Was wondering if any of you taking losartan for proteinuria experience debilitating muscle pain from it. I've taken it for a year for proteinuria (was at 1700 now around 500) and it helped great with that, but I have terrible muscle and joint pain at least half the day in shoulders, arms and legs. Not sleeping great with the bathroom trips at night but now this pain and can't get to sleep. I've tested for arthritis etc. (I'm 61 yrs.) but all are clear. Any alternatives to this med besides lisinopril (I've tried)? I'm 3a type 2 fsgs so prednisone won't likely help. Thanks. Or has anyone done it with natural meds? I take fish oil too.
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oceansplash
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Hi Oceansplash,I am on Losartan low dose of 12.5 mg per day. This is my first month. Also take it for proteinuria. I was super hesitant to take it because the side effect of increasing creatinine level in the short term. My neph said it is good for slowing the progress of kidney decline in the long term . I don’t recall reading or hearing about side effect of muscle or joint pain.
I am sorry you feel that pain. This is all my experience with Losartan.
My creatinine didn't really raise, maybe a little but has gone back down. I changed my diet, very little meat and fish oil w/the losartan brought my proteinuria down. But side effects for me are almost too much. Hope you don't experience them. Most people take it no problem.
But the pain you have is too much. Do you have a renal dietitian? I wonder if you are eating something that caused these reactions. My neph said that reducing the protein in urine is very important for the kidney and not just to avoid malnutrition. I wish someone had your side effects to come forward and share.
I don't take losartan, but I do take Micardis. There aren't too many side effects to that one, for me anyway. Talk to your doctor and see if he can change your meds. It's up to you to decide what you will put up with in regard to side effects of meds.
I told the neph and she said well then use fish oil. Which I doubt would lower it enough. Basically she was saying it's this or nothing. So to keep proteinuria down I have to live in pain! I'm looking into natural meds to assist and possibly lower the dose and maybe that will help.
I don't know anything about losartan or how their side effects work, but I do know that with statins if you get the muscle pain from that, once you stop taking it the pain goes away. So, something to think about is what would happen if you stopped it for a day or so? How much damage to your kidneys would be done? I would discuss it with your doctor but it's an option. We all want to live as long as we can, but we also want to live in as much comfort as possible.
This week I've alternated with a whole one day then a half but doesn't seem to help so far. Not doing anything till I talk to new doc but chances are he'll tell me to see a shrink. That it's all in my head. that's b.s.
Losartin and lisinopril are front line agents for treatment of FSGS. They play a great role to in regulating and keeping BP under control. I have been on lisinopril for 20 years. My suggestion is to dig a little deeper into why your pain is so intense. It may be a combination of things not just the Losartin. I to have FSGS and have had a kidney transplant for over 35 years. My issues have always been multifactoral in nature. Over the years I have had my medications tweaked or modified so maybe a small reduction of the medication is in order. For the record I have been on low dose prednisone for over 40 years. Yup, FSGS has few treatments options but there are some newer drugs to spare protein now being tested. I encourage you to consider support group activities that are provided by kidneysolutions.org it is free another great source of information on FSGS can be found at Nephcure.org. Prayers headed up for you that you find relief from your pain.
I have an appt with a new neph doc as I just found out mine just retired. So hopefully he'll have more news for me than "at stage 3 you don't have any symptoms" which is what she always said. Then she'd look at me like I was crazy. You can't look up a fsgs dr. here in the states. At least I haven't been successful.
I am on olmesartan medoximil for proteinuria, as my BP is now normal. It did increase creatinine compared to Diovan that I used to take earlier. That had a recall a few years back. Statins can cause muscle aches and cramps. Coq10 can help with cramps due to statins.
No statins, only amlodipine (taken for years), and losartan 15 mos., take Coq10, tumeric, and magnesium daily. Also D3, and k2mk7 and b12. Eat very little meat, bloods are good and improved gfr/creatinine. Actually moved up from ave. gfr53 to 62 through diet.
