Amlodipine

[trebor5558]

At my annual health check after my heart attack four years ago I was alright on everything it seems but but my blood pressure was too high, even though i felt fine in myself. Anyway it was decided to put me on to Amlodipine to reduce it.......I had been put on this a while ago but came off it because I had dizzy spells while taking it........However I'm back on it now and I experience some time being "on the edge of dizziness" and bouts of tiredness. It may be that I've only been on them for about three weeks, but I wonder if anyone else has experienced anything like this?

[Jackabee]

I got vertigo on that one

[peterjones105]

Yes I have had similar symptoms with Amlodopine, not dizziness but feeling tired and lightheaded but after some months the side effects settled down and became far more manageable.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star in reply to peterjones105]

Like peterjones it took me a while to adjust to Amlodipine, but a matter of 2 to 3 weeks, not months. My current ‘cocktail’ of heart meds (including Amlodipine) now controls my angina pretty well, so, for me, it was worth persisting.

[trebor5558 in reply to Kristin1812]

Thanks for your thoughts Kristin1812

[trebor5558 in reply to peterjones105]

Thanks peterjones105..........I'll "keep taking the tablets!"

[Icarus16]

No. I’ve been taking it and Crestor for about 12 years without problems. Perhaps it takes time to adjust. I can’t remember if that was the case for me. If so if couldn’t have been too bad or I would certainly have remembered.

[trebor5558 in reply to Icarus16]

Thanks Icarus 16

[Chappychap]

I found three things worked to reduce my blood pressure. They were introduced sequentially so i could see that each of them brought down my blood pressure by a roughly equal amount.

First was medication.

Second was exercise and weight loss.

And third was moving to a low salt diet.

Okay, I recognise that exercising to NHS guidelines (150 minutes per week) and achieving target BMI weight are tough targets that not everyone will be able to realise. But reducing salt intake really wasn't that demanding. And I was astonished to see just how effective a low salt diet could be in reducing blood pressure. Here's what the BHF (the sponsors of this forum) have to say about low salt diets.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Good luck!

[trebor5558 in reply to Chappychap]

thanks Chappychap!

[Calm2]

Hi, I am on Amlodipine as I too had high blood pressure after heart attack 4 yrs ago. It worked brilliant in bringing it down to a normal level. It’s strange hearing you say about dizziness as I too have bouts of that and never linked it to that. What I have linked to Amlodipine is swollen ankles as that is a side effect but as it’s so good with blood pressure I would rather stick with it and have swollen ankles😀

[Pastime]

hi tenor I have had so many bp tablets all gave me side effects . Amlodipine I’m on now for 10 yrs has the least for me. Only swollen ankles to start , but ok after a while even this settled down . I think most tablets cause dizziness at first but I never get it with amlodipine

[Retirement65]

hi trebor5558

This sounds like how I have been I was started on 10mg must be ten years ago and everything was fine but I recently lost weight then started feeling dizzy saw my GP who reduced me down to 5mg things are better so keeping my fingers crossed hope your BP settles and the dizziness goes away soon take care 😊

[rosemary9122]

Hi. Yes I had similar issues when Amlodipine was added to the Candesartan I had been on for years without any problems. I have to say that the dizziness and palpitations have definitely eased now I have been taking it for about 6 weeks. My BP has also come down to 125/75 which everyone is happy with so it’s worth staying with it a bit longer if you can. As someone else commented on here, half my problem is getting anxious when told my BP is too high 😀

[trebor5558 in reply to rosemary9122]

thanks rosemary!

[Sailing63]

Hi Trebor, at 59 and what I thought very fit and healthy, I was put on Amlodipine after a general health review, starting at 5mg increasing to 10mg as BP wasn't really budging from 150/83 levels. This was supplemented with Ramipril 2.5mg increased to 5mg. All this has taken approx 5 months. I started to experience heart racing (approx 85 bpm which I noticed as my resting hr is 52-55 bpm). GP reduced Ramipril back to 2.5mg and things seemingly improved. However, I recently started to experience very significant palpitations, both heart racing and missing beats, worrying levels to the point of considering calling paramedics on 2 occasions. I decided to reduce Amlodipine back to 5mg and after a few days palpitations and worries subsided significantly. 2 weeks on I now feel normal with no symptoms, although I do feel more tired some days than previously. I have a gp appt as part of normal bp meds review in 2 weeks and whilst I remain on 5mg Amlodipine plan to tell him these are not for me, we find other solutions or I will simply stop taking. I have found similar stories of side effects with Amlodipine and palpitations, dizziness, fatigue and swollen joints (ankles mainly) are common. What I have learned is to be clear with GP if meds cause issues as there are many other options to try, and it could be a trial and error basis. Keep an eye, and records of side effects and I would suggest not to persevere long term if you suffer issues, although it is recognised that most side effects do settle after a few weeks. I just wasn't prepared to put up with frightening ones, especially as before i started meds I felt significantly better. I will work with gp but for my benefit and I won't tolerate a reduction in well-being as a trade off. For the record when on both max Amlodipine and Ramipril I recorded 124/70 as average against target 135/80. After I self reduced I am circa 140/80, with 54 average pulse but feeling better. I eat healthily and exercise most days on long dog walks and golf, but will look to supplement this with meds but only if they contribute to a worry free outcome.

[trebor5558 in reply to Sailing63]

Hi Sailing63

Thanks for your very interesting post. I am 85 but in pretty good order apart from these short periods of dizziness which I put down to the inclusion of this Amlodopine into my regime. I have been back to the doctor and, to be fair, she is taking it seriously, but in the todays climate everything seems to take so long. But in the next couple of weeks I will be seeing her again and I will have your comments in my mind. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.