Thanks for adding me to group 👍

[Julieclev08]

Good morning new to this group 😃Have found just spending 20 minutes reading posts I’m not by myself .My thought process over high blood pressure tablets and having to take them.Still trying to find the right ones with least side effects after a year 😢.Reassures me my thoughts and actions are the same as most people on here ❤️

[springcross]

Hi Julie and welcome to the forum. Yes, it can take a while to get a med that suits you. I remember several years ago trying them all and having such bad side effects from all of them and just giving up with them, especially after the GP telling me there was no more they could prescribe. Last year though I had to go back to one which I am still taking now but would rather that I didn't have to. I hope you find one eventually that suits you. x

[Julieclev08 in reply to springcross]

That sounds like my problem and sounds like my doctors I feel like Theve given up on me and I’m an inconvenience.Ive stopped a couple of times and even tried garlic tablets beetroot tablets.The worry of my high blood pressure takes me back to going back in them .I just want a tablets or tablets that I can live with a side effect.x

[springcross in reply to Julieclev08]

The one I went back on was Amlodipine 5 mg. I had been on them for about eight months with no problems whatsoever (unlike a few years previously) but all of a sudden, I started getting swollen ankles and feet and lower legs with a blotchy rash on the lower legs. They controlled my BP but I had problems getting shoes and boots on so I stopped. I tried a couple of others but stopped one after five days and the other after two months as they caused swollen ankles etc too. I went back on Amlodipine and again, got the swelling etc but once on a different brand, the swelling seem to dissipate. Really strange. Garlic tablets won't cure high BP and you'd have to take a lot of beetroot tablets too. Maybe if you look back and remember what side effects you had with each tablet, you could retry the one with the least side effects as sometimes it takes quite a while for them to subside. All the best in whatever you decide to do and I hope you can get one that suits you and controls your BP. xx

[Hidden]

Twenty years of high BP and still trialing BP meds with some gap years in between. What is the alternative, run the risk of stokes and more. Not really an alternative is it. If it was I would have stopped trying years ago.

You never know when you might find the one that suits you.

Kind of nice to find your not a freak, but just like everyone else trying to cope with what life throws at you.

[Ropa511 in reply to Hidden]

I echo what you say...nobody chooses to have high blood pressure or to have to take meds.

If we cant get bp down via lifestyle, then what we are left with is a balancing act between no meds and the worry of the complications that this may lead to, or alternatively taking meds and hopefully finding a combination with side effects that can be tolerated and lived with.

Its a tricky balancing act.

[Julieclev08 in reply to Ropa511]

What frustrates me is trying different tablets dealing with the side effects and bp not coming down low enough 😢

[Happyrosie]

I was so, so lucky that my BP medications suited me and didn’t give any side effects whatsoever!

[Junglegirl]

I had extremely high BP for over 30 years, nudging towards the 200 Mark.

Long story short, recently put on candesartan a very low dose at night time.

I also feel an inconvenience after trying several medications over the years and suffering horrible side effects to them all, the worst one bring Ramipril for me. Eventually told there was nothing they could do for me, end of.

I don’t think this drug suits me either I have good days and bad, fluctuating BP’s, no back up medically - hard to get through with Covid and no GP appointments.

I find myself getting quite down.

Hope you manage to find something, I am so fed up with it all, but will have to soldier on, good luck.

[Julieclev08 in reply to Junglegirl]

I was on candesartan I started to itch and ended up with a rash 😢also I couldn’t breathe my nose felt stuffy 😢the only time my bp went low was when I was on beta blockers but I ended up having hallucinations in the night .Worse experience of my life.

[Hidden]

I was whisked off for a Covid 19 test with all the symptoms only to find it was Candesartan mimicking the flu! Now just stopped Doxazosin for a lot of the rear side effects. Thought I had hip and shoulder joint wear but after x rays were clear, meds again. The constant itching, damn it is annoying, can't wait for that to go. Will miss the lack of migraines and the help with constipation though.

That is definitely my last go at finding BP meds that suit me, too many years of trialing and all having adverse side effects with me. I kept getting suckered into trying yet another as there was always a chance we hit the magic pill. The anxiety grew each time, that I won't miss.

Don't be put off by my experiences please, try for yourself, we all react according to our individual make up. You could get lucky.

[Julieclev08 in reply to Hidden]

So are you not on any medication now ?

[Hidden in reply to Julieclev08]

I only take vitamin D currently and a laxative. The pain in the shoulders has decreased and the hips are not so painful, but unsure as I haven't been moving about as much today. Most of the day fighting with Win10, on another computer. May be some relief I'm beating the computer and getting what I want from it!

Only 24 hours out from stopping the BP meds. My demeanor is improving, a little, I think! Strangely my BP has dropped a little. Could be relief there is possibly a change. Possibly because I think it is too soon to expect a change, I could be wrong and hope I am but it may be wishful thinking. It will be interesting to see if BP is maintained or goes back up. I'll make a review in a few weeks giving plenty of time for any changes to be sure any residual meds are out of my system. Hadn't realised I'm not itching as much until now, there is hope.

Still very reluctant to accept the possibility of a change so soon.

[Julieclev08 in reply to Hidden]

I stop my candesartan and within 2 days rash and itching went away 👍

[Hidden]

Sadly my glass is always half empty, never half full.

[Hidden]

Shoulder pain gone, hip pain minor aggravation and just an occasional itch. BP climbing steadily. Still undecided which way I will go, meds or not. Still holding out for the magic pill I guess.

[Jmac20]

Have been reading reviews on safety of calcium channel blockers on American sites from Scientists/Boffins,it makes bad reading,virtually unsafe ,cause major illness and heart attack s after prolonged use.Have decided to give up Lercanidipine,at present taking à just 5 mg,still enough to give side effects.I am 80 and self decided for a better life to give up these poisonous drugs,have tried loads , Lercanidipine the best toleratedààYou can Google safety of CCB ,it will open your eyes and perhaps offer better info than from our BP followers.

[peter999999999]

bought a resperate machine suppose to lower bp by breathing im giving that a good go, together with slow breathing when i take bp ,just cut a 5mg of amlodipine in half and took 2;5 mg ill do bp later and see what it is,i hope i dont have to up it to 5 again