I am on the following medication Bendroflumethazide 2.5mg; bisoprolol 10mg; doxazosin 2mg; omeprazole 20mg; ramipril 10mg. Now have blood test ESR of 66. Dr adding in colecalciferol 800 unit, It's taken ages to get BP down to decent level. I am having following symptoms tired all the time, lethargic, depressed, severe leg pain on exercise, headaches which can turn into full blown migraines, chest pains, cough, phlegm, sometimes wildly high BP (possibly due to stress) and putting on weight!
How on earth can GP tell what meds or combination of meds are making me feel like this? I want to be able to stop some of these. Ant GP, doctors, heart nurses on this forum suggest how I get help?
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TigerLizzy
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I think you will find that members of this group are simply patients just as you are. As such, they won't be able to advise you about stopping any of the tablets you are taking. Have you asked your GP exactly what each drug is supposed to do? I myself take doxazosin 4 mg; ramipril 2.5 mg for blood pressure, What was the blood test for? 66 is quite high for ESR. I also take colecalciferol . Is that just Calcium alone or does it include D3 as mine does. I take it for Osteoporosis but it's sometimes given for Osteopenia, to help prevent Osteoporosis.
Does your GP know about your other symptoms, if not, you should mention them. Your doctor can't treat you for symptoms they don't know about.
I feel for you with all those symptoms. I am not a doctor, but I would like to make a suggestion as to understanding your medications and being informed when you next see your doctor.
The objective is to make a chart so that you will get a bird's eye view as to what is going on with your drugs. So, get a piece of paper.
On the left, list your six drugs plus dose you are taking. (allow a lot of space from one drug to the next) You will have to read up on the drugs. A good site is drugs.com.
Go to the top of the page and make six columns. The first column will address both both drugs and information (drugs/info). Second column :class; third: targeted to treat;
fourth: listed side effects; fifth: interactions: and sixth: you own idea or put dosage.
Your page will have six horizontal columns and six vertical columns. Now it is a matter of filling in the spaces.
For example, under class, you may have diuretic(water pill), beta blocker, alpha blocker, ACE inhibitor, calcium channel blocker , ARB, proton pump inhibitor.
Under Targeted to Treat, you have mentioned blood pressure in your post. You will find a lot of your drugs will address blood pressure. Do you have other issues that are being targeted?
In the listed side effects column, match your symptom(s) with any of the drugs that have that side effect. You are going to have to read the side effects of the drugs. For example, bisoprolol has the side effect listed "tiredness or weakness" in drugs.com and you have posted "tired all the time. " There is a match.
Now that you have filled out the page, you should have an idea what each drug is targeting and whether you may be getting a particular side effect from that drug.
The next step is to read up on monotherapy versus combo therapy treatment in blood pressure. When I make the next statement, do bare in mind again, I am not a doctor but this is my understanding of how it works. The higher the dose of a drug, the greater the chances of the side effect kicking in-- targeting high blood pressure. If you combine two drugs at a lower dose to treat the same high blood pressure, you should have less side effects with the same or better results.
Your GP has combined a few drugs to treat your blood pressure. I would go over the doses with him. Plus, can you not be referred to a cardiologist who specialises in hypertension?
Definitely, you must reduce the stress and weight. Weight can play havoc on blood pressure.
Do let me know if you have any success in making this chart.
Hi,I am on seven different meds,at one stage I was on Doxazosin 4mg and bendroflumethazide 2.5 mg. I like you had chest pains which shown in a blood test as low salts to the heart,as soon as stopped bendro and took some prescribed salt tablets for a week,felt a lot better in chest and wellbeing in general.Hope you get something sorted ,as I know not nice until you feel settled on meds.
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