Very high blood pressure--nervous to take more meds

@cindiwass Welcome to connect . I have high blood pressure and am 79 .My Dr put me on Latanaprest which controls it. I also would,not want to take another one but ask your Dr if just increasing the dosage of what your on now Talk to him of your concerns and see what he suggest

I understand your fears. I too have trouble taking medications. But I think it is more important to control your blood pressure than to fear more meds. My husband takes 3 different blood pressure pills. If you experience a side effect, you and your doctor just have to deal with it and go on. I had an allergic reaction to lisinipril which sent me to the ER. But there are a lot of other drugs that can be prescribed for high blood pressure. I hope you can overcome your fear and get on with handling your high blood pressure.

Thanks to both. My doctor is a bit of a control freak, I like him but! -- he insists on Amlodipine for my next med regardless of side effects, told me to deal with it. He implied if I don't follow his directions I should find another doctor. Maybe I will. He prescribed 2.5mg Amlodipine, he said that's what they give to babies. I've just read about so many bad side effects to this drug. Just not sure yet what to do.

Hi Cindi -
I thought I would let you know - my husband uses amlodipine 5mg, and has for a number of years, without any side effects. It keeps his blood pressure in an acceptable range, which is very important because he has diabetes and a family history of heart disease.

Every drug (even Tylenol and aspirin) have side effects, we just need to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. So think about the risks of uncontrolled high blood pressure - heart disease, stroke, kidney failure... If your blood pressure is very high, and stays that way for a long time, the chance of having one or all of these increases, even more if you have other risk factors like diabetes.

Here is a report about the most common side effects - at 10mg/day, 4X your dose - published in August 2021. "Researchers observed edema, dizziness, flushing, and palpitations in controlled clinical trials in a dose-dependent manner. For example, at a dose of 10 mg, the incidence of edema, dizziness, flushing, and palpitations was 10.8%, 3.4%, 2.6%, and 4.5%, respectively. In addition, the incidence of headaches, fatigue, nausea, and abdominal pain was 7.3%, 4.5%, 2.9%, and 1.6%, respectively." (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519508/) That means the more serious side effects occur LESS than 1% of the time at 10mg/day, less at lower doses.

What side effects particularly concern you? What other measures - including diet, exercise and weight loss - have you tried to lower your blood pressure? Do you think you would be willing to try the medication for a week and see how it goes?

Sue

@cindiwass Hi you have the right to find another Dr.especially since he talks like that It's your body remember Your paying him his salary so he should remember this and not act like a jersey in my estimation

I know. I'm not ready to find another Dr yet. The time may come. I kind of let him have it yesterday because I told him he's not going to threaten or force me. He became a little more tactful. I wonder how he treats his wife. I took my first Amlodipine today and read it takes a few weeks to see results. Oh well.

Hi. Thanks. I am concerned about edema and lightheadedness but I did finally start taking it today.

Hi! I have had HTN for 12 years. I am now on three meds, lisinopril (10mg, down from 30mg), metoprolol, 75 mg, and most recently, amlodipine 5mg (up from 2.5mg). I, too was concerned about adding another drug. They warned me that I might see swelling in my ankles, which has happened only once in the 5 weeks since the increase to 5mg. It may have been a fluke, like I had something salty and did not realize it. So, other than that, I have had no side effects from the amlodipine, and my blood pressure is much better! I would say give it a try.

And how is it going? is your blood pressure bettter? It has helped me a lot.

I have been on Norvasc (Name) brand Amlodipine since 1992, making it going on 30 years now. In 2012 they said I had to go to Generic Amlodipine, so I went on it and in about 6 days I could hardly walk, I am 81. So much pain in my pelvic clear down to my knees, so I went to The University Hospital in Iowa City to try different Generic BP Meds. Every single one causes that Adverse effect within 6 or 7 days of taking them, so the Professor said it was the "filler" in the Generic causing Myalgia and if I stayed on the drug it would become a permanent disability. Note, in between every med they tried on me, they had me go back on the Norvasc Name brand for 3 days and the pain went away. So 'that was reported to the FDA by the Professor and to my RX plan. That was in 2012 and I am still on Norvasc Name brand and my insurance is still covering it. My dose is 10 mg once every morning. I have had no issues with side effects with the Name Brand. But a few weeks ago my doc put me on Metoprolol Succinate ER (Lo Pressor) to take with the Norvasc. 2 weeks into it I developed severe diarrhea and my hand swelled up and hurt bad. Turned out that it was an Interaction with my Synthroid, thyroid meds. I have no glands, surgically removed in 1986 left side and 1987 right side, due to cancer. So I had to gradually go off the Metoprolol, took only 3 days because my dose was low. The diarrhea stopped in 24 hrs after taking the half dose, the swelling in my hand mostly cleared then also, but took another 3 days to completely stop the pain in my hand. So it is important to always double check for interactions with not only medications but 'with health issues and medications. My problem now is since I only have ONE kidney and it is a partial, and also on Synthroid, so I have to take a Channel Blocker BP. Metoprolol is a Beta Blocker which interacted with my Synthroid but not with my kidney, except I became dehydrated rapidly with the diarrhea, which puts my CKD in serious danger. I am not sure either my PCP or my Nephrologist will find another BP med I can take. Currently my BP is 190/90. Some days it goes down but never lower then 160/84.