Hbp symptoms and conditions

I forgot to mention the incessant tingling in my arms and hands and periodic numbness/tingling in my face.....but the muscle weakness and anxiety are thee worst side affects. I also just started having a cough out of no where. I am stopping this med, at 26 years old I should be able to bring down my HBP with diet, exercise, and weight loss.

I have been on Lisinopril 2.5mg for HBP for a few months now. Not thinking it had anything to do with anything, I started to develop severe muscle and joint pain in my hips all the way down to my feet. I was starting to think I had arthritis or RLS. The pain is really bad and I have taken ibuprofen and used muscle rubs without success. I went on vacation for a week and accidentally forgot to pack the med. Well I had no problems until when I came back and started back on it. The pain has gotten so severe that I called my MD. She recommended I stop taking it and see her in a week. I even ordered a tens unit and started taking potassium supplements. I see on some posts not to take the potassium so I will set that aside for now. As for the coughing, I am a smoker and cough and hack my brains out anyway. So I can't really say its making me cough. This pain though has kept me up at night and I toss and turn because of the pain. I hope now that I stopped taking the med these pains will subside soon.

I am 43 and have now been on 4 different medications for HBP over the last 8 months. I have never taken pills regularly before. Now the most recent is Metoprolol Suc ER. After reading everything on this post, There is absolutely no way I am taking it.

Is there any HBP drug that does not have side effects?

I was prescribed this drug for HBP and have been taking it for 6 days. I've been checking my BP daily and it is now on the low side, averaging 100/60, sometimes lower. On day 2 I tried to take my dog for our normal walk and was so fatigued I could barely make it home. My legs were burning like never before! I thought that my body might just need a few days to get used to the medicine. However, I have become increasingly tired and the muscle fatigue is so bad I can't even blow dry my hair, or scramble eggs without my arms burning. I also have developed a slight cough. I took 1/2 pill today but think I will stop after feeling like this and reading all of these posts.

I was on the Nuvaring for about 2 1/2 months. In that time, I put on about 5 lbs around my midsection. I am very critical with weight gain so I went off of it. I also had some other issues such as a little dizziness and waking up with night sweats.
Since I've been off of it for two months, I feel like I am going crazy because of 3 things. I am SO hoping they are all related to going off of this ring! First, I have severe edema (water retention). I am 39 yrs old and normally 136, so I don't have a big weight issue, but each morning I wake up and my fingers feel like sausages. Well, this Sunday I noticed my ankles and feet were very swollen, so called my doctor. He prescribed me triamterene.
Within one night I had lost 5 pounds. The next night, 3 pounds. I was finally back in the mid one thirtys. Well, I go off of it for two days, and the water comes right back on. Along with HBP which I've NEVER had.
Then, as I was doing my 3 mile walk the other night, my chest felt like something was squeezing and crushing it. I was very scared and had to take many breaks for it to calm down.
I am so scared that there is something terribly wrong with me! I am giving it one more week to see if my body regulates itself. I am like an elderly person eating all low sodium, etc. My whole life is being turned upside down and I am afraid I am about to have a heart attack or have diabetes or both. This is insane.

I started taking this garbage in May of 2009. I would go to the Dr and my BP would be 180/110. Let me say im still on Lisinopril BUT stopping tomorrow. Let me tell you my story.

35 year old male, diabetic and HBP. After years of not taking care of my self i went to the doc, i started taking Lisinopril. With in weeks i got a hacking cough and my BP was still crazy high. They up'ed my dose to 20MG and then hell started.

Constant blinding chest pain, strange electrical shocks in my back and head, went to ER and was admitted, they said i may have had a PAST hart attack Weeks of in and out of the hospital a 3 day stay in the cardiac ICU! Then i had a CT angiogram with dye and that reviled MY HART WAS FINE. I still had this horrible pain in the chest and legs and hands and my gut, electrical shocks and night mares and freak out for no reason at all. Problems with erections and slow hart beat. Unreal panic attack that i think i was about to die or GO insane. The past few days i have had intense pains in my upped back and gut. I went to have some blood work done to see how my new diet is doing. All the numbers were amazing, BUT my LIVER IS HURTING! Now i do not see a doctor for 5 day to review it all BUT i know this pill has mad my life hell for the past 2 months. MY LIVER WAS FINE BEFORE i took this pill.

