Hello,new here...45yo f,never been obese,non smoker non diabetic but have high bp likely caused by a former drinking habit,sober since 6.17.2019...for a while bp was kept down with 12.5mg HCTZ alone,recently started going up again(possibly due to taking ibuprofen 400mg at night for a month or so,which I've since stopped).Yesterday at dr's my bp was 160/113, was prescribed carvediol 6.26mg in addition to the hctz,wasn't told much about the drug other than it may lower my heart rate,but after researching it online and seeing that a "very common" side effect is heart failure(which I don't get,as the drug is actually used to TREAT hf in higher doses??)I'm more than a bit scared to try it. I'm in the US,uninsured,ineligible for Medicaid and reliant on the local county system,so "switching doctors" is unfortunately no option.And both Amlodipine and Lisinopril were ineffective alone and both caused hair loss,and I'm trying to hold on to a bit of my dignity as well as my health.(BP readings at home today are between 142/100 and 134/89.) Does anyone have experience with this drug?Is the side effect of hf because so many patients taking it already have pre-existing hf,or can it cause hf?Would appreciate any answers and info...thanks.
my brother has been on carvedelol 12.5 for hypertension and cogenital in the last 21 years. he is now 42 years and very strong.
Beta blockers as a class are widely prescribed for blood pressure and some other conditions, and I am not aware that they cause heart failure, you may be right about the association with preexisting conditions. If you're paying for drugs out of pocket there might be cheaper beta blockers available, I use atenolol which is generic and appropriate for BP. Amlodipine generates a lot of side-effect complaints and I don't recommend it, Lisinopril generates a few complaints, and again, you might try other ACE/ARB generics, I use olmesartan (generic for Benicar), and I think the list price even for the generic is still high but you might get (much) better prices with one of the discount cards.
Carvedilol is $4 at Walmart,so the price isn't an issue,only the long list of side effects listed online - here is one site where cardiac failure is listed as a side effect among 1-10% of patients(again I wonder if this is because it is prescribed to many with pre existing heart failure?): https://www.drugs.com/sfx/carvedilol-side-effects.html
You have to scroll down to 'for healthcare professionals' on that link,forgot to mention.
It's also listed as a side effect on this site: https://patient.info/medicine/carvedilol-tablets
Yes, I also looked at RxList for both Carvedilol and Atenolol - and actually atenolol has a much worse warning on heart failure! Which makes me glad I'm taking just 1/4 of a normal minimal dose, which seems more than sufficient for me. Even half the normal minimal dose made me feel a bit like a zombie. I don't know the details, but there are a lot of beta blockers prescribed, and unless you've already had serious heart problems I'm going to guess that bad reactions to normal dosages are pretty rare.
how much benicar and atenolol you taking?
40mg olmesartan (aka Benicar), 12.5mg atenolol.
For a long time I took just 20mg olmesartan, reading the literature suggested it wouldn't make much difference, but I started taking the 40mg dose and it did seem to make a difference!
i am taking 12 mg carvedilol per day and 10 mg lisinopril. lately having spurts of 135 /95 so doc wants me to monitor and if it stays up over 90 wants me on water pill HZTC 25 mg also. i am worried about that one.
The three-pill combination is pretty common.
do you have experience with it and anything to watch for re side effects?
One side-effect can be higher levels of uric acid, so this should be tested for at least annually. There are other diuretics that are supposed to be better on this, if necessary. Generally the only direct side-effect is obvious, so take the pill in the morning rather than before bed, so you don't have to get up in the middle of the night to side-effect!
lol sounds like you have experience!
Well yes, but it says this right in the instructions, if you read them.