Hello
i have been using this drug for many years without problems, but recently I have begun to experience side effects which include swelling hands, ankles and calves.
aching legs and feeling very tired most of the time.
i am going to ask my GP if I can come off of this drug, I am interested in other forum members experience with this perticular drug.
thanks
Most of the feedback on this forum is very negative about Amlodipine. It's banned in the Netherlands and other European countries, and is licensed only for vetinary use - google it and see for yourself.
One entry on this news group where reported very serious side effects, including peripheral neuropathy. Another person was looking for people to join in a Class Action against the manufacturer.
Take a look at my post. I had been on it long term, then a period of immobility from a knee cartilage op brought on swelling and side effects from which I have not recovered. A key indicator for me was a deep impression around the sock line
Hi pc plod ... its rare to have side effects of that kind after so long have you recently been put on a water tablet or a statin. i had youe symptoms from amlodipine but it was soon after taking them. wise to see your GP and see if you can get to the bottom of it.. Hope you get sorted soon. all the best.....len7
YES, IT IS BANNED IN THE NETHERLANDS AND IN SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES FOR HUMAN USE. Their medical departments had weighed the negative side-effects vs the benefits, and the negative is definitely more.
I had a deepening impression around the sock line. It is still there but it seems to be improving. Anything that makes you swell up and retain fluids cannot be beneficial!
Colibri, keep your socks off as much as you can while the fluid goes, also put your legs up if you can at rest.It will go I assure you, I found a slight bit of self massage helpfull to once a day on the ankle area helps somewhat.
Pc Plod,
After so long this sounds like something else has changed regarding your condtion. Clearly you bp needs attention and control in some form but not, IMO, with that awful drug. May I suggest you be persistant with your gp and they should suggest an alternative.
Hi Everyone
Many thanks for your responses.
I am on atenonol and stations, always had slight swelling but nothing compared to now. Its also affecting my hands. Time to go back to the doctors.
What am I missing here.
I do NOT get it.
How could any human being use this drug for years with NO side effects?
Then they just start years later?
This does not sound right.
That my friend is the very question I will put to my doctor next week....
I cannot speak for others, but in my case it was a period of immobility for a knee op that caused the side effects. Just exploring this it is known that immobility itself causes limb swelling ( eg planes and coach travel). This effect is exacerbated as you age. Then factor in the propensity of amlodipine to cause swelling. It does not stretch the imagination to believe the synergistic effect of both sets of circumstances would cause acute swelling. In my case I was mobile from the knee op but the amlop. Swelling did not go down. The deep depression around my socks told it all. Discontinuing the amlop. Returned me to normal except for the peripheral neuropathy and hot feet when I lay down at night time ( not covered by bedding). This may or may not be connected but emerged at the same time. This heated effect and neuropathy appears permanent one year on. So to hypothesise again a period of less mobility might trigger adverse effects after years of no adverse effects. Maybe if you walked a lot and then for an unrelated reason you walk less, the adverse effects could start. My example was more extreme than this but so too was the adverse effect ( ie taking to a wheel chair and footwear not fitting). A lesser effect might arise if levels of lower limb activity are simply reduced.
Hello Hitch,
As a long time user of drugs (unfortunately and reluctantly) for an anxiety disorder and for blood pressure, I have had to change drugs a number of times when one failed to work as before, of when a particular brand of generic had particularly negative side effects.
For example, Xanax (alprazolam) used to give me a nice euphoria for a while and calm my anxiety quickly. A wonder drug? As I have been changed to two different generics, it now gives me NO pleasant high (in fact, now a headache and unpleasant drowsiness, but it still stops panic attacks).
Also, I used to eat tons of oranges and lemons, and now they're like pouring sulfuric acid into my blood. No change from name-brand to generic here, though.
In answering your question, there are two factors that may be at work:
1. The body changes, adapts, alters its response to the substance. In many cases, like my reaction to citrus, it begins to reject the substance (as if it gets tired of having to deal with it). Ask any allergist - overconsumption of any food runs the risk of becoming allergic to that very food. Also, the age of the consumer has a lot to do with how they react to medicines, as older metabolisms do not process things in the same way as younger bodies.
2. The excipients (extra ingredients) in name-brand drugs and generic forms are often quite different. Most amlodipine (formerly Norvasc by US Pfizer) is generic now, most made by Lupin, a company in India, a country ridden with pollution and disease - I just watched a documentary on PBS that showed how the very water in India often carries an incurable bacteria (NDM-1). Although the main anti-hypertensive ingredient is still there, other different excipients (and water supply) may be used - and they may trigger negative reactions.
I hope this clarifies the issue a bit for you. It is complex and may have various causes, but it is not at all unreasonable that side effects may occur years after starting a medication.
I suppose that I was fortunate in that I began to experience negative side effects (perhaps to the basic amlodipine itself) only a couple of months after starting what I thought was the perfect answer to my blood pressure problems. The side effects apparently "took off" once it had reached a certain level of concentration in my body.
Since it has such a long half-life (persistence in the body), I am still experiencing hot flashes, high BP spikes, racing pulse, etc. - things that never occurred before I took Lupin amlodipine - the Indian generic, which also concerns me.
Update
My doctor has stopped me taking amlodipine.
Its been 3 days with no amlodipine and ankles are normal again, no swelling at all.
Leg pain has reduced significantly. I feel less tired too.
Was right for me to come off this drug...
Have to say I am alarmed to discover that it is banned in The Netherlands. I am from the UK but live in The Netherlands and I was given it by my GP over here last year and have not felt right since but he won't change it. Time to find another GP I think.
It isn't actually banned in Holland, Dazzydog1976. I chased down the regulator there and found out. It just seems to be a medication that many people react to badly. I wonder why it isn't |Yellow carded. But my GP was quite protective about it. 'Not everyone has symptoms,' she said. But I did and I'm off it now. Anything that makes your ankles and feet swell prevent your legs acting like the ancilliary pumps they are...
Thanks Louise21984. I must admit I was surprised when I read that it was banned so I asked my wife whose father is a retired GP and he confirmed that it is banned. That said, I feel terrible on them and want to change GP in any case since this one doesn't listen to a word I say - and my Dutch isn't that bad! Thanks once again!
I feel the same, I have been on it since 9 Nov 2015 (4 Months) - Also I wake up in the night with terible formication (Formication is the medical term for a sensation that resembles small insects crawling on / under the skin.)
I hope you were able to get your amlodipine switched since your post. I had to make up additional symptoms to get off of this 
I was on it for years until a year or two ago I was alarmed when i noticed just how swollen my ankles were with deep marks left by my socks.
I was told by an out of hours GP that after 2 years of use this can happen.
Just shows how carefull you should be monitoring your medication, I wasn't!
My calves remain swollen and don't feel right sometimes when walking.
Is there any legal action being taken do you know?