I was able to make my diabetes VANISH with diet, i must try that with HBP. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PILL.

July 8, 2009
I took Lisinopril for 2 months and began noticing soreness and stiffness cramping in my legs. Joint pain and general muscle weakness. Biggest indicator was my inability to ride road bikes (bicycle) nearly as much as normal. I did not have the muscle strength or stamina to ride like before. On one ride I had such sever cramping I had to get pick up, first time in 18 yrs of bicycling. It also states to not use sodium or potassium supplement while on this medicine, which I was doing for cramping. Also because I was borderline hypertension I did not notice any decrease in BP while on this. I have stopped taking this medicine. nn

I am a 51 year old black male. I went to my doctor and she prescribed 50mg ic lisinopril for my HBP. I went to the pharmacy and got the drug. I decided to find out about the side effects before starting the drug. After reading all these scary stories, I have changed my mind from even starting this drug until I meet my doctor and show her what I have read. Is there anything else I can do to bring my blood pressure down other taking a drug? Because all these prescription or over the counter drugs have some side effects that would make you more sick than what doctors prescribe it for. Thanks for all the stories

I am a 41 year old Black Male, retired Army, athletic, and active. I was treated for HBP on 31 may 09. After taking the meds (Lisinopril) for about 2-3 weeks, I developed a chronic dry cough 24/7. It feels like something is always stuck in my throat or sticking me in the side or back of my throat. I am having chest pains also. sometimes I feel depressed for no reason and very irritable. I has sex with a woman a couple weeks after I had the meds. I really thought she had given me an STD or HIV or something. I even went and got checked for everything and made her do the same. I am glad I found this site. Thank you all.

i was given lisinopril by my doctor for hbp,about 2 months later, i started having blurred vision,severe lower back pains,leg cramps,constipation,mood swings like i didn't care about nothing in life anymore,short head pains,breathing problems,and i almost moved out of the house with my wife because i was always depressed for no reason and i was upset because she didn't understand,this medicine is dangerous and poison.i pray that the lord will lead us and guide us to the right doctor with the right medicine. god bless you all and continue to have faith that the lord will heal us all in Jesus name.i thank him right know for revealing this to us,he is still on the throne and he still loves us.

I am a 38 year old female on Lisinopril for approx. 2 months on and off. I am in excellent physical shape and ideal weight with a family history of hbp. I immediately noticed negative side effects from this drug. Extreme fatigue and confusion the first day I took this pill. The first month it was in combination with water pill and that was a disaster. I could not stop craving salt. I stopped taking this on my own and went back to the Dr. She then prescribed the Lisinopril w/o the water pill and the salt cravings were not as severe but I was constantly hungry! Yesterday I decided to not take the pill and see how I felt and of course I was NOT tired or having any unusual hunger issues. There was an immediate difference! I also have the dry cough which until now I thought was something I had p/u from one of my children and could not shake. This drug is ridiculous. I have taken meds for bp on and off through 2 pregnancies over a 10 yr. period and the pills are worse than being pregnant as far as exhaustion and cravings!!!! This is very scary and I know hbp is deadly, but there are other meds which do not come with all the negative side effects. I will keep experimenting until I find one that works for me. This pill is headed for the trash!!

I am a 56 year old female & have been on toprol for 7 or 8 years. I was a small business owner & under a lot of stress. I had couple of times where my heart would race & pound & I felt really strange. I went to the ER where they of course checked my blood pressure. It was a little high, but I was stressed out! After the second time this happened they put me on 50mg of toprol. I have since weaned myself down to 25 mg. I think I was having a panic attack, which I had never had before. I regret the day I ever started taking this poison. I have had such shortness of breath that I can hardly walk to my mailbox & back. I feel like I can never get enough air in my lungs. I feel a tightness in my chest all the time, sometimes my heart feels like it is beating abnormally. I am always aware of my heart beat which I never was before this med. I have gained about 20 to 30 lbs, which is very hard to lose when you feel like you are dying if you exercise. I have pain in my left shoulder, which I don't know if it is from the med or not. I do not sleep well at night & am so tired all the time it is hard to get through the day. I just overall feel like crap! It seems doctors are no help they just want to try you on other meds, I have tried that too. They are all poison I felt even worse on some of the others. I don't want to go through the rest of my life like this. Has anyone successfully gotten off this stuff? I would love to hear from you. Thanks, K. L.

