My BP has been a bit erratic for a while, normally a little higher than I'd like, 145/90 ish, but had been around 185/112 first thing in the morning. So, talking with the Dr, she suggested Amlodipine 5mg to go with the 10mg Ramipril I've been taking for years. OK so far. But this afternoon I had a weird feeling of light headedness and a couple of times thought I was going to fall over.
When I checked my BP, it was 101/62. An hour later 96/58 and pulse mid 60's, it's very rarely lower than 74. My BP is never low and I must admit I was a little concerned. So decided to sit down, feet up and have a nap for an hour.
Checked it again, 116/73, pulse 74. What a weird and unexplained event! Worth telling the Dr about...... If I can get an appointment 😏
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Griff-64
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I'm on both ramipril and amlodipine at 2.5mg and 5mg respectively as higher doses give me side effects.I found that my pulse dropped considerably after taking meds so it was 70-80 at rest but now it is often in the 50s which is rather low.Amlodipine is quite powerful so hence the considerable drop in the bp. My bp is now rather low when it used to be volcanic.My GP said it was best to keep it low unless I started feeling dizzy or faint so I would say if you feel lightheaded let your GP know.
Thank you for your reply.I've been taking ramipril for years but the amlodipine for a few weeks,.
At first my BP came down a little but still on the high side of normal, so the Dr recommended taking one in the morning and the other in the evening. Which I started doing 2 weeks ago.
It has made a tiny difference and been fairly stable till yesterday.
Unfortunately, doing anything through the GP is a slow process.
Yes they are difficult to get hold of.Hopefully things will continue to improve.
Hello
The feeling you had this afternoon and the blood pressure readings mine can be that low during the day and especially when I first started on my meds but when I told the Doctor they were not concerned
She told me for a week to take my blood pressure twice a day and write down the readings and again she was happy with them
It could be you adjusting to these new meds , nothing to over worry about but maybe take your blood pressure for a week and if you are not happy then let your Doctor know the readings
Thank you for replying. Because I've had a bit of a prob with my BP for a few months now, I was asked to keep a record by the Dr, and have been since the new year. I've always been a bit of a record keeper because the medical profession tend to believe you if you keep notes.The episode yesterday was very much not the norm. Definately something to keep a check on.
I thought to post as I have just been prescribed ramipril after being on amlodipine 10mg for a few years - 5mg for 13 years before that. I was told by my doctor to carry on taking amlodipine at the same time. In the first 3 days, there was no effect but on the fourth day a sudden improvement.
Typical readings before ramipril were taken at 5-minute intervals:
Systolic S 170 -- Diastolic D 88 -- Pulse P80
S 155 -- D 80 -- P75
S149 -- D77 -- P72
These poor readings happened quite quickly over a 3 month period. I've no idea why the decline occurred as my second systolic reading was an average of 133 taken 4 months earlier.
Fortunately, my readings have improved on day 5
S133 -- D68 -- P68
S116 -- D60 -- P62
S116 -- D62 -- P58
Usually, I go on a 5,000 metre walk in the evening. When my blood pressure was high I had no problems whatsoever. Now my blood pressure is much lower I felt more breathless and had to stop at 3,000 metres or so. Early days and I have a telephone appointment with my doctor next week. I will report back on how it goes from here.
Thank you so much for your reply, very informative. I gave the amlodipine a week to settle down before I started taking too much notice, I never expect anything to work quickly, and my BP has been very predictable at certain times of the day, that's why this episode was such a surprise.Unfortunately, BP problems are very common in one branch of the family as far back as I can trace, sadly, none of the older family are still here to compare notes. Health just wasn't talked about like it is now.
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