Hypotension symptoms and conditions

I started Lisinopril a 6 weeks ago at the suggestion of my Internist. The blood pressure medicine I was on (for 5 years) was too strong and causing me to have episodes of dizziness and hypotension. Since starting Lisinopril I have suffered with a severe hacking cough that is especially troublesome at night. It wakes me up almost every night and I wind up sleeping in an upright position on my lazy boy and taking strong cough medicine to suppress it. Since I am an RN, I attributed this to climate, my job (with children), and generalized stress of graduate school/work/family. I have a call into my Internist and will stop Lisinopril immediately. Thank you for this blog.

i was put on topamax for migraines back in aug 07.

well, i stopped it like 5 months ago. (2june 08) i still feel "out of it" like i'm here but im not. headaches came back but i would rather deal with them than all these side effects. i got severe panic attacks and nervousness, MAJOR HAIR LOSS, AGORAPHOBIA (FEAR OF LEAVING MY HOUSE CUZ IM SCARED TO HAVE ANOTHER PANIC ATTACK), i constantly feel dispatched from my family (i have 3 boys and a husband) every day i feel sick or tired, or both. which led me to stop the meds. (25mg am and 25-50mg pm) i weaned off over like 2 weeks (on my own cuz the neuro told me not to stop it and its all in my head.

i had to quit my job cuz of the panic attacks that just happen for no reason.

i still feel all the side effects even though i have been off topamax. hair loss, panic attacks, depression, "high" feeling all the time, cant hold a normal conversation. i have changed soooo dramatically from when i first went to the neuro and started this HORRIBLE DRUG. poor concentration, i don't feel like i want to be involved in anything- i just wanna lay on the couch with an ice pack on my head. i don't know what to do. my neuro doesn't know i stopped the drug and i was so mad at him for putting me on it that i didn't go to my last appt. now i have to wait until January to see him.

I have been on Topamax for 2 months and it has been horrible. I started at 25mg at bedtime and worked up to 50mg at night and 25 in the morning. I wish I never took it at all. I have had numerous migraines with the medication except now my tongue goes numb every time. I can't remember anything and I am in a fog all the time. I had to take a trip to the emergency room for tachycardia that occurs every time I stand. It goes up from normal to 166bpm. The cardiologist insists the Topamax is causing orhtostatic hypotension. I stopped all of the Topamax on Monday and it is now Saturday and I still feel horrible. Migraines are horrible but being stuck on your couch all the time because your hr increases sharply and you feel like you are going to pass out is worse. My hands and feet tingle all the time. I feel out of breath and I have always been very active. I now feel anxious all the time (never like this before). I feel like I am not myself and I am going crazy. I do not trust myself because I do not feel like myself. Has anyone else had these symptoms? Do they eventually go away? The cardiologist can't guarantee that they will ever go away.

After 25 days on 10 mg/day Lisinopril the following symptoms: extreme dizziness all day, hypotension so bad can't even get out of car seat without almost fainting, night time dry cough (tickle type), unusual muscle tiredness in legs and back (I bike 10 mi/day, 5 days/week for years) and now a rash on both forearms!! Doctor took me off the drug yesterday and prescribed Diovan 80mg/12.5 to begin next week. Wants all Lisinopril out of my system. The most disturbing side effect was Confusion. Even had dreams relevant to the effect on my thinking skills. I imagined this must be what it's like for a person when they realize they have Alzheimer's. Two days off Lisinopril, a little hypotension, dizziness gone, confusion gone, but rash remains and is worsening. All of the above discussed with doctor. He moved me to his own choice for his high BP...Diovan. We'll see

I took Zyrtec for some time, as a prescription med. 14 months ago, my blood pressure spiked, for no apparent reason and after 8 different anti-hypertensive drugs, I had no improvement. I was extremely lethargic, I gained 20 pounds, I had severe dizziness, couldn't sleep through the night the last 5 months, my heart would race, constant back ache, and I felt like a snail - no energy to even walk for 10 minutes. Last week, after 3 nights without sleep, and a blood pressure that was so high, I feared a stroke, I went to the emergency room. After a blood test, I was told I was severely anemic! The doctor immediately administered oxygen and ordered a blood transfusion. I continued taking the Zyrtec while in the hospital, and the nursing staff, and my doctor were baffled that my blood pressure would not drop, it continued to rise! All the cardiac tests they performed came back normal, so there's no problem with my heart. The chest X-ray came back clean, no problem with my lungs, I was just anemic, but that didn't explain why my blood pressure would not drop. I came home and forgot to take a dose one night. I slept through the night, but thought "that's because I'm so tired," and the next morning when I checked my blood pressure, it dropped significantly. I couldn't figure out what was going on, I was going CRAZY! That night, I took the Zyrtec, and ALL the horrible symptoms returned. Well, I was pretty sure what the problem was and began researching the next morning. I some information that stated some severe side effects were found after it went to market. The side effects included: aggressive reaction, anaphylaxis, cholestasis, convulsions, glomerulonephritis, hallucinations, hemolytic anemia, hepatitis, orofacial dyskinesia, severe hypotension, stillbirth, suicidal ideation, suicide and thrombocytopenia. That was the LAST dose I took, my blood pressure began to drop the next day and I began to improve overall. I'm scheduled for a kidney function test because that was my backache, the glomerulonephritis; which is an inflammation of the blood vessels in the kidneys. It may be temporary, but can lead to scarring and damage to the point of failure, requiring dialysis and transplant.

