Blood pressure pill question!

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bigmangettingsmall
bigmangettingsmall Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Amlodipine long term side effects.?
I have been taking this drug for high blood pressure for 6 months now and am now starting to notice side effects such as:
Peeing more at night
Swelling in feet
Cough
Sex drive down
Blood pressure getting higher
Pain in head upon standing
Chest pain
Sweating more
More pimples

So I went online to see if this has happened to anyone else and I found it has happened to more people then I thought. I got blood work done and nothing wrong with kidneys liver and no diabetes

I was wondering what I should do my Dr won t change meds and has anyone here on this med experience any of these side effects after a few months(which is when they usually start)

Thanks for any and all help.

Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,979 Member
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    bigmangettingsmall wrote: »
    Amlodipine long term side effects.?
    I have been taking this drug for high blood pressure for 6 months now and am now starting to notice side effects such as:
    Peeing more at night
    Swelling in feet
    Cough
    Sex drive down
    Blood pressure getting higher
    Pain in head upon standing
    Chest pain
    Sweating more
    More pimples



    have you seen your doctor since your blood pressure started getting higher and discussed that issue with him or her? I mean, why is he or she keeping you on a blood pressure med that's not controlling your blood pressure?
  • bigmangettingsmall
    bigmangettingsmall Posts: 34 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »

    bigmangettingsmall wrote: »
    Amlodipine long term side effects.?
    I have been taking this drug for high blood pressure for 6 months now and am now starting to notice side effects such as:
    Peeing more at night
    Swelling in feet
    Cough
    Sex drive down
    Blood pressure getting higher
    Pain in head upon standing
    Chest pain
    Sweating more
    More pimples



    have you seen your doctor since your blood pressure started getting higher and discussed that issue with him or her? I mean, why is he or she keeping you on a blood pressure med that's not controlling your blood pressure?

    Yes I've seen him twice he wants to up the dose of this one not change them. I can't do that.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,979 Member
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    Do you have an option of seeing a different doctor who might be more open to trying a different medication? (BTW, is this the first blood pressure med your doctor has put you on, or is the problem that you've already gone through a bunch of meds that weren't helpful/caused intolerable side effects, and you're now out of options?)

    Also, have you tried to reduce your blood pressure through weight loss, exercise, lowering sodium in your diet, and increasing potassium, calcium, and magnesium? (I am not suggesting you do this instead of the meds since you're already on them, but in addition to the meds. If successful, your doctor might reduce or eliminate the meds.)
  • bigmangettingsmall
    bigmangettingsmall Posts: 34 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Do you have an option of seeing a different doctor who might be more open to trying a different medication? (BTW, is this the first blood pressure med your doctor has put you on, or is the problem that you've already gone through a bunch of meds that weren't helpful/caused intolerable side effects, and you're now out of options?)

    Also, have you tried to reduce your blood pressure through weight loss, exercise, lowering sodium in your diet, and increasing potassium, calcium, and magnesium? (I am not suggesting you do this instead of the meds since you're already on them, but in addition to the meds. If successful, your doctor might reduce or eliminate the meds.)

    This is the only med I have taken for it. I'm starting to eat better I can not get close to the recommended dose of potassium or calcium and never looked into magnesium I will look into that. About another dr I tried a few but none are taking new patients at the moment.
  • VividDawn
    VividDawn Posts: 111 Member
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    Lowering your sodium intake to 1500-2000mg daily helps with lowering blood pressure. Also, stay WELL hydrated.
    Swelling of your lower extremities is usually a sign of water retention, which can be by having too much sodium, and/or your heart not working properly.

    I'm on the low sodium, 6+ glasses of fluid per day, and Metoprolol 12mg in the morning. I get dizzy getting up too fast or moving around too much, so it's working! LOL
    (I'm taking it really for keeping my heart beat regulated. My BP is already naturally low at 100/60)
  • bigmangettingsmall
    bigmangettingsmall Posts: 34 Member
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    Vivy913 wrote: »
    Lowering your sodium intake to 1500-2000mg daily helps with lowering blood pressure. Also, stay WELL hydrated.
    Swelling of your lower extremities is usually a sign of water retention, which can be by having too much sodium, and/or your heart not working properly.

