Amlodipine Blood Pressure Tablets

[Tallarn]

Has anyone had a bad reaction from taking Amlodipine, which has resulted in gum infection?

[mjames1]

Yes, Gingival hyperplasia (gum over growth). It's pretty common with amlodipine use, and it can lead to infection especially if food gets trapped underneath, You have to be more diligent with your cleanings and maintenance, etc. I've been taking amlodipine for years, but just started noticing things recently, and my periodontist pointed it out when he looked at my medication list.

Jim

[Bertiebongo in reply to mjames1]

Do you know if this problem arises due to amlodipine being in your system or just when the pill is in your mouth? If the latter, I wonder if post-medication mouthwash might be beneficial.

[mjames1 in reply to Bertiebongo]

Systemic

[Mentdent]

Amlodopine can make gingivitis worse. Good oral hygiene is important with this drug.

[TaffinSussex]

Yes I am currently having many issues with Amlodapine and one is gum issues. I've started to develop gingival hyperplasia this past 3 weeks. I was previously on Diltiazem too since August (in same group of drugs called calcium channel blockers)...on that for 9 weeks and developed a couple of random gum boils. I treated them myself with regular doses and rinses of colloidal silver and putting Gengigel on at night. I have been weaning off it on the advice of my surgery's pharmacist and my rheumatologist as it's clearly not agreeing with me. Both advised I could just stop it, but as Diltiazem had not controlled my BP (did the opposite in fact), I personally wasn't comfortable about going cold turkey with no other substitute. So it was agreed I could wean off it starting with 2.5mg and after 5 days to stop it. I tried that and developed chest pain and a sharp increase in my BP.

So I decided to continue with a quarter and that worked, BP came down and chest pain ceased. Agreed with the pharmacist a week ago to continue with 1.25mg until 2nd week or so in January and then try again to stop but have a back up ready of Losartan. Worth noting is that the swollen gums are improving as are my sore and infected nostrils and I feel generally better in myself. Not out of the woods yet however.

[Tallarn in reply to TaffinSussex]

With Gingivitis how long does it normally take before teeth actually drop out.

Any idea?

[TaffinSussex in reply to Tallarn]

Sorry...no idea as it varies I'm sure person to person, tooth to tooth...ie how much pressure on the tooth etc and the level and perhaps cause of infection. I have 2 wobbly front teeth, incisors...and they've been like it for 8 years yet one of my upper molars, I didn't even realise it was loose until eating dinner one evening 7.5 years ago and it literally just fell out...I thought I had encountered some hard foreign object in my dinner...much to my horror, it was my whole tooth with the root filling attached. I had my mouth/jaw x rayed in hospital following my gums bleeding on commencement of Apixaban, no infection in my case, I have bone loss due to having Sjögren's Syndrome. Yet my dentist said I had an infection as he'd never heard of Sjögren's, often, it's dentists who first suspect Sjögren's due to these changes. Not in my case, despite having regular 6 monthly checkups and saw many different dentists at the latest practice as they come and go there and 2 at my previous one over a 25 year period.

Incidentally I've been splitting my Amlodapine dose of 1.25mg into 2 doses a.m and p.m for quite a few weeks now and my gum swellings are improving the hyperplasia also feels as though it's changing too for the better. The Apixaban is still causing them to bleed overnight though. It will be interesting to see what happens when I come off that soon in prep for my knee surgery. 🤔

[Alfie33]

I get gum problems due to insufficient oxygen in my mouth

[TaffinSussex in reply to Alfie33]

Do you have sleep apnoea by any chance?

[Alfie33 in reply to TaffinSussex]

Not that i know of, but I do wake up gasping for breath

[TaffinSussex in reply to Alfie33]

I think you may need to get that checked out...mention it to your GP and maybe ask for a Sleep Clinic referral. Sleep apnoea and cardiac issues often run together... and undiagnosed sleep apnoea can lead to hypertension and /or cardiovascular disease.

Let me know how you get on...good luck.

[Alfie33 in reply to TaffinSussex]

Thanks il look into it

[Alfie33 in reply to TaffinSussex]

I spoke to my doctor about the reply you sent me, she said its either a side effect to my medication or dehydration.

[TaffinSussex in reply to Alfie33]

Well it can't hurt to monitor your patterns...if you continue to wake gasping for breath though, it may be prudent to request a Sleep Clinic referral as obstructive sleep apnoea causes that very symptom. If you don't have OSA, then that's great but if you do, you need to know.

[Alfie33 in reply to TaffinSussex]

Thankyou

[PecanSandie]

You might consider using a Waterpik. I started using one and it has helped immensely. And I take 5mg Amlodipine daily and have for years.

[Arfo]

my dentist indicated that it was causing gum issues she wrote to my doctor and changed to another tablet

[TaffinSussex in reply to Arfo]

What did it get changed to please?