I am a 52 year young female with sudden onset of high blood pressure. Was seen by a Cardiologist and given the usual tests such as EKG, treadmill, and so on. My tests were fine and he put me on Lisinopril HCTZ 20-25mg. After taking this medication for one week my blood pressure was within normal limits however my pulse races at times and I must sit down until it passes. I have been experiencing pain in upper back when taking a deep breath and mild chest discomfort. Further tests are underway to determine if I am having lung problems such as pulmonary hypertension. Has anyone had similar symptoms? Thank you

I am a 37 year old female who has inherited my hbp. I was taking diazide, which gave me headaches, but now I take the lisinopril. I get the cough, to wear it is gagging sometimes and now I am having the palpitations. How long before you stop taking the medicine does the side effects go away. I don't like this medicine at all. My pressure is down however.......

I am a 35 year old woman and my doctor put me on lisinopril 10 mg at first I had the cough that I see almost everyone gets,but I could deal with that then I started getting very tired all the time,I had started working out and was feeling better since I had been diagnosed with hbp,I ws following the dash diet ,it is said to be real good for hbp.I started taking lisinopril in may and by November I was a complete mess, My doctor never told me of any side effects so I read the little paper that the drug store give you on the side effects but it does not do this justice!I was so weak and tired I could not get out of bed,On thanksgiving I went to the hospital and told them I have no energy I feel sick all the time and dizzy,of course they sent me home thinking I was insane because I was crying ,I felt depressed all the time I did not know what was going on .About two weeks later very close to Christmas I started having palpitations at first I just thought it was stress from the holiday then they came more often ,I was so scared I went to my doc. told her I was have palpitations and she blamed it on my weight! ok now I am overweight but I have lost almost forty pounds and was walking four days a week ,then I said to her do you think it could be the lisinopril ,then she said something I will never forget she said well who put you on lisinopril? I was done then I said well you put me on the drug ,her face went white she said oh yes you should stop taking it I will give you a different one ,so I went home and took it for week and the palpitations kept getting worse so I went back to her and told her I was still having palpitations so then she gave me an e.k.g. and found nothing of course.I told her I was going to stop taking the meds all together and she then said she wanted to see me in two weeks ,In the meantime my boyfriend made an appointment for me to see a heart doc. ,he took another e.k.g.(did I mention I have no insurance)and said there was nothing he could do that I need an echo and a holter moniter for 24 hours to tell him whats going on .I had been off work for a month now so I had no money left so I started crying but my boyfriend paid for the tests to be done which cost a pretty penny .I am still waiting for the results of those tests yet but the more I think about it the more I wonder if I was having lisinopril panic attacks?I have stopped taking all blood pressure meds and my bp is most of the time 120/80 sometimes it is lower sometimes it is higher but I would rather not deal with the side effects of the drug until I really need them!

