Candesartan or Losartan any difference in side effects

[Moneylover]

on a separate post. explained am waiting for appointment re brightred flushed feet on 10mg Amlodipine. Effective reduction BP but obviously too high a dosage for me. But had 5mg and not enough. Ramipril gives me a cough. So possibly will be reduced back to 5mg Amlodipine and given Candesartan or Losartan as a second drug as this seems quite common combination.

Just wondered which most people given, there is no difference I can see. How do people get on with either of these please? Thank you all for help

[katieoxo60]

Hi Moneylover, I took set BP pills for years then suddenly as I got older it did not work I became intolerant to ace inhibiters. I have tried Losartan but it does not reduce the bloodpressure. So now I am on Spirolactone which seems to work but its just keeping my BP at a certain level still higher than they would like it. I am sure sometimes it is what we eat and drink or the activity we do. I feel like a Hypocondriac some days , I'm not I have a lung condition thats stable with inhalers, pain control for arthritis, then BP tablets. Given time I am sure you will find the right dose and pill to control your Bp. Best wishes

[Eviedog12]

Best BP drug for me, no. side effects. Losartan

[cornishgal23]

Both candesartan and losartan are ARBs that work in a similar way. However, candesartan is supposed to be more effective. I am on amlodipine, candesartan, and hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic), and that combo works well for me. I do have a few side effects like occasional flushing and shortness of breath, but these are manageable. It's hard to tell which one is the cause!

[Cyclamenfan in reply to cornishgal23]

Hello Cornishgal from another Cornish gal! Interested by your combination of meds, see my other post. Will let you know after seeing the doc.

[cornishgal23 in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Where are you from? St. Austell area here but have been living in Canada for the past 51 years. Still, you can take the girl out of Cornwall, but you can't take Cornwall out of the girl! Good luck getting that BP under control.

[Cyclamenfan in reply to cornishgal23]

Ha ha! Living in Delabole, south of Tintagel. Wow, you’ve been away from Cornwall for a long time.

[Cyclamenfan in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Trouble is, it’s a long way from Treliske.

[cornishgal23 in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Still get homesick from time to time! And yes, you're a long way from Treliske!

[Cyclamenfan in reply to cornishgal23]

I love the wild North Coast here but Canada is a beautiful country from all I have seen and heard - not visited there though. I’ve lived here for over 50 years but originally came from West Sussex.

[Moneylover in reply to cornishgal23]

Hi Cornishgal23 what an evocative name! I love all of Cornwall - I know you don’t live there now. . Sounds like you are on a good combo medicines. Am trying to be as knowledgeable as possible. What dosages are you on please that keep your side effects minimal? Not sure if you have followed but I am the lady moaning about fiery red feet on 10 mg Amlodipine!

[cornishgal23 in reply to Moneylover]

Hi Moneylover. Yes, I've been reading about the feet on fire! I had the same thing whilst on 10 mg of amlodopine, along with a fiery legs and face! I'm now on 5 mg of the amlo, 8 mg candesartan, 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide, and 10 mg rosuvastatin (for the cholesterol) which seems to be doing the trick with a few manageable side effects.

[Moneylover in reply to cornishgal23]

Thank you. Very useful! Am so in intelligence gathering mode before going back to GP hate keep going and if everyone with high BP has all these visits, no wonder GPs so overloaded! Would you be prepared to share what sort of readings you had prior to proper control and what they are now? When I originally took my BP a year or so ago in a group of friends (all with lovely BPs of circa 120/70) it was 145/85 and I went to GP. First got 5mg Ampodiline no use and in such a panic I was getting readings of 190/95 some nights.then was switched to Ramipril which got me down to 135/80 but terrible cough. So switched to the Ampodiline 10mg which gave me ‘the feet’. But boy, got my systolic pressure down, circa 110! Although not such startling effect on diastolic , lowest 77. So kind of interested to know what people get their levels down to with various drugs. The gold standard UK seems to be less than 135/85 when measured at home. Xx

[cornishgal23 in reply to Moneylover]

Originally I was taking telmisartan 80 mg + 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide, which seemed to raise my BP to around 180/80 ish. Then I had the TIA and it hit 217/85! Telmisartan stopped and replaced by 10 mg amlodopine which lowered BP to around 150/70almost immediately and down to 135/65 over the next few weeks. Amlodopine dosage lowered to 5 mg because of the flushing and 8 mg candesartan added. Current combo of those plus the 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide has my numbers around 130-135/60 with the occasional reading of up to 140 systolic if I'm stressed!

