Any audiophile who is on blood pressure medication

Thank you for posting this. I have been feeling like crap for a year, about as long as I have been on blood pressure, thyroid,prostate, and cholesterol medication. Now I know its just not me and I have some things to look into. Hope you feel better soon. Tom G

I've tried a lot of prescription meds to control my high blood pressure. It's a bit higher than yours is.

I was on lisinopril and it gave me a cough and was not very effective. I tried Exforge, Bystolic, Benicar, Tekturna, and Diltiazem. All of those made me lethargic and drained the life force right out of me. Benicar is not too bad, but it still makes me fatigued and makes my feet hurt sometimes.

Diltiazem (over the course of a year and a half), which is the worst side-effect class of hypertensive med, a calcium channel blocker, gave me a wide range of side effects. I had fatigue, dry skin, sensitivity to sunlight, dry mouth, frequent urination, and insomnia.

On Diltiazem I was convinced I had Diabetes but tested negative and then, one day I took a short bike ride... I only rode 3 or 4 miles and came back extremely fatigued from only a moderate effort. I guess Diltiazem also constricted my pulmonary function and max heart rate too.

To top it off I had a mild left-chest dismomfort or pressure. I thought I was having a mild heart attack, so I went to my local emergency room and they ran a bunch of tests on me concluding with an angiogram (I was convinced that at the very least my arteries must have been clogged).

But no, there was no heart disease and no clogged arteries. Mind you, I'm supposed to pay nearly $3,000 for this one night stay they originally billed as $21,000 (Healthnet paid 80 percent of the 14 grand they contracted for).

I had informed my doctor all along about my various symptoms and the chronic dibilitating fatigue and he said something like, "What's a little fatigue?" He never once hinted or suggested that my symptoms could be related to Diltiazem.

But after my Angiogram, I looked up the various side effects on the web and had almost every one on the long list. I weened myself off that "wonder drug," because stopping it abruptly was ill-advised. Then whadayaknow, over the next month or so all my various side effects have faded, even my chronic sinus congestion, which I forgot to mention.

I've tried an ACE inhibitor since then which brought back some fatigue, so I stopped it. Currently I'm taking Benicar off and on (depending on how bad it makes me feel and how high my pressure is). All the BP meds that were most effective in lowering my pressure have had the worst side effects. I've modified my diet and I'm trying to bike ride and walk regularly.

My goal is to lose about 20 pounds and then be free of the drugs once and for all. Curiously, all the statin-based products for reducing cholesterol also make me fatigued and give me muscle pain, so I can't take those either. My wife, on the other hand has been on Caduet (a Lipitor and Norvasc combo pill) for over a year. She hasn't had any bad side effects yet... I've been on Lipitor and Norvasc at different times and don't tolerate either one very well.

Hi Andrew-

In my early fifty’s, I was diagnosed with hypertension. My doctor scheduled a treadmill stress test, which I could not complete, because my blood pressure got dangerously high. I was put on cholesterol medication and a beta blocker. This motivated me to change my diet (mainly vegetarian with very low levels of caffeine), and I started exercising. After about three years, I was able to reduce my medications. So my doctor scheduled another treadmill test. This time I did so well, I was taken completely off my meds.

One thing that helped me was I got a home blood pressure monitor. I was motivated to stick with the diet and exercise program by seeing whether I was sliding back, maintaining or making progressing towards better blood pressure levels. Last week I went to see the doctor, because I bought a new BP monitor (Panasonic EW3152) and I wanted to check its accuracy. My BP was 127/70 on my monitor and 122/70 on the equipment in the medical offfice.

I’ve been off meds for about six years, and I’m about forty pounds lighter than went I was first diagnosed with hypertension. For me, exercise and diet allowed me to first reduce my meds and then get off them completely.

Good luck! -Don

Andrewdoan--the benicar you were taking is an ARB ---angiotensin receptor blocker--they have the lowest side effect profile of any of the bp meds--you may want to try another in the same class at the lowest dose and then work up from there--you are now taking an older ace inhibitor--most of the problems with this class is a cough which can develop at any time and is related to an increase in bradykinin---as you can see from the many responses--lots have had side effects ---I would encourage you to try to work with you doc to find the lowest dose that works with the least side effects---also look up the DASH diet ---rich in fruits ,veg and low salt--don't have time to write a primer on treating and preventing vasc disease but untreated bp is a major problem in this as well as other countries--every 20 mmHg (20) pts above 115systolic and every 10pts above 80diastolic doubles your risk--feel free to email me --Rich

I'm on Lotrel 2x daily (plus Clonidine at night to help with sleep). I also stepped up my exercise to daily (sometimes twice, before breakfast/before dinner) and increased my garlic intake. My HBP is under control now. Best of luck and stay healthy.