New BP medication...

Colleen

Senior Member
Location
Pennsylvania
About 3 months ago, my doctor took me off of amlodipine (norvasc) and put me on 10mg. lisinopril. I've been having some side effects with lisinopril and intend to talk to him at my next appointment, which is in 2 weeks. What concerns me most is my BP is higher now than when I was taking amlodipine. It's been staying around 154/94. I also take atenolol 2x a day.

Has anyone else had any adverse effects with lisinopril?
 

Quite a long time ago I tried Lisinoprill, twice, a month each time, and the main side effect I had both times was that it made me tremendously irritable & ready to fly off the handle when I'd been calm & easy going before. Was working part time & when I chewed out a younger employee to tears over a minor thing I realized it was time to stop taking it. Then was on moexipril for a long time till the supply dried up. Using Benazepril now, a little tired at first.
 
Quite a long time ago I tried Lisinoprill, twice, a month each time, and the main side effect I had both times was that it made me tremendously irritable & ready to fly off the handle when I'd been calm & easy going before. Was working part time & when I chewed out a younger employee to tears over a minor thing I realized it was time to stop taking it. Then was on moexipril for a long time till the supply dried up. Using Benazepril now, a little tired at first.

My wife has been taking Lisinopril for the past couple of years, and it is keeping her BP pretty much normal....But, I can attest to the "flying off the handle"....I spend a fair amount of time in my workshop, so as to avoid "conflicts".
 

I've been taking lisinopril and atenolol for many years with no adverse reaction. My dosage was decreased a few years ago after I lost 20 lbs.
My BP is now in the range of 120/80, sometimes lower. Most recent dr appt (3wks ago) it was 118/73.
 
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I've been taking Lisinopril for several years now with no adverse effects. I recall that when I first started it made me dizzy, but that only lasted a few days.
 
Thanks everyone. My side effects have been: a bad headache about 2 hours after I take it, dizziness or light headedness, heart palpitations, cough, and tiredness. It also doesn't seem to be keeping my BP down like amlodipine did. We'll see what he says in a couple weeks.
 
On another health group others reported s/e with Lisinopril and did get off it. Personally I do well enough on 25mg Atenolol which I take in AM, 5mg Amlodipine in evening and usually diuretic in AM but taking less. On my own I've added Mukta Vati which is Auyrevedic and I get it on Amazon and it comes from India,,,a little added protection. Also on my own I take 1 Hawthorne Extract tablet daily. Everything I do on my own helps keep my BP in good place.

I'm a happy girl when at doctor's office BP comes in at 130/80 at first attempt. BP fluctuates all the time.
 
On another health group others reported s/e with Lisinopril and did get off it. Personally I do well enough on 25mg Atenolol which I take in AM, 5mg Amlodipine in evening and usually diuretic in AM but taking less. On my own I've added Mukta Vati which is Auyrevedic and I get it on Amazon and it comes from India,,,a little added protection. Also on my own I take 1 Hawthorne Extract tablet daily. Everything I do on my own helps keep my BP in good place.

I'm a happy girl when at doctor's office BP comes in at 130/80 at first attempt. BP fluctuates all the time.

I've gone off Lisinopril for reasons stated above, but mostly, I've been keeping track of my BP and it isn't good.

Originally, I was taking Atenolol 50mg. twice daily...one in the morning and one in the afternoon around 3PM. Then I took amlodipine 5 mg. just before I go to bed. My BP has been managed and usually averaged 140/80...sometimes lower.

Then, 3 months ago, he took amlodipine away and prescribed lisinopril 10mg. Besides the side effects of lisinopril, my BP has shot up to 166/106!! Scared me to death!! It's never been that high. I did some reading about lisinopril increasing BP in some people and I believe that's the case with me.

I'm back on my amlodipine at night and I'm hoping it will bring it back down. I've also decided not to wait until my appointment in 2 weeks and I'm calling the office tomorrow.
 
Here's an update on my BP situation.

I have been taking my amlodipine 5 mg. and ditched the lisinopril about 2 weeks ago. I feel so much better. We've been taking my BP every day and it has leveled back down to "normal" with the amlodipine. It was 122/76 yesterday and I had a doctor's appointment today and it was 130/80...which isn't bad when you have the "white coat syndrome"...haha.

Anyway, I told the doctor that I went back on amlodipine and he said that was fine so he gave me a new Rx. He also marked my chart that I was "allergic" to lisinopril.

