Change of meds.

[Gertied0g]

I've just been taken off candesartan and told to take a furomeside every morning. Any thoughts on this anybody? I have high BP in the evening and night.

[Hidden]

My thoughts are to trust your prescribing health professional who will have access to your medical history and will have adjusted your medication given your circumstances as presented. If you have doubts regarding the change you should ask your health professional.

[Gertied0g in reply to Hidden]

I'd like to be able to do that but people, including us, have had some bad experiences with this medical practice.

[Hidden in reply to Gertied0g]

Thats unfortunate, so I suggest you go talk to your local pharmacist instead who is at least qualified to offer a professional medical opinion, unlike the vast majority of people on here including me.

[Steve_G]

Both drugs are anti hypertensives, that is they’re used to treat high blood pressure. Any drug ending in -sartan is what’s called an Angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). These lower blood pressure by blocking the effect of a chemical in the body called angiotensin which results in blood vessels dilating or opening up and a reduction in other chemicals that would otherwise increase blood pressure. Furosemide is what’s called a loop diuretic and it works directly on the nephrons in the kidney. It works as a diuretic so it makes you pee more which reduces your circulating blood volume resulting in lower blood pressure.

Its likely only your Dr can explain why they believe one is better than the other for your condition but they must believe that a diuretic will be more beneficial. (I have a doctorate in pharmacology - the science of how drugs work)

[ETHEL103 in reply to Steve_G]

Hi sorry to jump in but I am taking 100mg losarton.To me this is a high dose.I have stage 3 ckd and am worried they will get worse.Please can you advise Thankyou .

[Gertied0g in reply to ETHEL103]

I have stage 3 ckd too. Because of my age, 76 years old, the gp said that it is normal for kidneys to deteriorate this much and not to worry about it. Not very confident in her diagnosis.

[Steve_G in reply to ETHEL103]

I’m not medically trained so cannot advise. If the approved dose for a condition is up to 100mg a day you can be confident that this is based on evidence that has been reviewed by experts in the EMA/MHRA that doses up to this level are both effective and safe. It would be normal practice for a clinician to prescribe the lowest effective dose for a given patient’s condition - this minimises both the risk of side effects but also the cost of treatment

[needlewoman22 in reply to Steve_G]

useful chappie to know!

[DinoCat]

The NHS website has helpful info on most commonly prescribed meds, so that may be another source of insight? I was prescribed Furosemide short-term after heart-valve surgery as a diuretic to help reduce fluid build-up behind one of my lungs. I was advised though that it can eventually have adverse effects on the kidneys, so my cardiologist was keen to drop it as soon as possible. I didn't need it for BP purposes

[Gertied0g]

Thanks everyone.