Amlodipine not working

[celestw]

i’ve been taking 5mg amlodipine since late August and got my dosage increased to 10mg in early September and my blood pressure is still not improving at all? i’m wondering if anyone had had a similar situation with amlodipine and how the problem was resolved.

[Sham7866]

Hi I’m also been on Amlodipine since August this year they started me on 5mg then 3 weeks later increased to 10mg at the time my bp was very high 160/90

But since been on 10mg my bp has decreased my bop is now 120/80 I also made lots of changes no salt and no sugar at all I increased my veg/fruit intake no more red meats and stopped eating late and more walking.

Last week dr tell me if I keep on track on next bp check will probably put me back on 5mg

[CarolM in reply to Sham7866]

I started off only taking Simvastatin and the amount was increased a couple of times, then stabalised. However a year or more later the pressure at work increased as did my blood pressure. The doctor then added Amlodipine at 5 mg and my blood pressure stabalised. As I've now retired I hope my blood pressure won't increase. I'm glad I'm no longer working for the DWP as my friends who are still there tell me that they are under a huge amount of pressure trying to help people when the government does not intend that they should be able to.

[Peteh55 in reply to CarolM]

Oh please. I’m no fan of the government but this is just a blatantly political comment. Also Simvastatin is nothing to do with blood pressure it’s a statin. I’m pretty certain public sector workers with final salary pension schemes are under less pressure than those in the private sector with no security and money purchase pensions so as a general statement I know who I’d feel more sorry for.

[CarolM in reply to Peteh55]

My Civil Service Pension is several thousand pounds (£) less than my state pension and if you had any brains at all you would know that there are many more low paid Civil Servants than there are high paid ones! I spent over 20 years on the second lowest rung of the Civil Service and if you think that is well paid, you must live in fantasy land, which is obvious ny your comment about final salary pension schemes which the government ended three years before I retired.

[Peteh55 in reply to CarolM]

If you'd read my post rather than blindly reacting to it you'd see I made a general comment and specified it as such. I have many friends who are on big civil service final salary pensions and others who are on low pensions. The ones on high final salary pensions are not affected by the impact of this pandemic on the economy. People on money purchase schemes are. You're the one who chose this forum to make an ill informed and ignorant political statement. And you think a statin is a blood pressure drug so I'd be careful about challenging my intelligence.

[CarolM in reply to Peteh55]

I see no reference to the fact that most Civil Servants, especially those who retired recently, do NOT have substantial civil service pensions. However I don't really care what you think of my intelligence in mixing up the two types of medication I take. our manners are certainly lacking.

[Peteh55 in reply to CarolM]

Probably time to call a halt to this interchange. It has nothing to do with the subject matter on this forum as you knew when you raised the issue.

[cuore]

If only one drug is prescribed to solve a problem, the treatment is called monotherapy. In this treatment the dosage is increased. In your case, you are going from 5 mg to 10 mg.

Another route is to use more than one drug at lower doses; this treatment is called combo therapy. The objective is to have less side effects and to target different areas.

I had a similar case except the drug was rampril which did nothing for me when the dose was doubled. I am now on the combo therapy of 5 mg. amlodipine plus 20 mg Olmesartan. Do note that these two are in different classes.

In answer to your question about amlodipine being doubled, I had the opposite effect from you. Because I had atrial fibrillation and taking the antiarrhythmic drug Amiodarone at the time, I went from being in sinus rhythm to arrhythmia plus my blood pressure plummeted. We react differently especially when we are taking also other drugs.

There are different classes of drugs for blood pressure. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with them, and discuss with your GP which combo of drugs and what dosage may be the best for you.

[celestw in reply to cuore]

ah okie thank you! i didn’t know low doses of multiple drugs would help i’ll let my GP know😊unfortunately my appointment isn’t until november

[lettingoffsteam in reply to celestw]

Yes I'm on 5mg amlodipine and 2.5mg ramipril.I have been on far higher quantities before a diet and lifestyle change caused me to lose five and a half stone.I've tried 10mg amlodipine....swollen legs and feet and 10mg ramipril...sent my potassium levels too low so a combo works better for me.I may be reducing amlodipine to 2.5mg soon so two low doses.In fact they are trialling a combi pill with low doses of several drug types which have had good effects therapeutically and less side effects.