I'm back on track and feeling so much better. :)
 
Call me crazy (many have) but I won't take any drugs except for when I have an infection (short term use). My doctor has been after me to take BP medicine for years and I have refused. They usually take my readings with a machine and one day my reading with the machine was 160/98. My doctor at the end of the appt asked another nurse to take my reading again and she used the manual reader and it was 132/79. I told her that her reading was wrong. She told me, and I was shocked, that the manual reading was correct and that they calibrate the machine reading 20 points higher. And, I did notice that when the machine tightens the 'belt' around my arm that it squeezes it to the point of pain but the manual reading does not. I bet that extra tight squeeze makes the blood flow faster (thus the higher readings). I just don't believe those machine readings anymore. When you have your readings done ask for the machine AND the manual reader and make your own opinion. I've been suspicious ever since.
 
Call me crazy (many have) but I won't take any drugs except for when I have an infection (short term use). My doctor has been after me to take BP medicine for years and I have refused. They usually take my readings with a machine and one day my reading with the machine was 160/98. My doctor at the end of the appt asked another nurse to take my reading again and she used the manual reader and it was 132/79. I told her that her reading was wrong. She told me, and I was shocked, that the manual reading was correct and that they calibrate the machine reading 20 points higher. And, I did notice that when the machine tightens the 'belt' around my arm that it squeezes it to the point of pain but the manual reading does not. I bet that extra tight squeeze makes the blood flow faster (thus the higher readings). I just don't believe those machine readings anymore. When you have your readings done ask for the machine AND the manual reader and make your own opinion. I've been suspicious ever since.

Interesting, I know how often my arm "Hurts" when they use a tighter position. I don't put anything past the medical industry to get people on their drugs.

May I share your comments with another group I'm a member of, no names of course. This is always a topic on the groups.
 
Call me crazy (many have) but I won't take any drugs except for when I have an infection (short term use). My doctor has been after me to take BP medicine for years and I have refused. They usually take my readings with a machine and one day my reading with the machine was 160/98. My doctor at the end of the appt asked another nurse to take my reading again and she used the manual reader and it was 132/79. I told her that her reading was wrong. She told me, and I was shocked, that the manual reading was correct and that they calibrate the machine reading 20 points higher. And, I did notice that when the machine tightens the 'belt' around my arm that it squeezes it to the point of pain but the manual reading does not. I bet that extra tight squeeze makes the blood flow faster (thus the higher readings). I just don't believe those machine readings anymore. When you have your readings done ask for the machine AND the manual reader and make your own opinion. I've been suspicious ever since.

Nice to read a post from someone who can think for themselves. I've experienced the same.
 
About 3 months ago, my doctor took me off of amlodipine (norvasc) and put me on 10mg. lisinopril. I've been having some side effects with lisinopril and intend to talk to him at my next appointment, which is in 2 weeks. What concerns me most is my BP is higher now than when I was taking amlodipine. It's been staying around 154/94. I also take atenolol 2x a day.

Has anyone else had any adverse effects with lisinopril?

Did your doctor give you a reason for changing your medication? (assuming you asked why). I don't take medications; just insulin, but I've experienced the same thing - doctor suggesting a change in medication when I've been doing fine on the old one. And, my mother's doctor changed her BP medication, even though she was doing fine on her old one. She had several bad side effects with the new one & I had to take her to the ER three times. She was one of those "He's the doctor & he knows what's best" patients, so talking to her didn't help.

At my recent Dr. visit (only because they won't refill insulin Rx without a visit), my doctor tried to sell me on a new inhaled insulin. I had heard about it, but it's still in the "experimental" stages. Coincidentally, when I was signing out after the visit, a Drug Co. Rep. (wearing the name tag: "Merck") was at the counter, trying to pick up the receptionist.

Before a drug company can profit on a new drug, they have to recoup the millions of $$$$ they spent on research, testing, studies, marketing, advertising. They do that by visiting doctors & offering them HUGE perks to prescribe the new medication.

If you were doing OK on your usual medication, ask your doctor WHY he/she wants to change it, & I suggest you don't accept a B.S. answer, like, "It's better for you."

Medical practice is more about business than patient care.
 
May I share your comments with another group I'm a member of, no names of course. This is always a topic on the groups.

Of course you can. I am very interested, though, to find out if my experience with the machine and manual readers can be replicated by others and what their readings were on both.

I stopped going to that doctor about a year ago and haven't had any BP readings since then.

He was always pressuring me to have ear surgeries even though I kept telling him to just clean my ears the best he could. I am deaf on one ear, nothing will help me there. My other ear is my only hearing even though it's almost deaf. I've had chronic masteoditis since age 5. He wanted to put in a cochlear implant even though he told me that there was a 50/50 chance that I could lose all of my hearing and even if it helped my hearing would only improve ''some''. I didn't think surgery at my age (76) was worth the risk for just ''some'' improvement. I really think his only consideration was the money he would make. He would have to do surgery to remove tissue to make room for the implant, I would be completely deaf for six months while healing, and then he would insert the implant. I suppose Medicare and my supplement would cover the cost, but I've had four surgeries on my ears starting at age 5 and I don't want any more surgeries or having to fight with a doctor who refuses to accept my decisions for my body.
 
