Amlodopine

[7Helena]

I had a dreadful and painful experience when I took my Amlodipine on Wednesday morning. The pills are a sort of oval shape and I often have difficulty swallowing them straight down. This time it got stuck at the back of my mouth and dissolved while I tried to get it down. I had a painful burning at the back of my throat which was agony for several minutes - I was left unable to speak for a while and since have still not recovered my voice and occasionally lose it altogether. It is still quite painful when I eat. Has anybody else experienced this? I can't understand what in the content caused this. There was no warning in the notes and of course no instructions how to deal with it. (I just kept drinking water although that didn't seem to help).

[Vonnieruth]

Perhaps milk or cool yoghurt might help I would ring pharmacist and ask him he may know what could cause it

[7Helena in reply to Vonnieruth]

I rang my doctor who treated it very lightly. Just told me not to take them for a few days and then try breaking them in half!

[jeanjeannie50]

Helena, this drug is banned in a few countries. Don't know if you have seen this link:

patient.info/forums/discuss...

[7Helena in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you jeanjeannie50 - I've not had those side effects but I have now made an appointment with my GP to discuss changing my medicine.

[Hidden]

Amlodipine is a commonly prescribed (in UK), anti-hypertensive, which I've taken myself for many years.

I believe it is possible for many drugs to cause the sensation you describe and although it's quite scary to feel that a pill is 'stuck', and it may taste unpleasant or cause burning, it's not enough to physically do you long term harm. This can happen particularly as you get older as narrowing can occur at the back of the throat.

That's probably why your doctor wasn't unduly concerned when you rang him or her. (After all, it wasn't his/her throat that was burning!) But your GP knew that the effects would be relatively short lived and not dangerous to your long term health.

Drugs are all powerful things and many of them contain substances that will cause the effect you felt. I'd say, do as your doctor suggested and halve your tablet, and keep extra fluid handy to help its passage, or ask for a different anti-hypertensive to be prescribed. That's your right. Health management is a two-way thing and you should be very clear with health professionals when prescribed anything you think is absolutely wrong for you, for any reason.

But you should still be aware that this can happen with many drugs when they become 'stuck'.

[7Helena in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. Perhaps the effect is short-lived - I certainly hope so. My voice keeps disappearing and my throat is still very tender after several days. Because of their shape, these pills often do get stuck but I've not had them actually dissolve before - I can usually get them down with several glasses of water.

[wilsond]

My dad had a stroke and had swallowing problems ,which improved vastly but left him having problems with tablets.Some could be crushed up and taken with yoghurt ,porridge or custard.Pharmacists are really helpful. Hope your poor throat eases soon xx

[Hidden]

I'd eat something - I've done that before to dislodge a tablet that didn't want to go down. A chunk of wholemeal or rye bread seems to do the trick!

[fnurd in reply to Hidden]

I seconf that. Anything solid tends to work on stuck pills where liquids don't.

[123Abc123]

I take that tablet also and it seems to dissolve before I have time to swallow it if taken with water but I have never had any kind of reaction. I usually try to take my tablets with food then they go down easily!