[Moneylover in reply to cornishgal23]

Thank you for so much detailed info. Very very helpful. Will report back when I see GP 15 July. Am hoping red feet will go in next few days, not still be a problem at the 5mg Amlodipine I have dropped to over last two days. Should know in a couple of days, - the 10 mg has reached half life now but has to continue thru another few half life cycles to completely clear … try to only look at feet about once a day x

[onadiet in reply to cornishgal23]

Amlodipine causes the flushing.

[Cyclamenfan]

Dear Moneylover, I have been on 10mg Ramipril for some years and it has given me a dry cough but not so bad that I can’t continue with it. Tried 5mg Amlodopine in addition but like you had bright red, swollen feet and halfway up legs. So, stopped that and moved to 5 mg Felodopine, no feet trouble but needed higher dose for the continuing raised BP. So upped to 7.5mg and eventually 10mg Felodopine (calcium channel blocker like Amlodopine). Similar to you, in the end this dealt with the raised BP but here I am again with very uncomfortable Edema and red, burning feet.

Just had an 8 hour ambulatory BP monitor which showed that the meds are definitely not enough to control the BP so have had to drop to 5 mg Felodopine and seeing Dr on Tuesday to discuss what’s next. It’s like a merry-go-round! A never-ending experiment….

Maybe he will suggest something like losartan or candesartan to improve things. Have to get it sorted as I have had a TIA in the past. Trying to lose some weight and walk for half a hour a day but often I feel so generally fatigued and aching. Must be old age, I’m 73. Will let you know how I get on….

[cornishgal23 in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Hi Cyclamenfan. It's hard trying to find the right combo, isn't it? Like you, I've had a TIA (scary!) when my systolic had risen to 217 ... eek! So I understand the importance of getting it under control. Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Cyclamenfan in reply to cornishgal23]

Thanks, Cornishgal. Xx

[Moneylover in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Very interested in your reply as you are first person to also mention fiery feet although others have mentioned red arms or legs. I saw Physician Associate today and he has reduced my Amlodipine to 5mg (although admits won’t control BP ) and booked me in to see GP on 15 July. Could be 11 days for redness to go ( if it goes at 5mg) as half life drug is 52 hrs and five cycles of halving life to clear. He Speculated that GP might try Felodipine but your example indicates won’t be much different result to Amlodipine. Also mused about an alphablocker. Maybe that will be suggested for you? Or maybe a diuretic as reduces blood volume? Not sure Candesartan category suitable for u as maybe too similar to the Ramipril? But I don’t know that, just guessing. Someone else will know. . I really like the BHF website for info find it more useful than blood pressure UK. I wish you so much luck and a good open discussion on Tuesday. Yes, lose weight ( I only weigh 8 stone, exercise and have great diet) but clearly lots of us need meds as well. Look forward to you posting after your appointment and thank you again for your post

[Moneylover in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Hell Cyclamenfan, how did you get on at the doctors on Tuesday? Hope you had a good discussion and that you have some different medication. My fiery red feet have improved as the effects of 10mg Amlodipine worn off but still quite a problem on 5 mg. Thank you and look forward to you posting x

[Cyclamenfan in reply to Moneylover]

Hi Moneylover, thanks for enquiring. Having seen the 8 hour BP monitor doctor is not too worried about the result but wishes to get it down a bit further etc. Heard my tale about feet and legs burning and swelling, suggested indapamide but I said no thanks, had it before and it made me feel incredibly fatigued etc. So now he has prescribed additional 2.5mg of Bendroflumethiazide, (formerly bendrofluazide, trade name Aprinox, which is a thiazide diuretic) to top up the 5 mg Felodpine. So will see how that goes! He said that if I had any side effects to come back and see him and also make nurse appointment in 2 weeks to recheck BP. So all good so far and will see how it goes. Glad to hear you have had some relief from the 10mg side effects but perhaps you will have to try something else in the end. What a merry-go-round it is! Cheers.

