Amlodipine 5mg

Treatment and medication
1

Hi, I have been taking Amlodipine 5mg for about 6 months now and was prescribed this because my BP was over 180/90 on my first visit to my new GP and about 150-160/120 on other visits.  I am 56 years old and have felt the worse I have felt my whole life, I get dizzy spells, heart palpations, hot sweats, tremors and lots of aches and pains in all my muscles, I have also gained almost 1 stone in this time and look and feel awful but I never once put it down to the medication I was taking!!!  It was only because a friend of mine asked on a social network who was taking BP tablets and I replied that I was and what I was on, she then said that this drug had horrible side effects and that I should look them up on the web and I found this group and cannot believe that all the symptoms most people have/are suffering are exactly the same as mine!!

I am also taking 10mg of Ezetrol for High Cholesterol.  I did not take my Amlodipine yesterday but I have now read that you can get withdrawal symptoms and now dont know what to do for the best, I have never been checked since given the medication so apart from taking my own reading with my own BP machine I dont really know if they work or not.  My last reading was 139/80.  Could anyone advise if I should maybe take one every other day and then one every two days until the packet is finished or should I just stop and make an appointment with my doc to say I do not want to be on them anymore as I have terrible side effects.... someone HELP pleeeeeeeeeease!!

 

2

Looks like you need to see your doctor asap!  I stopped taking Amlopidine but had only been taking them for three weeks.  No side effects.  You could go and ask your pharmacist - they know a lot more about drugs, often, than the doctors who prescribe them.  A BP of 139/80 is not bad.  But clearly, you need to talk this through with your doctor.

3

Hello Marina. If you look on this website you will read reams and reams of posts from people myself included talking about Amlodipine and it's side effects. My advice would be not to take one every other day but speak to your GP. They may change your medication. I did and had my doseage reduced and Losartan added. I put on weight but am now losing it again. Ideally it would be better to be able not to take anything and make lifestyle changes. One off BP readings are inaccurate as fat as I'm concerned. I asked for a 24 hour monitoring BP machine which identified that to some extent I had white coat syndrome. NICE guidelines now stipulate this should be done first BEFORE medication is commenced.

So go back to your GP

4

Thank you for your replies much appreciated, my doc did tell me to buy a home monitor and I had to take readings every day for two weeks and it never went above 150/90 to 100 but he still said that I had high BP!!!  You just trust what the doctors tell you and thats exactly what I did but alas I cannot put up with the nasty side effects anymore as I long for a much needed proper 7 hour sleep, I do not sleep at all well and always wake again after I have fallen asleep, not good when you have to be up at 6.00am and work until 5.30pm, I just want to feel near normal again without these nasty side effects.

I will try and get an appt with the doc as soon as I can (this will normally be 2/3 week wait)... NHS ay lol.

Thanks again.

Marina

5

Can anyone suggest an alternative that does not give you such nasty side effects?  I may go down the eating healthy and exercise route see if that makes a difference.

6

Accepted belief is that eating healthily eg losing weight and exercise will lower BP but it has to be continued to make an impact. The alternative is a different drug and your GP can advise

7

Marina,  My wife was prescribed the medication  for two yeears until I changed my doctor to one who favoured the natural healing methods. I had been taking sleeping tablets and sedatives for forty years and was well addicted. With my doctors help and advice I stopped overnight and feel as if I have been reborn.

My dear wife had been taking amlopidine for two years and was suffering so badly from side effects. She could not sleep had a rasping cough, swollen joints and could do little other than sit all day. She had put on a lot of weight and her once happy and loving ways had left her.

After I read about these side effects on this site she decided to stop taking the drug and with my support she gradually became more active, mainly walking which for an older person is one of the best medicines. She changed her diet and cut out all salt. We monitor her BP twice a day which is usually around high normal. She is loosing about 2lbs a week. I would STRESS that although my wife stubbornly refuses to see her doctor, anyone who choose to go this route should. Dont forget to monitor twice a day. 

The results were apparent within hours and by the third day she was feeling much better.   

         

8

Incidentally, I found in giving up sleepers and sedatives it was useful to sit and meditate on a daily bassis. You may like to buy a little book called "Mindfullness, Plain and Simple" This explains "Mindfullness" which is much in fasion at the moment.  

I wish you happiness and good health.

  

9

Marina - I joined a gym and eat very healthily.  I'm feeling great!  You won't know till you try it!

10

Marina, it can help if we cut salt out of our diets, have daily exercise (brisk walking for half an hour), keep weight under control and try and reduce stress in our lives.  However, if these simple precautions fail to reduce your blood pressure - and your GP is right, "150/90 to 100" is high by the way, especially the diastolic (lower) reading - then medication is advisable.

There are plenty of alternative medicines to try - many people don't suffer side effects, but I guess those of us who feel the need to find our way to this site are particularly sensitive.  I've come off several meds because of unwanted side effects - am now on Losartan Potassium which would be perfect but for a bit of an adverse bowel reaction.  My pharmacist has told me that this is the medicine that least of his customers complain about.  