I was taking lisinopril 20 mg, amlodipine 5mg & atorvastatin 20mg, I take 1 qunol plus 200mg form of coQ10 + 300 omega, 1 probiotic 100 million, 2 kidney cleanse, 1 garlic gel 3,000 mg. 1 blood pressure support 3xs a day. My blood test was good & my egr raised from 58 to 65. I check my blood pressure 3 times a day. If my blood pressure is over 110/80, I take lisinopril. normally it's between 128/77 or lower. I think the only reason for this I eat mostly veg once in a while a piece of chicken or turkey. I don't eat fried foods or drink any more. I also try to exercise once a day. I lost about 3 lbs since May. My doctor will be taken blood work again in Nov. I didn't tell my Dr. I was taken herbs because most doctors don't want you too. I'm not saying you should try this. I've always took herbs once I found out what my problem was. I will however bring in my med nex't visit and maybe my doctor will adjust what I am taking.
I am stage 4 type 2 fsgs and on 100mg of Losartan. But haven’t had pain. Find a second opinion. I don’t think pain is supposed to be part of it. New med, new doctor, both?
I don't have FSGS but I do take 12.5 mg of Losartan once a day at night. I have no muscle pain. Can you go to drugs.com and put everything you take to see if there's some sort of interaction? I also take Zetia for my cholesterol and one possible side effect is muscle pain but I've had none. I cannot take statins.
I've found several people who describe my side effects but they can change meds because they're just taking for blood pressure. I'm taking it for proteinuria. They are testing some new drugs for this so hopefully one will get on the market soon. Other than that I'm stuck unless I go the natural/oriental route. I've taken several natural products that have in addition to losartan lowered it even more but I don't think the naturals alone will be as effective without the losartan. Thanks for your reply.
I'm taking it for proteinuria also. The only affect it's had is to raise my potassium but keeping to low potassium foods keeps it under 5.0. I also quit red meat but do eat some chicken breast, keep sodium low. My kidneys were damaged due to high blood pressure so there's only so much I can do to help the protein leaking as the vessels have been damaged.
Doctors usually prescribe an ACE inhibitor (ex. Lisinopril) or an ARB (ex: Losartan) for proteinuria. They are effective, as you already know. That said, there are MANY different ACES and ARBs. If your doctor won't work with you to find the right one for you, then it may be time to find another doctor. Any doctor who is willing to let you suffer when a simple medication change could help, is not a good doctor, in my opinion. Please take care, and take control. And please keep us updated!
I was prescribed Losartan and my gfr went from 65 to 44. At the time, I was only 69. My family physician who was also my now my X- son-in-law claimed it has nothing to do with the Losartan. The kidney specialist said it did and was caused by low blood pressure. To make a long story short, my kidneys never returned to normal. My gfr went back up but still in stage 3A. So be careful with that drug.
My husband was on losartan for blood pressure and had similar side effects. He was able to change meds. Are there other meds to treat proteinuria? It sounds like Losartan is not a good med for you. I get the horrible muscle cramps from statins. I remember being on vacation in Alaska and waking up screaming in pain from the cramps. I'm sure that the folks in the campground thought a bear was attacking me. One thing that helped me was to use heat to relax the muscles. I have some heat packs filled with corn that can be heated in the microwave that I can put on the cramping muscles. Another thing that might help the muscle pain is an nice soaking epsom salt bath before bed. That might help you until you see the new neph and hopefully he/she will have some ideas for other meds.
HI, Get your potassium checked. I bet you will find it high. See a dietician to help with alternatives for potassium, if you don't know what is good for you. The .....sartan drugs are so great for CKD and proteinuria. Leg cramps are the worse. I get them once in a while in my thighs and that about clears the neighborhood with my screaming.... it's bad. It happens only when my potassium is really high, like over 5.6. So, if I watch it, I am ok. I have been on valsartan, and now on irbesartan. Seeing if switch will make a difference.
You may have something here - I hope!! I get my numbers checked on my own and by my doctor because I don't want to wait every three months. On 7/1/22 potassium 5.3 high, on 7/26 was 4.6. So this could be it especially cause I'm mostly veggies these days. Does this flucuate daily or what? I guess I need to read up on it. But if this is when you get muscle pain bad that also may be my problem. I'll watch it and let you know. Thanks for the heads up!
