  sad that this was her breaking point ! I envy you being able to tolerate Losartan ! i think now i have no option except try to see the consultant earler than December !

Not quite fit, I had my aortic valve replaced in 2012 and that put me into AF, A cardioversion later sorted that out and I was fine for over a year. Then I had a colonoscopy that stimulated my vagus nerve and put me back in AF until the next cardioversion, Another procedure last January again stimulated my vagus nerve and I have been in AF since. Then I had to have a pacemaker fitted.

I now have a problem when walking as a foot goes numb. We can’t find a cause for it. I have tried stopping various meds but it may be lingering effects from a past medication like Amiodarone or an anti-biotic with Quinolones  that I was prescribed several times as I did get tendonitis when taking them but not associating that with it at first.  

It may be a form of neuropathy or from my spine but podiatrists, orthopedic consultant, neurologist and neurosurgeon have not found a reason despite X-Rays, CT scan and MRI's at great cost as the NHS waiting times are  months rather than weeks. To see a neuro surgeon I was 611 on the list,

Next step is to see a neurologist who specialises in neuropathy but I think that will be another dead end.

Good luck with the numb foot, Derek. When my right big toe went completely numb (except for random electric shock feelings) and stayed that way for 10 years, my GP told me it was old age and there was no point referring me anywhere. I was 50 when it started! It eventually turned out it was peripheral neuropathy associated with Sjogren's syndrome, with which I was diagnosed at age 60, having had the symptoms for 10 years. But that's par for the course - it always takes doctors years to get round to diagnosing autoimmune conditions. During this period I had to manage the toe much like a diabetic would, checking every night for signs of injury or infection, and being very careful when cutting the nail. (My blood glucose has always been normal btw.)

Curiously enough, full sensation came back to the toe quite suddenly 10 years after it all started. As a former neuro nurse, I know that shouldn't be possible, but it happened! 12 years on from the return of sensation, my toe is still completely normal, though the peripheral neuropathy attacks my hands from time to time.

I have been pretty thoroughly tested including for genetic conditions. They just use a ball park term of idiopathic neuropathy, The foot or most part of it is only numb when walking with shoes on and worsens when standing. The right foot sometimes attempts to join in. To my mind it is caused by pressure on the foot or from my back but I really don't have actual back pain just a tightening in the lumbar area at times.

I can lift, stretch and bend quite well for my age, clean the bath, clean the windows and carry shopping in my right hand while hanging on to my wife’s arm. It's not too bad walking on a firm flat surface but changing surfaces are a problem and you know what our pavements are like. I cannot cope with going downhill or the camber of roads when crossing them but walking up hill is hardly a problem. At home I go around barefoot. It started suddenly in early June of last year. The week before I had been out for five hours at a horse show on the Monday and had been at the races on the Friday and out for seven hours. Nine days later it started and worsened over a week. Prior to then I had occasional numbness in the left foot but it never lasted long and was not bad enough to interfere with my walking.

How strange that yours suddenly got better. There are very few specialists in Neuropathy and I'm told that the main centre is in Bristol which is not a lot of good as I live in Sussex. The hospital in Brighton said that they had no one who is specialises and could only give me one name for one at Kings College in London and at London Bridge Hospital. I googled him and found that he does a morning at an NHS hospital in Maidstone (a difficult train journey to get there) and one afternoon at a private one in Sevenoaks. I made an appointment to see him there as it is an easier train journey. Now I've been told that will be his last afternoon one there as the clinic days and times are being reversed.

My blood sugar is slightly over the limit but has come down a bit with careful eating although I had actually stopped salt and sugar in 1983 and seldom eat processed food. At first they classed me as glucose intolerant but that term seems no longer used so they now say T2.