[cuore in reply to celestw]

I cannot say to take low doses of multiple drugs because I am not an M.D. But, I do say to discuss with your GP a combo method of drugs which may be better than increasing the dosage of the same drug. I have done considerable research on blood pressure drugs, so that my conclusion is that combo therapy is the way to go, at least, it was for me. And, my GP did agree with me. I have also read the trial lettingoffsteam mentions about one pill made up of different classes of pills (three in the trial I read), and this pill did the trick for a number of patients on the trial.

[ling in reply to cuore]

Any idea if amlodipine 1.25mg a day works to lower BP?

Thank you

[cuore in reply to ling]

The dosage of any drug taken is relative to how high your blood pressure is. So, the higher the blood pressure the higher the dose needed unless using combo theory where it would be low doses of two or more drugs.

I am not an MD to answer your question. However, the following site refers to amlodipine dosages:

drugs.com/dosage/amlodipine...

The above site does refer to a 2.5mg dosage:

"Patients who are small or fragile may be started on 2.5 mg orally once a day."

There is a line to split 5mg to make 2.5mg. I don't know how you could get 1.25 mg if it is not made and if splitting 5mg to 2.5mg then becomes the lowest available.

The bottom line to the answer would be to try it if you can get it.

[ling in reply to cuore]

Thank you very much.

Your reply is very helpful. It is in line with my thinking on this medication, how it works and my mother's individual circumstances.

I'm gonna try and cut it into 4 afterwards.

Thanks again.

[Sham7866]

So coming back to the Amlodipine 10mg is it a good medicine for blood pressure

[Ropa511 in reply to Sham7866]

The general theme I hear is that its effective at lowering bp but many (not all) people get bad side effects.

[lettingoffsteam in reply to Ropa511]

My friend is on 10mg amlodipine with absolutely no side effects and good bp control but I couldn't tolerate such a high dose.It really depends on the person.

[cuore in reply to Sham7866]

For me, when taking only Amlodipine for blood pressure at5mg, it didn't quite work. When doubled I went into arrhythmia. But, 5mg Amlodipine with an ARB works. So "good" is a relative term. I went from not good, to bad, to fine.

Now, if one were to go with the trend, my GP said most cardiologists are prescribing Amlodipine ( and not another calcium channel blocker) when combining with an ARB.

In conclusion, it depends on the person, if Amlodipine is good for blood pressure or not.

The above is an analysis about lowering blood pressure, but not taking into consideration side effects.

[celestw in reply to cuore]

thank you! when i took 5mg it didn’t do anything and now that i’m taking 10mg i feel like my heart is racing and my blood pressure hasn’t really changed, i never felt like this on 5mg but 5mg wasn’t really working

also what’s an ARB? haha

thank you for the advice i talked to my GP!

[cuore in reply to celestw]

Paja gives the definition for an ARB which stands for angiotensin II receptor blocker. She also gives an interesting journey of her combo treatment Twynsta. She is on a low dose of Amlodipine ( a calcium channel blocker) and Telmisartan ( an angiotensin II receptor blocker) all in one pill. Sounds like a formula that might also work for you.

You say you talked to your GP. I would be interested to know what he came up with.

[Paja]

In my case I was finally switched to a combo (called Twynsta) composed of 5mg Amlodipine and 40mg Telmisartan. My Blood Pressure is now pretty much in the 105/75 to 130/80 daily range.

It took about a week to kick in. Personally, I tolerate it very well. No dizziness, joint pain or swelling. I'm very pleased with the results.

I stared out with 5mg Amlodipine maintenance which was not controlling my BP well (daily in 130's to 150's). I was then first switched to 5mg Amlodipine/ 80mb Telmisartan but I then had low blood pressure which was then adjusted down to the 5mg/40mg dosage tablet which has been the sweet spot for my situation.

Amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker. Amlodipine relaxes (widens) blood vessels and improves blood flow.

Telmisartan is an angiotensin II receptor antagonist. Telmisartan keeps blood vessels from narrowing, which lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow.

Might be worth discussing with your doctor. In any case I hope you find the right solution for your Blood Pressure.

[Port01]

I now take 4 different medications for high BP including Amlodipine. Getting all sorts of side effects, but how do I which of the four are causing them?

[metalman13]

I recently took myself off Amlodipine because of the side effects which were chest tightness, difficulty breathing, severe stomach pain and bleeding and blood pressure spiking everyday about an hour after taking the meds. I've been off the meds for 2 months now and blood pressure is back to normal and all other side effects have finally gone away.