    I'm on the low sodium, 6+ glasses of fluid per day, and Metoprolol 12mg in the morning. I get dizzy getting up too fast or moving around too much, so it's working! LOL
    (I'm taking it really for keeping my heart beat regulated. My BP is already naturally low at 100/60)

    My sodium is high I think over 4000mg and I drink 3 liters of water daily. I will start reducing my salt tomorrow. I also heard that if you do low salt and high fluid it might throw off your electrolytes. Thx
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
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    I got a blood pressure reader cuff from walmart for about $35. Measuring in the morning and at night is a constant reminder to follow doctors orders. Skim milk and bananas have potassium. Start logging every bite you take. My diary is open. I track sodium.
  • bigmangettingsmall
    bigmangettingsmall Posts: 34 Member
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    JanetYellen wrote: »
    I got a blood pressure reader cuff from walmart for about $35. Measuring in the morning and at night is a constant reminder to follow doctors orders. Skim milk and bananas have potassium. Start logging every bite you take. My diary is open. I track sodium.

    I have 2 blood pressure machines they were on such a good sale I bought 2. I am obsessed with it I take mine 6 times a day.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    bigmangettingsmall wrote: »

    My sodium is high I think over 4000mg and I drink 3 liters of water daily. I will start reducing my salt tomorrow. I also heard that if you do low salt and high fluid it might throw off your electrolytes. Thx

    ideally you should be around 2000mg a day at the most....lower (around 1500 a day) if you have a problem with high blood pressure. For your electrolytes to be "thrown off" by going low salt you'd have to be doing some heavy duty exercise and dumping all the sodium you DO get through your sweating. Keep in mind that you will generally get all the sodium you need just through eating regular old foods (it's in your vegetables and everything) and not adding any salt at all. Stay above at least 500mg a day and you're probably good to go. Now, if you start doing hours of hardcore cardio every day and have a high sweat rate, that'll change. I actually have to hit at least 3000mg a day to stay balanced because of how much running I do. Before I figured out how much I was sweating out in an average run, I was doing low sodium (under 500mg a day)/high potassium and couldn't understand why i felt like such crap and my BP was going nuts. Starting salting everything, particularly on long run days and all of a sudden everything was back to normal within a few days after nearly a year feeling awful without any ideas on why from the medical community
  • VividDawn
    VividDawn Posts: 111 Member
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    bigmangettingsmall wrote: »
    Vivy913 wrote: »
    Lowering your sodium intake to 1500-2000mg daily helps with lowering blood pressure. Also, stay WELL hydrated.
    Swelling of your lower extremities is usually a sign of water retention, which can be by having too much sodium, and/or your heart not working properly.

    I'm on the low sodium, 6+ glasses of fluid per day, and Metoprolol 12mg in the morning. I get dizzy getting up too fast or moving around too much, so it's working! LOL
    (I'm taking it really for keeping my heart beat regulated. My BP is already naturally low at 100/60)

    My sodium is high I think over 4000mg and I drink 3 liters of water daily. I will start reducing my salt tomorrow. I also heard that if you do low salt and high fluid it might throw off your electrolytes. Thx

    Yes if you're drinking a lot of water, you would need to get enough sodium to be stable.
    Really, the best thing to do is ask your doctor what to do for YOUR situation.
    My reason for BP medication is complicated, not a typical case like most people. I was just trying to give general advice :)
  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
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    My BP was high, so I went on my weight loss journey (low sodium). I was able to control my BP for almost two years.

    Now, it spiked again. Grrr. I have not changed anything, yet my BP went up. So, my Dr put me on 50mg of Losartan. It worked for a month and then, back up went my BP.

    I had blood work done. My potassium was slightly low. Magnesium was normal. So, no answers as to why it went up. I am now on 100mg. I am also waiting for an endoscopy for a suspected ulcer.

    Today, I was a bit elevated again. I did a workout, and my BP dropped back in to a normal range.

    I hope that you (and I) can get the BP under control.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Try using magnesium and potassium supplements. These do often help bring down blood pressure. It certainly worked for me.

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