11

I stopped taking the drug after about 5 years because I suffered from arrhythmia in the early mornings and one morning fainted. I read up on side effects on various web sites and also read the leaflet wiht the tablets. Arrhythmia was a known side effect. I stopped taking it immediately and told my GP why. She did not argue. I have had no adverse effects from stopping. The arrhythmia has stopped completely. Blood pressure this morning was 105/54 with a pulse rate of 53 which is now about normal for me.

Note also that I have for the last two months been taking a suppliment from Purmedica called Systolex which I think has contributed to a signifigant reduction in blood pressure - but its too early to be sure.

12

Hello Marina.

Below is what I posted on my Facebook page this morning, and hopefully it will help you. Just before that, I wish you to understand that I have studied blood preesure OUTSIDE of how doctors are trained. This has led to a more holistic and open approach, as I believe the medical profession do not have all the answers, and the answers they have are created from a myopic view that pushes unessessary drugs onto people and generates huge income for drug companies.

Here's the post from this morning.....

IMPORTANT INFO FOR BLOOD PRESSURE. I stopped my blood pressure meds a month ago now, because the medical associations of the UK and USA have RAISED the minimum level for treatment, as in those they treated before at lower levels showed no benefits from drug therapy.......

The level now for 50 plus age group, is 150/90 as the normal level.

There is a thing called "white coat syndrome" where you know you will be having your BP reading done, and it shoots up. Last night I checked mine, and it was funny. Because I know that its only me taking my BP, but white coat is still created smile

When I was on holiday in the Maldives, the Maldives magic, was to relax me far beyond what I have managed before, and an insanely low BP, so stopped meds pronto, and had 2 weeks of total relaxation.....I found out there and then, that my high BP in the past was down to the way I think and am, not clogged arteries, as

the doctor said.

First reading of six was high and notice how it drops, just because my mind accepted that it was going to be okay......., 

174/93....

171/93

167/90..

161/83...

151/80...

141/78 normal, without meds

I also do water therapy....drinking 2 pints of water each morning first thing. You can look that up on Google. Will it work for you? Buy a BP monitor and self heal....as thats what I have done.

Back to now Marina. How do you know what is the right cholestrol for you? The medical profession create a border, thaqt once you cross it, you get medicated, and that is just plain wrong, as it assumes EVERYBODY is the same. A doctor tried to put me on statins once, and I said a flat no, saying, how do you know what level is right for me? He could not answer.

I am taking the time to answer your post at length because this reply could get you off meds completly.

I have 4 tools to measure health. 1. BP arm cuff monitor. 2. PH strips to maintain an alkaline state in my body. 3. A blood glucose monitor. 4. With cholestorol, I simply have one thing to control and forget, and that is my diet and lifestyle. As long as my diet and lifestyle is right, measuring cholestrol is pointless, as my body has the right sustanance and excercise, and thus it will create the right amount of LDL and HDL cholestrol to maintain my health.

It is gaining the courage to stay out of the doctors surgery, take control, measure, have the right food and excercise lifestyle.........and most of all, try and relax as much as possible.

I keep taking my BP until I get the low reading, because of WCS, and that is the BP my body truely has.

 

If you want to touch base with me on facebook, here is the link... 

_____

I wish you well, and hopefully this reply has helped you, and by the way, since coming off BP meds, slowly all my side effects have gobe away... smile

   

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13

Hi Marina,  I can imagine how dreadful you feel as I started getting aches and pains particularly in my hands and wrists.  My doctor changed me onto Ramipril but that made things worse and the pain spread across my shoulders and into my legs.  Went back again and swapped onto Indapamide (diuretic) pending result of blood tests (next appt on Friday).  Pain so bad now have stopped tablets and resorted to Ibuprofen+Codeine until my next visit to doctor.

14

The blood pressure levels where hypertension is diagnosed is 140/90 mmHg. If you are above that, your GP will prescribe something to reduce it or make it less dangerous. Amlodipine is one such drug but it has many side effects, some likely to kill you. They do not necessarily appear immediately: I took it for about 5 years before it became serious. I stopped taking it but some effects were still evident a month later. You should carefully read the leaflet that comes with the drug, with particular reference to the side effects and reasons given for not taking the drug. Your doctor does not know everything about you and has ten minutes only per patient to get it right. Help her! Go back if you get any side effects: your doctor will change or adjust the prescription. The only way the doctor can know the drug has a bad effect is if you tell her. 

It amazes me that doctors prescribe powerful drugs and never seem to check up on the patient.

15

Valuable post. But the NICE hypertension diagnosis and treatment pathway gives a critical level of 140/90. I have it before me.

16

im 58, exercise six days a week- high inpact cardio and heavy weight lifting but still diacovered i had vwry high BP (190/110). The Gp instantly wanted to give me beta blockers, amlodopine, and statins. i took thw amlodiipine for a week or two but at the same time cut out all alcohol and processed food and red meat. i made no other changes than this. i havent taken the amlodipi ne 5mg for over a week now and my BP throughout the day is 110/70. no more dizziness, headaches etc. Small changes and no drugs.