I'm 48, wm, very healthy>
Thirty five days ago, I went to a doctor
for anxiety. I told him I felt as though I had
an over-active adrenal gland, and too much
adrenaline was surging through my body
causing me to be really nervous, especially
in public places.
I said I took Inderal 20 years ago for two days, and it made me feel weird.
He said the new generation Beta Blockers
are far better, and that most golfers take them so they won't shake during an important putt.
He said he'd put me on the lowest dosage (25mg/day) and said the side effects were minimal. (HA!)
After one week, all went pretty well, except I noticed my previously strong sex drive had diminished. I used to masturbate 3 times per day, and then it was maybe once per week.
I thought the trade off to be calm vs. constant erections due to the adrenaline levels would be fine.
Then the nightmares...
I was in Africa and being shot by Ninja warriors with their AK 47's and feeling the bullets tear into my liver, and abdomen- or falling off cliffs to my impending death, only to wake up at 1am and not being able to go back to sleep for hours.
Then, at the two week mark, I noticed also
I couldn't recall things as quickly as I used to.
At the three week mark, it was becoming clear that the Toprol was making me slow, tired, flacid, fuzzy in my thinking, and giving me constant nightly dreams that were
terrifying.
Finally, I drove to LA from SF, and a song came on the radio. I knew who it was, but just couldn't grasp in my mind who it really was! (Stevie Wonder)
I started to feel really bizarre, kinda like LSD, or mushrooms, and was worried I was going to go insane!
I knew it was the Toprol, but didn't know if I stopped taking it if I would recover.
I just wanted to be like I was before I started this taking this truly awful compound!
Three days ago I stopped (cold turkey) and
flushed my body out with water, and a lot of soup.
Only this morning- after three days without
taking those terrible pills do I feel normal again. I'm not 100% yet, but I know I will be soon.
The lesson here, is I should have read more about this drug before taking it.
I have never taken pharmaceutical drugs before- not even aspirin. This is one more reason to stay clear from quack doctors
who think taking heart drugs/BP drugs are an easy cure for anxiety.
I really feel sorry for all those people out there taking dangerous medications like Toprol.
This drug should have never been approved by the FDA, and the only reason anyone should take this drug, is to understand how it feels to lose your mind, have your sex drive removed, and have dreams every night where all you do is end up dead!
TOPROL should be schedule I, and be banned- or only used by our military on known terrorists...

Started taking 25mg Metoprolol ER in Dec. 08 due to episode of AFIB. I am 44 yrs old with no prior hbp or heart issues. I am not over weight and have always exercised. Now, by end of day I am exhausted, but find I only sleep 4 hours before awaking in a drenching sweat. After that, I seem to dose in an out until morning. Also, my sexual desire has been reduced. Is this normal? RD

Hi,

Fist off I'm a fit 38 year old male, not overweight, don't smoke, occasional social drinker.

I've been taking Lisinopril since being diagnosed with high blood pressure in Feb 08, I was started on a dose of 5mg, which was then increased to 10mg and finally 20mg.

The Lisinopril never really got my high blood pressure under control and my Doctor has now switched me to Bendroflumethiazide, only been on those for about a week so have to see how they go.

Lisinopril certainly made me feel terrible:-

Constant Fatigue
Depressed
Foggy
No concentration
Dizzy
Tinnitus
Pounding headaches

if you feel like this then I'd go and see your Doctor and try something else

began taking lisinopril in June. To my mindtheBP has not reduced significantly but I have developed a dry cough with accompanying mucus especially at night or when I lie down.On two occasions blood was in the mucus. This only occurred recently(last week). I am due for a doctor visit and certainly will brig this up with him.

I am a paramedic and run calls of people having these reactions a lot. It worries me that Docs do not discuss these possible reactions with their patients. Lisinopril is a decent drug to treat hypertension in itself. I have had patients who have been on Lisinopril anywhere from a month to several years. Yes, it is true that it can happen without any change in behavior, health or meds. We do treat it as an allergic reaction. We administer Benadryl per protocol but Benadryl really does nothing in these cases. It really is just a matter of managing the patients airway and waiting for the residual Lisinopril filter from the patient's system. Just be aware of this or talkj to your MD about switching to another HBP controller.

After finding this website weeks ago and stopping my Lisinopril I am still suffering some pretty major stomach issues but at least I feel like my mind isn't as scattered as it was and a lot of the other symptoms seem to be subsiding. I still take a look at this website 2-3 times a week and I am amazed that almost everyday someone is posting how sick this drug has made them. I really feel bad for people who don't have the access to this website and are stuck with the debilitating side effects and don't have anywhere to turn. Why oh why is this poison still being given out without warning!! Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to put their horrible stories on here to save someone else misery!! I could not believe the people close to me who are also on this after I realized what it was doing to me. Most of the people are on it for HBP but there are also lots of people on it for diabetes and my grandmother was on it for fluid on her lungs. She is now being weaned off of it.