Did some research on leg cramps and CKD. The issue is quite common. I was on a drug years ago that made me get cramps EVERYWHERE. They were awful. I had to stay on the drug. I found that potassium and magnesium are the culprits that often cause the imbalance that causes muscle cramps. i started taking both as supplements. All the cramps went away. But now, with stage 4, of course, and being plant based, potassium is a real issue for me. However, I found an article and I wish I had copied it. It said that again, the problem is the chemical imbalance. But for CKD, it also talked about serotonin being part of it. And it makes sense when you sleep gets messed up with CKD. I was still taking magnesium until just recently but got very high levels on that and quit. I also was taking melatonin. The cramps are not often, but I had none until just recently, which coincides with stopping taking magnesium and melatonin. I was taking 400 mg of magnesium, which is a lot. And a very small dose, like 2mg of melatonin. I am going to add back a low dose of magnesium first and see what happens. I might add the melatonin also but is sometimes gives me weird dreams. Whatever you do, check with your doctor. Mine knows that I know what I am doing. I will have labs drawn and if the magnesium is high again, I'll have to quit.
You would think that since this is so common with CKD and even more so with dialysis they would come up with a remedy. But it is going to be up to us patients to talk with each other and figure it out.
I recently was also reading about mag/potas imbalance. My mag is on the low side and I've been taking 375mg a day for almost 6 mos. It takes a long time to increase your levels. Potassium is mid high most of the time recently. It should be easier to get down through diet to balance. Also was looking at b12 because testing on low range depending on who you believe. I've read that b12 test in Dr. office is only current blood level and not the cell level so I'm going to 1st take a MMA urine test to see. (methylmalonic acid). Also if folate is super high and b12 lower it could indicate deficiency. My folate is over 20?? This could be what's causing my burning feet and foot/hands & arm pains. So if one of these cures me I know it's not losartan. If not it's back to the drawing board!!
Interesting about the magnesium! May I ask what type of magnesium you take? My neph told me never to take mag as it can stop your heart! I very occasionally take magnesium citrate 200 mg, as I read it helps remedy bone spurs I get from partial foot amputations.
magnesium is ESSENTIAL to the heart and not heart stopping. My heart has been stripped of magnesium by supplements that caused my muscle cramps (not the losartan). Those same cramps were occurring in my heart due to low magnesium in my blood and not stopping supplements for convenience. I also used kratom which started a host of problems with my electrolytes WAY BEYOND, “take electrolyte supplements”. Magnesium has been key ALONG WITH DIET and meds, in stopping the muscle cramps and turning my labs back around however slowly. Electrolyte balance is necessary. I can’t imagine why someone would say magnesium can STOP THE HEART. Sounds like a communication problem and I would ask again about that.
That is what my neph told me and he told me the same more than once. If you are at stage 5, things build up in your blood, and magnesium can stop your heart if the level gets too high. That Dr had 40 years experience and also had a degree in internal medicine
ohhh “TOO MUCH” magnesium. I guess my depleted magnesium took offense, lol! Thanks for clarifying. As opposed to “magnesium can stop the heart!” Like GET THE DEFRIBBULATER and START IT !
Pardon my ignorance here, too. I’m admittedly guilty of ignoring symptoms so I’m no expert!
I edited my comment for clarity as well. Thanks for the reply!
On melatonin, yes it gives me weird dreams to and just taking a low dose. I've been getting my melatonin by going in the sun for an hour. Really raises my d levels alot to. (I live in Florida). Just 1/2 hour between 11-2 when the ultra-violet b rays are strongest will do it. Best if you can expose a lot of your skin - like a bathing suit or naked - lol. No sunscreens. Just another tidbit I learned that if you have enough omega 3 in your system you don't burn. I'm medium fair skinned and haven't burned since raising this. My gfr always goes up in summer.
I was on 50 mg Losartan for several years, developed hyperkalemia (potassium overload) from it and had to stop it. I also had muscle pain, mostly leg. Feel much better now that I'm off it!
My mistake has been IGNORING the muscle cramps and thinking they were limited to muscles I really NOTICE. Being fortunate enough to have not waited until my heart had to STOP to wake me up to self care in my senior years.
Insomnia: I've been taking losartan for several years. A few days ago, I learned that it can cause insomnia, which I'm also prone to and blamed on prednisone. So I stopped taking losartan after 9 AM (I'd been careless about timing before) and I sleep better now.
You have my sympathies! I’m in the insomnia group now as well. I hadn’t noticed the correlation between losartan and insomnia. But I’m not the best at noticing symptoms soon enough to the cause!
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Lisinopril side effects
Lots of side effects can’t determine cause
Losartan 12.5 mg for proteinuria 
What side effects did you experience while on Epogen/procrit/Aranesp?
