Raynauds and Nifedipine

[MountainGoat52]

This last winter I suffered terribly with the cold. All my life I have suffered with Raynauds Syndrome and winters have always been difficult for me with regards to my extremities (fingers, toes and nose) being cold and often painful. Even in summer having warm feet and toes has been a rare occurence.

At Christmas I mentioned to my daughter the issues that I was having with the cold. Like me she suffers from Raynauds, indeed most of the family suffer to some extent, including my brother, nephews and nieces. My daughter told me her GP had prescribed Nifedipine for her Raynauds and for her the medication had alleviated the worst symptoms. I decided to write to my GP to request a trial of the medication.

It took a while to get to speak to the Clinical Pharmacist at the GP practice I am registered with. She agreed to a trial and once I started taking the medication the beneficial effect was immediately felt. For the past two months I have not had one finger go white and numb, my nose is no longer cold and I am recovering the feeling in my toes which are slowly recovering. Gone are the days when getting a bottle of milk or a pot of yoghurt out of the fridge was a challenge.

Yesterday I received a further call from the Clinical Pharmacist to discuss the results of the trial (I had sent an interim written report last month) and I am pleased to say the medication is now on repeat. The Nifedipine has nicely 'shoehorned' into my existing medication knocking 5 to 10 points off by BP which is an added bonus, so I can remain on the same dose of Losartan that I was on. The only negative is that Nifedipine comes as 3 doses of 5mg a day, so I can no longer take all my medication with breakfast and then get on with my day..... but adding a small capsule to my lunch and evening meal is an extremely small price to pay. 😀

[Heyjude31]

Hi, I am so very pleased to hear about your positive results with the new medication. These health challenges, as we know can have such a debilitating impact on us, and the longer it goes in the more debilitating it is. To have even the slightest positive impact can change our worlds! I am so very pleased for you, long may it continue. Take care, Judi

[MountainGoat52 in reply to Heyjude31]

Hi Judi, it's good to hear from you. I trust you are keeping well.

I'm really pleased to have something positive to report, even though it is not directly heart related. Already taking a well balanced cocktail of medication, I was rather cautious about adding another to the mix, but it has worked out okay. Indeed, with my BP lowering a little, I'm happy to have it on board. The only issue has been is that I get a little more postural hypotension, but I can cope with that. I keep telling myself that some people pay lots of money on drugs and alcohol to get the same effect. 😂

Hopefully everything will stay reasonably stable now and my toes slowly improve. Seven medications now, including vit B for my homocysteine and vit D to bolster the immune system. Surely no more.....

All the best, Gerald

[Heyjude31 in reply to MountainGoat52]

I am so glad you are okay🤗 I am doing well all things considered. The side effects of the meds can be a challenge, but they seem to have settled down a lot compared to where I was 12 months go. It’s really lovely to hear from you. As ever, take good care, Judi x

[VikingWay]

Sorry GWP, I may not be of much help here. My experience with Losartan was a long time ago; around 25 years. Losartan had been the second HTN medication that had been tried; AFTER my uncomfortable 'cold' experiences with 25mg of Propanolol. (It was the Propanolol, that had left me with Reynauds . The Losartan had caused me pain in the regions of both kidneys; so I 'challenged' that drug, by stopping and re-starting it, twice! Next, a related drug called Valsartan was tried; and that had been even worse! and took even longer, from which to recover.) Losartan had caused such uncomfortable side effects, that I felt a sense of panic, when a doctor at Stanford said, that I should take a "Losartan Suppression Test". That test, amounted to taking a single 1mg dose of Losartan, after a blood draw; then a second blood draw, taken two hours later. (My first blood draw measured 15?whatevers; and the second draw, measured 37?whatevers. Those results indicated a 'positive' test for Hyper-Aldosteronism, which causes other uncomfortable cyclic effects.

[MountainGoat52 in reply to VikingWay]

Sorry to hear that Propanol caused you to have Raynsuds. Mine started a while after my heart attack when I started to take more medication than just Losartan for my blood pressure. I suspect it could be the Bisoprolol, bu stopping the small dose I take probably won't provide a cure... I think the damage has been done.

Okay about your issues with ARBs... the Losartan and Valsartan. I'm okay with Losartan and have been on it now for over 12 years. By contrast, the Amlodipine I was put on prior to Losartan both messed up my body and my mind... not good, especially as I was self-employed and my work was seriously affected. I must admit that I was rather nervous about asking to trial Nifedipine... another ****dipine, but I've had no problems with it other than initially getting a headache and a bit of an upset stomach when taking the medication between meals. Conveniently it comes as 3 x 5mg doses daily which works with meal times, but I often don't eat much when out walking the hills, so it is better to miss a dose on those occasions.

In the "medication wars" I've found that I am allergic to / intolerant of PPIs and both loop and thiazide diuretics. I also had issues with three statins, but now cope with Rosuvastatin. I have been told that I am a nightmare to medicate. Well, it's good to be different. 😁