I am so glad that I stumbled onto this website. I have been feeling bad for over 1 1/2 years with unexplainable symptoms all of which started around the time that I was put on Lisinopril/HCTZ 10/12.5 to help control my HBP. I started out with flu like symptoms, that progressed to terrible headaches onto chest pain that sent me to the ER. I thought I was having a heart attack. I've been to see every kind of Doctor you can name: neurologist (headaches) allergist,cardiologist (heart doctor), hematologist (bloodwork), rheumatologist (to rule out Lupus) all of which can't seem to find anything wrong with me. I mean nothing. I specifically asked my doctor some time ago if my symptoms could be could be related to the new BP meds and he told me "NO". After reading these testimonials, DON'T THINK HE'S RIGHT. I'M GETTING' A NEW PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN!!!!!

I've been on Lisinopril for about a year and a half now. I thought some of my side effects were just my bad health - tingling in my hands and arms and legs and feet. I've been in ER a time or two in fear of heart attack and they cannot usually find anything particularly wrong with me or my heart. I thought since my blood pressure was down, that this medicine was a life saver. I had no idea these side effects could be from the medicine. Especially since they were pretty mild and sporadic originally and only in the past few months have they seemed to increase almost daily. Also I had to get an ultrasound for my enlarged uterus and I believe the pressure I feel (I had no pressure just a few months ago) is due to the increased side effects of this drug. My concern is this, how do you safely wean yourself off of this junk once you've been on for years. I don't want to even take any more bp medicine - hbp will eventually kill me but feeling daily like I'm going to die at only 36 is not worth living a long life if these symptoms are all I have to look forward to. Save my heart, but give me neurological disorders? I don't think so.

I am a 46 y/o male whom took lipitor 20mg for about 10 days. It was the first medication taken for me aside from occasional antibiotics. Within a week I began to develop severe nausea, weakness, postural dizziness and worst of all, chest pain at rest! I took my last dose last Saturday 8/9/08. Because of the chest pain, I went to the ER on 8/10/08 and discharged the next day after I ruled out for an MI and a negative exercise stress test. My chest pain recurred on 8/12. This AM awoke with nausea, dizziness and chest pain again. I'm going to have an adenosine stress test this PM. I consulted a pharmacologist yesterday about the metabolism of Lipitor and she told me indeed these side effects are not uncommon and in my case, Lipitor will not be eliminated from my body until probably this Sunday or early next week. Anyone experience what I'm feeling?

Hello all,
I'm a 45-yr old Air Force Major (Male) recently diagnosed with asymptomatic chronic Atrial Fibrillation (As in I have it and was walking around not knowing it). When I went to see the cardiologist, my B.P. was only 120 / 74 (Which, until they changed the rules, used to be normal)and he puts me on Diovan 80mg once a day plus Coumadin 5mg. Well the Diovan almost made me faint and I had numbness in both arms, plus a funky rash, kind of like chicken pox showing up on my arms and thighs.
I went online and read horror stories of Diovan so I stopped taking it immediately (I had only taken four doses and never had any horrible symptoms until after I took the meds!). Then the Dr. put me on an Event Monitor and it showed I was indeed in A-fib all the time, plus at night, my heart was racing briefly to 200 a minute while I was sound asleep. So he puts me on Toprol XL 100mg once a day.
Immediately I had trouble sleeping (Which I never had before, ever!) with crazy dreams and tossing/turning. My B.P. dropped to 88/65 and my fibrillating heart rate was 64!!! I was so mad because I actually felt better before the meds. I found this site and saw what everyone was posting and immediately took myself off the Toprol XL.
The day after stopping the Toprol I had slight chest pains (Like angina or gas bubble) but they went away on their own. I slept fine the next night.
I'm having an Electro-Cardiversion done on the 21st July to see if I can stop the A-fib and get in normal rhythm. I know the Dr. is going to be mad at me for stopping the Diovan and Toprol, but I'm sorry, I'm convinced there is a better way to beat all this (Namely exercise and eating right). Being in the service means you have to be Mr. Physical and Mental "perfect" all the time. I cannot afford to be diagnosed with depression in my line of work! Thanks to all on this website and I wish you the best.
PS. for those who think I'm being ignorant of my medication, I have a nice fat insurance policy and Power of attorney for my wife and kid in the event I keel over!!! I may be medication intolerant but at least I took care of my family.