ACE Inhibitors

[terryw]

There is currently uncertainty whether ACE Inhibitors, (they treat high blood pressure and the drug name ends in ‘pril’), encourage or deter Coronavirus. If anyone sees any fact based opinions on the question I would be grateful if they could post it on this Forum, or contact me. If I ever have to go into bat against this virus I would like to think that it is not on a ‘sticky wicket (I am really a football fan!).

[BobD Volunteer]

I fear it is the problem rather than the drug and it may be years before a definitive answer is available .

[Sfhmgusa]

I was taking ramapril ( ace inhibitor) as well as amlodopine for my BP. But saw concerns about the drug a month ago,

I tend to not treat medicines and doses as fixed in stone so asked my GP if it was safe to titrate myself off the Ramapril as a cautious step. I measure my body daily and my treated average was 121/82

I took three days to ease myself of the ace inhibitor and took the opportunity to be serious about losing some weight too.

Just over a month now last two week average bpm is 117/78 and I have lost 10 lbs .

I feel as ifbb FB it made sense but if my no had risen materially I would have gone back onto the ramapril

I would not have done this without my go chat bit if like me you don’t want to do anything that might make CV worse might be worth a doctor phone call

[terryw in reply to Sfhmgusa]

Hi Sfhmgusa.Thanks for the reply I take the same approach regarding drugs. I have had a try at reducing perindropril as I was told it can cause respiratory problems. I monitored my blood pressure and it started increasing. I did did not have the same problem when I reduced bisoprolol.I always discuss with my GP first before taking actions. Terry

[Shcldavies]

If you go on youtube, type "yorkcardiology" in the search box, there you will find many videos from Dr Gupta, a cardiologist in York, one of his more recent videos is about how Covid 19 reacts to ACE inhibitors.

[terryw in reply to Shcldavies]

Hi Shcldavies. Thanks for the response. I sent a message to Dr. Gupta asking him if there were any videos on the subject, and then watched it. I think the jury is still out until there is more data.Terry

[Londonlass]

I also had concerns about ACE inhibitors and Covid19 and asked my GP for a review of my BP drugs because of this . My research and my GP’s answer was that so far there was no evidence to suggest that ACE inhibitors caused more severe outcomes if you became infected with Covid 19. To me this was stating the obvious, as it is far too early to be definitive either way. Having read about how ACE inhibitors affect the cells and Covid 19 attaches to cells in the body, I decided that I wanted to come off Ramipril, which I was taking at the maximum dose. My GP was very supportive of my decision, and with me monitoring my BP daily I am now only taking a slightly higher dose of my other BP medication. In fact I am pleasantly surprised that this is all I needed.

I guess it comes down to individual gut feeling and what you feel most comfortable with. However, I would certainly not have taken myself off my BP medication without a thorough discussion with my GP on the way forward.

Keep well.

[terryw in reply to Londonlass]

Hi Londonlass. I am with you 100%! I am going to look at my dosage again. Terry

[Jmc43]

After reviewing several very recent articles this morning, I am posting a link to the one that offers the best summary. It was published yesterday, and indicates there is no evidence at the moment about a link between ace inhibitors and Covid19. And there is an almost comic sentence in the last paragraph:

“As for hypertension medications, they might ward off SARS-CoV-2, make COVID-19 worse, or not influence the infection at all.”

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

For me, based on this round of summaries and articles, I am not changing my meds.