Of course you can. I am very interested, though, to find out if my experience with the machine and manual readers can be replicated by others and what their readings were on both.

I stopped going to that doctor about a year ago and haven't had any BP readings since then.

He was always pressuring me to have ear surgeries even though I kept telling him to just clean my ears the best he could. I am deaf on one ear, nothing will help me there. My other ear is my only hearing even though it's almost deaf. I've had chronic masteoditis since age 5. He wanted to put in a cochlear implant even though he told me that there was a 50/50 chance that I could lose all of my hearing and even if it helped my hearing would only improve ''some''. I didn't think surgery at my age (76) was worth the risk for just ''some'' improvement. I really think his only consideration was the money he would make. He would have to do surgery to remove tissue to make room for the implant, I would be completely deaf for six months while healing, and then he would insert the implant. I suppose Medicare and my supplement would cover the cost, but I've had four surgeries on my ears starting at age 5 and I don't want any more surgeries or having to fight with a doctor who refuses to accept my decisions for my body.

Thanks and I think I will post to get some comments. Most on the group take BP drugs.

On the hearing loss and CI, my daughter went thru SHL maybe 15 yrs ago and believe from too many pharma drugs prescribed to her and a lousy MD who is known to be on the take by pharma. She had no clue when she got involved with him..and one drug that really messed her up was Vicodin. Her CI has enabled her to hear her children and raise them, very distressing time in her life. But at this point and she's 55, she won't touch pharma drugs if she can prevent it.
 
Did your doctor give you a reason for changing your medication? (assuming you asked why). I don't take medications; just insulin, but I've experienced the same thing - doctor suggesting a change in medication when I've been doing fine on the old one. And, my mother's doctor changed her BP medication, even though she was doing fine on her old one. She had several bad side effects with the new one & I had to take her to the ER three times. She was one of those "He's the doctor & he knows what's best" patients, so talking to her didn't help.

At my recent Dr. visit (only because they won't refill insulin Rx without a visit), my doctor tried to sell me on a new inhaled insulin. I had heard about it, but it's still in the "experimental" stages. Coincidentally, when I was signing out after the visit, a Drug Co. Rep. (wearing the name tag: "Merck") was at the counter, trying to pick up the receptionist.

Before a drug company can profit on a new drug, they have to recoup the millions of $$$$ they spent on research, testing, studies, marketing, advertising. They do that by visiting doctors & offering them HUGE perks to prescribe the new medication.

If you were doing OK on your usual medication, ask your doctor WHY he/she wants to change it, & I suggest you don't accept a B.S. answer, like, "It's better for you."

Medical practice is more about business than patient care.

Yes...I asked and he said he wanted me to be on an ACE inhibitor for more protection against heart failure and stroke. My insurance doesn't pay for my BP meds because I never spend enough (thank God) to fulfill my deductible. A 90 day supply is about $9 for each BP med.
 
I should be interested in knowing why you were taken off the Amlodipine. I'm taking it and not experiencing any side-effects. Learning about other people's experiences is always a help. It is a fact that drug companies put pressure on doctors to prescribe their drugs, and this means that you can't be sure they are doing what is best for you.
 
I should be interested in knowing why you were taken off the Amlodipine. I'm taking it and not experiencing any side-effects. Learning about other people's experiences is always a help. It is a fact that drug companies put pressure on doctors to prescribe their drugs, and this means that you can't be sure they are doing what is best for you.

He said Lisinopril was better for my heart and occasionally Amlodipine would cause my left foot and ankle to swell. That was in the summer when our temps get past 100*. That meant I needed to drink more water, and I did, and I'd elevate my foot for a while and it would go down. I never had any other effects from Amlodipine and my BP was great. We have our own machine (Omron) with an automatic inflatable cuff and it gave a very accurate reading. I've had it check a couple times at the doctor's office with both their mercury machine and auto cuff one and they are within 3-5 points of each other. He said his mother had taken Lisinopril for 30 years and never had a problem. He was surprised I had such awful side effects with it but didn't object when I told him I'd gone back on Amlodipine. He said he could give me something else, but I refused. I feel good and my BP is good so that's all that matters, right? I don't go to the doctor very often...maybe 2 times a year...and I don't have any other issues. I'm very fortunate.
 


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