tykesammy

[tykesammy]

Hi all, I have been on this site for a while now, and it is great to talk to others with HBP.

But is there another odd person out there such as me ???

Who is very intolerant to blood pressure medications ???

[Happyrosie]

over the years I’ve been on this site I’ve seen many many such posts!

You’ve probably already been down the lifestyle and diet route but this is insufficient. Possibilities:

The website of Blood Pressure UK (and they’ve a helpline)

Your dispensing pharmacist

The pharmacist attached to your doctor’s group of surgeries.

[Ylong66]

Hi, yes I am very intolerant, have just been prescribed dapagliflozin by my cardiologist. This drug isn't primarily designed for high BP but it does lower BP

I am very intolerant. After11 meds the medics are looking at a different approach

I am sick of it all

[Ylong66 in reply to Ylong66]

Ps

I am 69 years old, non smoker, no alcohol, healthy diet, fit and energetic, ideal weight,however, I have such a high intolerance level.

I have had an allergic reaction to beta blockers, very scary!

[tykesammy in reply to Ylong66]

Hi thanks for your reply, I too am sick to death of it all. I have tried all of the usual bp meds, and was made to feel by my doctor's that I was just over-reacting, or being difficult. I have been over 6 years trying one and another medication, all of which has truly made me feel like life just not worth living, because they affect me so badly. I am now under the Bristol Heart Institute, and they have put me on Aliskirin, I have coped with 1/2 a tablet, and now they put it up to 1 tablet a day. I have been on it for about 5-6 weeks now, and I can feel the same old feelings creeping in ( and it takes me that long to realise it ) Low back pain, total lack of energy, sleeping all the time, and very miserable. But they are running out of options for me. I am female and 68.

[Sleepyholllow in reply to tykesammy]

Hello tykesammy,

It's like reading my own medication history!! I too am 6 years (now 64) trying various meds with horrible side effects, I have had meds doubled during times when bp is stubbornly high, I am trying good diet and lifestyle currently, never smoked odd glass of wine, I am heartily sick of it all, you are right it is so disheartening, I've even given up taking the bp readings, as they only drive me into orbit!! I've decided that I cannot take the 20mg of Lercanidipine that I am currently on so I take 10mg, and what will be wil be!! I suppose what I'm trying to say is that when you exhaust everything else, just relax and do the best you can re lifestyle etc, I can't see any other alternative!!

[tykesammy in reply to Sleepyholllow]

Hi there, It is just a misery isn't it ? How did these meds affect you ? they make me so lethargic , bad low back pain ( why I don't have a clue ) aching joints, oh it goes on. I don't know if you saw I went to a Professor Lobo in London ? Paid for by myself, because I was so desperate to find some answers. He was good but wanted me to go on a trial called renal denervation, where they can do something to the kidney's. What I found out was that he had chosen 25 of us unfortunate beings lol, and the trial was that half of us got placebo treatment, and the other half the real thing. BUT They would not tell you for a whole year, I said I am sorry but I do not have a year to spend just wondering, so I opted out of the trial. How many meds have you tried ? x

[Sleepyholllow in reply to tykesammy]

oh yes for sure!!! Wish I could go back to the time before I was diagnosed!! I was diagnosed late 2017, I was in a stressful job at the time with a busy house 4 children/ 2 young adults, my husband also had a Busy job. Can't remember the first drug but it was horrendous!! Headaches, heart pounding, miserable! I think it was losarten, after that it was Amlopodine, Which was equally horrendous!! The headaches are the worst! The lethargy and the pounding heartbeat, the current medication is Lercanidipine, which is the least worst of the bad lot!!! I took early retirement in 2020 in the height of the pandemic, that did make a difference, however these drugs continue to dominate my life, I am trying hard to stick with good diet and exercise, My approach now is to try to remove BP from my thoughts and just try to get on with life, I don't even take readings any more cos they freak me out for the rest of the day!!

I suppose what I'm trying to say is, these horrible but sometimes necessary meds aren't going to change, we can only control how we try to deal with them, from reading various articles , it seems that a high potassium /low sodium diet is very beneficial, so that's what I'm doing,

I hope you can find a balance in this minefield!

[Responsable]

How have you come into this situation? Have you been feeling sick because of high BP and this way started experimenting with BP drugs, or you have been simply told at the DRs that "you are in danger and that you need to take medication".

I have decided to go another way - my BP is increased, for the past ... 20 years (slowly progressing to higher values, as it is to be expected). I live happily with the BP which is in the winter about 180/80 and during the summer about 160/70. It is in accordance with the "old rules" where, for us elderly, the BP may go as high as 100+age. So, in my case, the value should ideally be 100+72 = 172, which is what I actually measure most of the time. How do I feel? I feel and function perfectly well - no brain fog, no memory problems, no shortness of breath, full of energy, active all day long. My body knows better than the MDs, who have the task to sell the drugs for Big Pharma!

Please, do not mention the stroke to me, because the MDs have not the right idea what actually causes it, how the clot forms and how to prevent it. Their knowledge is questionable in many fields, sorry to say so! Otherwise, we would not have 30 chronic diseases with unknown cause and no adequate treatment...

[tykesammy in reply to Responsable]

Hi Responsable. That is the thing, no I feel so much better when I am off of these dreadful medications, and I have been diagnosed as bp medication intolerant, by Professor Lobo, a hypertension specialist in London. The whole issue has blighted my life for 6 years., and worsens my anxiety/depression problems.

[Responsable in reply to tykesammy]

Hi, tykesammy!

I so wish, I knew what anxiety and depression look like... I have asked several times, in different forums, but still do not have the clear picture... I am always a "glass half full" person! Believe me, there is no need to be anxious. Here something that may help you feel less anxious about your BP problem:

careclinic.io/elderly-blood...

Trust your body and how you feel! If you feel well, no numbers can say that you are in trouble! I am 72 and last time I was to see a doctor was 7 years ago. I most probably am not without health problems, but they are still mild and I do not see the need to go there as a "prevention". They will always find you "something", so better stay at home... and cheaper, lol!

[tykesammy in reply to Responsable]

Thank you for your reply. Well, I can tell you from experience anxiety/depression has ruined my life. I have been anxious since I was a very young child, and it has stayed with me all my life, and I believe it has contributed to my high blood pressure. Depression is when you have zero interest in anything or anyone, and when I go thro a rough bout, all I can do is stay in bed and wait for it to pass, until the next time. Going through the menopause was just bad and heightened it both.

[Responsable in reply to tykesammy]

Could the anxiety be a state of internal instability, of internal shivering or feeling disoriented? Is the depression maybe a state of an absolute absence of ideas and energy to undertake something? I come from Balkan, where we do not experience such problems. We are happy to participate in life, always ready for a brandy, for any kind of music or action...

[tykesammy in reply to Responsable]

You have probably hit the nail on the head so to speak, I had parents that adored both my sister and me, but had a very volatile relationship between themselves, so yes I have seen countless councillors who have said that was a major factor in my life. But also there is a long history of anxiety/depression in my paternal grandfather.

[tykesammy in reply to Responsable]

Sorry I mean my mother's father.

[Mayomad]

The focus on nothing but high blood pressure and throwing multiple modern drugs at into "avoid a stroke or heart attack " has ruined the last 2 years of my life and my Gp now has me down as medication intolerant. He mentions an "exciting new 6monthly injection" which is coming onto the scene. OK it maybe...but once its in your bloodstream....how much wisdom is behind the thinking.Like you I feel so much better not being a constant guinea-pig with my BP being raised by anxiety. I so wish tykes my I was one of those patients who could just swallow anything prescribed an sill have a normal life Mayomad