[Moneylover in reply to Cyclamenfan]

That’s good. So hope you might have ideal combination now. I hope that your BP is down a bit more when you see nurse in a couple of weeks. Think I might ask to switch to Felodopine 5mg my feet much better now down to 5 mg Amlodipine but, although the extra 5mg now out of system am still getting some redness, it just doesn’t come up the foot so far. Felodopine supposedly does give slightly less redness when dose matched with Amlodipine I don’t know why unless it’s actually marginally less effective as a vasodilator. The diuretic is a good thing to add - but interesting, I wonder why GP chose that - did he say why rather that than say adding Candesartan? Or are you taking Ramipril as well as Felodipine and now the diuretic as well? Wasn’t quite sure? Think just the Felodipine and diuretic? Can you let me know just to complete the jigsaw? Let’s hope you get a really good result in BP levels when you see the nurse in two weeks and that you get no more side effects. The powerfulness of these drugs in terms of side effects a real eye opener to me. Think this message board excellent. Am v grateful for your help as good to talk to someone with same symptoms.X

[Cyclamenfan in reply to Moneylover]

Hi, I am back on 7.5 mg Felodopine (was on 10mg but told to drop down to 5 mg and the gradually go up to 7.5 mg again) with the 2.5 mg Bendroflumethiazide additionally. I reckon I will still get redness on the 7.5 but we’ll see. Yes, 10mg Ramipril at night with 20mg AtorvaStatin. (Also take 75 mg Clopidogril in the morning because of my TIA in 2022. )

He wanted to put me on Indapamide as I said earlier but I declined but he didn’t say why he chose the Bendro, however I notice on my online NHS doctor’s notes he wrote that if it didn’t help he was going to try a beta blocker next. Never mentioned Candasarten… I like being able to see what he was typing on m NHS app.

It all gets rather complicated with extra pills because as you know you can’t get a single 7.5 but have to take 2 pills of 5 and 2.5. So I feel all ‘pilled up’ ha ha but there are so many others who have more to put up with than me. You sound very informed about it all, hope you can something sorted out. 🙂

[Moneylover in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Oh, I think not Candasartan because too similar to Ramipril… but guessing. Fingers crossed for you. Fingers crossed for 7.5 mg Felodipine but you can always drop down again especially if the extra drug seems to make a difference. Again, good luck

[Cyclamenfan in reply to Moneylover]

You’re right about Candasartan and Ramipril, can cause certain side effects together apparently. Yes, hoping for the best! Take care.

[Cyclamenfan]

Thanks for your comment, it does help to know there are others who are finding similar difficulties although one wouldn’t wish it on any of us. What you wrote was very helpful. Fortunately I like my doctor and he is easy to talk to and I will let you know what happens next. Think I maybe do need a diuretic - as long as it isn’t indapamide as we didn’t get on together!

I do eat a very healthy diet but too much of it so I am being careful as I would love to lose one stone, but the nurse surprisingly said she didn’t think in my case it would make much difference to my BP. Nevertheless I am continuing. Exercise is more difficult as I am 73 and just can’t do things as strenuously as before which doesn’t help me to lose the pounds.

It will be interesting for both of us to hear how we get on at our respective appointments, thank you for your good wishes and hoping all goes well for you too.

[Moneylover in reply to Cyclamenfan]

Exercise good just walking or even sit stand exercise from chair with hands across chest, a physio made me do it to my limit which was about 60 times! Am 77. But mainly losing weight the best you can is great, how can the nurse know. Even if didn’t reduce BP can stop it getting worse, surely. Great you have an easy to talk to doctor, again, good luck Tues.

[Cyclamenfan in reply to Moneylover]

Thanks, I can usually manage 30 minutes walking a day. Also light gardening. You are doing great!

[Moneylover]

Wow. I always thought Cadasartan was a n ‘added drug’. ? Not a first line one. What do you call near perfect levels?? Trouble is am not sure one med would be enough for me. First went to doc with BP 145/85. Several months later when just on Amlodipine 5mg I was getting readings in 180s over 90 which was nuts . I am totally neurotic about it all and think my high readings at that point were stress related although I assume that can only push readings so high. On Ramipril 10 mg got the cough but readings down in 140s. Amlodipine 10mg has given me the blood red ankles but BP right down. So awaiting what’s next when see GP on 15 July. Temporarily on 5 mg Amlodipine but that won’t cut it as where I first started blood pressure journeys! Thanks again.