medication change

[celestw]

so i’ve been taking 10mg of amlodipine for my high blood pressure and i just recently am getting put on a small dose of Carvedilol(Coreg) a Beta Blocker, and now 5mg of amlodipine for my blood pressure and my anxiety because the amlodipine was causing really swollen legs and my anxiety was causing palpitations and a racing pounding heart, panicking, sweating, and fast heart rate, i’ve had an echocardiogram and a ECG and they are all normal,,,i’ve getting an appointment with the hospitals social worker for counseling too,,,but i’m really worried about taking a beta blocker because i’m scared that it’s gonna increase my risk of heart failure because of recent articles i’ve read up on, the article says...

“Women taking beta blockers for hypertension with no prior history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have a nearly 5% higher risk for heart failure than men when they present to hospital with acute coronary syndrome”

i’m not exactly sure what this means but now this is greatly worrying me...i’m only 18...i’m kinda of scared. I was suggested a Diuretic too, should i talk to my doctor to switch to to a diuretic just to be safe and then switch to a different anxiety meds, i’m really worried...

has anyone else taken Coreg? should it be concerning i’m taking a Beta Blocker medication at such a young age?

[Happyrosie]

Hello celestw. I remember your name because you’ve posted before about your medication and anxiety.

Reading about beta blockers isn't doing you any good, it’s just making you more anxious. If five percent of women taking beta blockers are more at risk, then ninety five per cent of them are not.

A few weeks ago you were given some really solid and helpful advice about managing your anxiety. Please take the trouble to read again the replies to your posts and reflect on why you are anxious. Think about relaxation breathing and even meditation.

I strongly suggest you do NOT read up about your medication. You said yourself you don’t fully understand it. Your doctor does understand it, and this is what he has prescribed. By all means try different medication for a few weeks and if it doesn’t work then go back to your doctor for an INFORMED opinion, or chat to your pharmacist if he or she is easier to talk to. Pharmacists are really very clued up on medication and their side effects.

Also, doctors can only do a certain amount for us, the rest is up to us. Diet, lifestyle, exercise etc.

[cuore]

Happyrosie has given you some very good advice, plus I do recall answering your posts in the past.

Now let's talk about how information is processed, specifically with reference to your topic, high blood pressure. To start at the pinnacle, complex information about blood pressure, especially when a paragraph is taken out of context, and definitely with hardly any knowledge of medicine results in misinterpretation, confusion, panic and fear.

I do agree that you should learn and read about blood pressure, but start with grade one, not graduate school level. Build up your knowledge.

In the meantime, take Happyrosie's advice and relax. You are not doing yourself any favours; you are working yourself up which can cause high blood pressure. (I'm referring to stress)

The more you read advanced articles without the background to process, interpret , and digest, the more you will wind yourself up in a frenzy. That pattern is most counter-productive.

The sentence you copied is a conclusion based upon trials. Now, if you want to be academic and understand the article, you have to first note who wrote the article, when it was written

(some older information may not be relevant), and then see the reference to that statement in the footnotes if the extract is from an academic article and which you then should read. If not, then you need to research the percentage gender difference in risk factors for cardiovascular disease. But, you also have to know the totality of cardiovascular disease, and it's not just hypertension. You must understand what heart failure is, and it's not just getting a heart attack. To top everything off, you need to know what acute coronary syndrome is because that is why these women went to the hospital in the first place. In other words, the patients are not going to the hospital for high blood pressure; they 're going there for acute coronary syndrome. So, if you are trying to identify yourself as being one of these ladies, you are out of the ball park.

Plus, we are not medically trained. We cannot give you advice on the meds you are taking. We are limited to our experiences, despite how much we have researched the meds. Some on the forum may even be able to challenge the GPs.

If you are on a drug at a higher dose the treatment method is called monotherapy. Generally a higher dose will cause more side effects. so, an alternate treatment is to combine lower doses of drugs so that the side effects should be less. That method is called combo therapy.

In my opinion, your doctor is really trying to help diminish your side effects by lowering the amlodipine dosage and adding a low dose of carvedilol - combo therapy. But, carvedilol is quite specific and according to Google "Carvedilol is a non-selective beta-blocker with α1, β1 and β2 adrenergic receptor blockade properties." Now, I really don't know what that means. Nor am I sure if it's the same sort of beta blocker referred to in the article. I would bet it is not. Until you have all the facts ironed out, your conclusion about beta blockers is invalid. Again relax, and try to rein in your imagination of all the negative things that can happen to you due to high blood pressure. IT DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL. Enjoy your life. Put your energies into having fun rather than wasting them on worrying. I do hope that counselling will help you.

I would certainly appreciate a response to my reply to you. It is difficult to know how to help you if we don't get feedbacks from you.

[Hidden]

you have to be your own healer & your own doc to a large degree. read up on ALTERNATIVE HEALTH FORUMS as to how ppl manage bp & anxiety, with few or no pharmacueticals. you are right to be concerned about long term use of beta blockers or any drug. educate yourself & find what works for YOU. find a good Naturopathic doc alternative health practitioner etc to help u learn how to care for the body mind & spirit. none of us were born with a pharmaceutical drug deficiency- find out what the body needs to heal. rx's dont heal, they manage symptoms.