BP meds

[Dan1234567]

Hello there! I know everyone is different but can someone give me some insight on what blood pressure medicines they are taking with CKD I am on Norvasc now and it is causing swelling and to the point where my tongue is swollen a little bit I do see my doctor tomorrow and hopefully we can change the medication

[Hidden]

As long as you understand what works for one doesn't mean that it will work for others. I was once on Lisinopril but it sent me to the ER while I was traveling. I was also on, at various times, Hydrochlorothiazide, Atenolol, and Amlodipine. However, I changed cardiologists in May when I was dissatisfied with the progress, or actually the lack of any.

My new cardiologist put me on a combination of Hydralazine, Carvedilol, and the Amlodipine since early May, and my blood pressure has averaged 122/71. That's with me testing at home twice a day. The readings taken at my doctor's appointments are in line with those numbers as well. My previous blood pressure usually averaged about 142/82.

As others share with you some will say that Lisinopril works well for them. That's terrific. There is no magic pill or combination. One other thing. My cardiologist has to take into account several other conditions that I deal with, in addition to the HBP, like CKD, T2D, and AMD. Best of luck.

[Dan1234567 in reply to Hidden]

I cannot thank you enough for your thorough response thank you so much yes I did try the lisinopril as I was in the hospital and it worked for me but I could not stand the cough it gave me. Norvasc has been working for me and just recently my swelling started so I’m ready to get off of this the answer could possibly be lowering the dosage of the Norvasc and maybe less swelling I am sorry to hear about lisinopril and it’s sending you to the ER

[Hidden in reply to Dan1234567]

Have you gone to drugs.com and looked up your meds there to see if any one or a combination of meds or high dosages could be causing the swelling. With that site you can find out which are common or rare side-effects of the medications.

[Dan1234567 in reply to Hidden]

Yes with Norvasc the main side effect is swelling. I am assuming it just took a while to get into my system

[Hidden in reply to Dan1234567]

It took me two weeks on the Lisinopril before I had to visit the ER. I took it for about a week with no issues and left for Florida but shortly after I arrived my BP skyrocketed and off to the ER I went. The primary reason was that it spiked my potassium. Once they got the BP down using Kayexalate I was discharged and had to see a local physician. That's when I was started on Amlodipine. Still on it to this day, just in combination with the other meds I mentioned.

[Dan1234567 in reply to Hidden]

I thank you so much! I have read so many horrible things about BP meds and you just have to find what works best for you.

[Hidden in reply to Dan1234567]

This is where it becomes critical to your care that when you meet with your cardiologist you discuss all of your concerns and the side effects and come up with something that will work. That's on paper. You actually have to take the meds for a short time to see if, in fact, they will work for you. If you have a smartphone there is an app for Drugs.com that you can put on your phone. When one of my physicians suggests another med I always look it up to see if there are any issues with my health that I should bring up before I have it filled. I don't allow my doctors to call in scripts for me until I check out the medication. If I did then I'd be on the hook for the cost for a med that I don't want to take. There were no red flags on the Lisinopril so I filled the script. As I said earlier, it took two weeks for the reaction.

[AnneEG in reply to Hidden]

My doctor changed me to lisipronol a couple of months ago but it doesn't seem to be getting good reviews. Do g'ps know enough about BP meds ? He said it would stop the muscle spasms.

[Hidden in reply to AnneEG]

Medicine has gotten more and more specialized. A general practioner or PCP has a rudimentary understanding of many health issues. I believe that if you have have a serious issue you see a specialist. HBP and Diabetes are the two leading causes of CKD. I have a cardiologist for heart issues, and when my diabetes wasn't under control I saw an endocrinologist. Now that my diabetes is controlled by diet and exercise, my PCP can handle it. As the head of our Care Team that is one of the early decisions you make... Who will be on your team and be able to give you the best medical advice?

[horsie63 in reply to AnneEG]

I currently take carvedilol, diltiazem, and most recently losartan. The combination finally has my BP at 116/68 at the docs when normally it would be 133/90. The losartan is know to raise potassium so I'm careful what foods I eat.

[steve680]

I've been taking a strong dose of Labetelol ever since I was diagnosed with CKD 13 years ago and it has been very effective in lowering my blood pressure. It slows your heart rate down as well. I was taken off Lisinopril because I was on an ARB (Cozaar). I was then taken off Cozaar because it was raising my potassium once my kidney function declined to stage 5. Cozaar is a great BP medicine and it can re-model your heart if your heart is enlarged due to high blood pressure. But high potassium can be extremely dangerous (sudden cardiac death), so I was taken off of it. My blood pressure was great in the doctor's office two weeks ago: 116 / 61. I am also taking a light dose of clonidine which tends to drop the diastolic more than the systolic. Clonidine used to give me dry mouth. I also take a diueretic,

[Zazzel]

I’m one of the people that Mr K is referring to Lisinopril at a very low dose of 1.25 mg works great for me, but I started out at 10 mg and immediately brought my bp down, but made me dizzy and nauseas. Halved it to 5mg same thing and same thing at 2.5mg. The doctor told me to half if the first two times and although I DON’T suggest taking matters into your own hands, I chose to half it again to get to 1.25 mg as it was still affecting me. I’m small so it was enough. Helped my BP and protein, but it wasn’t until I completely cut out salt that bp stabilized although it was always within a healthy range it tended to go up and down quite a bit depending on sodium intake.

Now, my Mom was a different story. She was on 20 mg I believe of Lisinopril. It made her cough terribly. She kept thinking the cough would go away eventually even though I warned her that Lisinopril gives some people side effects. It ended up getting really bad and made her really weakafyer several months. She finally changed and has had no issues with the new drug for a year now. I don’t recall the name of it.

Every drug seems to affect each of us differently. My brother is on two blood pressure meds at higher doses.

[Sassysmom]

I was on HCTZ and the doctor stopped it and started me on cardura. It's working fine and I don't have the cough from Lisinopril. Please call your physician and alert him to the leg and tongue swelling. The tongue really bothers me. If you're having a reaction to the meds they need to change it now. Not in a week or two. Are you elevating your legs when you're able? Your heart works harder but less efficiently which can cause the edema. If your legs are elevated you may have less of the edema.

[Hidden]

I've gotten there with drugs.com

[Raclette]

I take Losartan (Cozaar) It’s an ARB and have no side effects at all - saying that my Systolic BP reading is still far too high but my Diastolic is is good. How do you cope with this as if I have stronger medicine the Diastolic gets too low and I feel dizzy straight away!