Amlodipine ... the unlikely culprit....

Treatment and medication
1

This forum is a lifeline to those who fall victim to the side effects of Amlodipine ... never had there been a BP medication with such varied pain and stress ... to the majority with no issues.. they are lucky .. or are they ... ?

I am 50 male and have the same experience of taking Am for 3 yrs and gone there and been back ... my issues have been totally unbearable but I do not suffer from leg swells or rash.. mainly Fatigue .. neck and shoulder weakness and discomfort.. lack of mood and enthusiasm... and so much more ..

I have not been lucky as the first 6 mths was no issue .. and then things went South...saw several doctors to no avail ... the story is similar to many here ...

I think that for a fact .. most people suffer from Am side effects.. but because of the way they are presented at the onset .. most people attribute to other age or illness .. some stop the medication by chance switching to other bp meds .. LUCKY PEOPLE...the others go thru the nightmare so painters in these posts ..

For most doctors .. seeing patients with side effects all day .. understand the Am side effects is difficult mainly because THEY ARE REAL VARIED AND SEEMINGLY NO RELATION AT ALL ....

I have the symptoms reversing and recede since I stopped 6 weeks on... they are still there but less frequent and less intense and that's all that matters ..

All of us in this forum are probably the lucky ones .. surely there are the thousand out there in misery that must be directed to understand this condition better ... it took me 3 miserable years .. this journey ..

2

The problem is amlodipine is good at doing its job and many doctors are willing to 'overlook' the side effects in return for this. Secondary for some, is it can take quite some time for the side effects to kick in, so people don't associate it with the problems.

3

You are correct in saying that this forum is a lifeline for many, when you suffer with side effects on this drug, you need to know you are not alone. I was told many times by doctors that they had never heard of people suffering the same effects and that it couldn't be the drug because I took them for a year with no problems. But the problems can start at any time, no matter how long you have been on them. I too went from bad to worse over the course of 5 years. Abject misery. All attributed to other things. More drugs to counteract the side effects, which caused more problems.

RHGB is correct in saying that amlodipine does work in regards to bringing down BP and I think this is why a lot of GPs don't want to take people off them. Whether they are aware of the misery they can cause for a lot of people and choose to ignore it, I don't know.