Hydralazine

[Aoki]

I would welcome any feedback on this drug. I have been taking hydralazine and Isosorbide mononitrate , as prescribed by the cardiologist , for about four months. Since starting on it I have been feeling very low and been diagnosed with severe anaemia. Also recently I have had a very bad attack of what I can only presume to be gout though am waiting on a diagnosis. I have googled around and found that hydralazine is contraindicated for people with a tendency to gout. I have also found a lot of other contraindications for the drug. The cardiologist prescribed this as I have poor kidney function and he felt I couldn't tolerate other medications for my heart failure which was diagnosed four years ago but I was not taking anything specific for it -- presumably because of the kidney issue. I was taking felodipine and indapamide for blood pressure. I was feeling pretty well until last autumn when I started to go downhill and was prevailed upon to start on the hydralazine and nitrate but it certainly hasn't improved things and I now suspect have made them worse. Perhaps the issue in the autumn was the anaemia which I am waiting to get treated rather than the HF?