I read that many of you blame Singulair for your side effects when you are also taking multiple drugs. As a public service, I put together a list of side effects from some of the other drugs mentioned on this site. These are by no means all the side effects listed for each drug. The first group is from allergy medications people have mentioned.
Zyrtec & Zyzol -
suicidal ideation, suicide, aggressive reaction, anaphylaxis, cholestasis, convulsions, glomerulonephritis, hallucinations, hemolytic anemia, hepatitis, orofacial dyskinesia, severe hypotension, stillbirth, thrombocytopenia.
abnormal thinking, agitation, amnesia, anxiety, decreased libido, depersonalization, depression, emotional liability, euphoria, impaired concentration, insomnia, nervousness, paroniria, sleep disorder.
accidental injury, asthenia, back pain, chest pain, enlarged abdomen, face edema, fever, generalized edema, hot flashes, increased weight, leg edema, malaise, nasal polyp, pain, pallor, periorbital edema, peripheral edema, rigors.

Benadryl-
Sedation, sleepiness, dizziness, disturbed coordination, fatigue, confusion, restlessness, excitation, nervousness, tremor, irritability, insomnia, euphoria, paresthesia, blurred vision, diplopia, vertigo, tinnitus, acute labyrinthitis, neuritis, convulsions. Epigastric distress, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, Urinary frequency, difficult urination, urinary retention, early menses

Allegra -
insomnia, nervousness, sleep disorders or paroniria, and hypersensitivity reactions (including anaphylaxis, urticaria, angioedema, chest tightness, dyspnea, flushing, pruritus, and rash). Back Pain, Stomach discomfort, Pan in extremity, Headache, Vomiting, Somnolence/Fatigue, diarrhea,

Claritin -
Hypotension; hypertension; palpitations; tachycardia; syncope, Headache; somnolence; fatigue, nervousness; hyperkinesia; paresthesia; dizziness; migraine; tremor; vertigo; impaired concentration; depression; agitation; anxiety;

I have read everyone's symptoms that have written their concerns on this website and I want to recommend that you contact the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website at: www.fda.gov and it will give you all the information you need on the side effects of this drug.

Believe me, many of the symptoms you have all described are on their list under the section that I browsed through when I looked up Lisinopril/HCTZ or ZESTORETIC (the generic kind of this drug).

This what I found:

ADVERSE REACTIONS

ZESTORETIC has been evaluated for safety in 930 patients including 100 patients treated for 50 weeks or more.

In clinical trials with ZESTORETIC no adverse experiences peculiar to this combination drug have been observed. Adverse experiences that have occurred have been limited to those that have been previously reported with lisinopril or hydrochlorothiazide.

The most frequent clinical adverse experiences in controlled trials (including open label extensions) with any combination of lisinopril and hydrochlorothiazide were: dizziness (7.5%), headache (5.2%), cough (3.9%), fatigue (3.7%) and orthostatic effects (3.2%) all of which were more common than in placebo-treated patients. Generally, adverse experiences were mild and transient in nature, but see WARNINGS regarding angioedema and excessive hypotension or syncope. Discontinuation of therapy due to adverse effects was required in 4.4% of patients principally because of dizziness, cough, fatigue and muscle cramps.

Adverse experiences occurring in greater than one percent of patients treated with lisinopril plus hydrochlorothiazide in controlled clinical trials are shown below.

Table Percent of Patients in Controlled Studies

(For a more detailed breakdown of this chart, pls. check the fda website)

Incidence (discontinuation)

Dizziness 7.5
Headache 5.2
Cough 3.9
Fatigue 3.7
Orthostatic Effects 3.2
Diarrhea 2.5
Nausea 2.2
Upper Respiratory Infection 2.2
Muscle Cramps 2.0
Asthenia 1.8
Paresthesia 1.5
Hypotension 1.4
Vomiting 1.4
Dyspepsia 1.3
Rash 1.2
Impotence 1.2

Clinical adverse experiences occurring in 0.3% to 1.0% of patients in controlled trials and rarer, serious, possibly drug-related events reported in marketing experience are listed below:

Body as a Whole: Chest pain, abdominal pain, syncope, chest discomfort, fever, trauma, virus infection. Cardiovascular: Palpitation, orthostatic hypotension. Digestive: Gastrointestinal cramps, dry mouth, constipation, heartburn. Musculoskeletal: Back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, back strain, myalgia, foot pain. Nervous/Psychiatric: Decreased libido, vertigo,
depression, somnolence. Respiratory: Common cold, nasal congestion, influenza, bronchitis, pharyngeal pain, dyspnea, pulmonary congestion, chronic sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, pharyngeal discomfort. Skin: Flushing, pruritus, skin inflammation, diaphoresis, cutaneous pseudolymphoma. Special Senses: Blurred vision, tinnitus, otalgia. Urogenital: Urinary tract infection.

Angioedema: Angioedema of the face, extremities, lips, tongue, glottis and/or larynx has been reported rarely. (See WARNINGS.)
In rare cases, intestinal angioedema has been reported in post marketing experience.

Hypotension: In clinical trials, adverse effects relating to hypotension occurred as follows: hypotension (1.4%), orthostatic hypotension (0.5%), other orthostatic effects (3.2%). In addition syncope occurred in 0.8% of patients. (See WARNINGS.)

Cough: See PRECAUTIONS - Cough.

I found this website to be helpful information in trying to find out more about the side effects I have been experiencing after taking this drug. I also wrote in to the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration with my concerns to see what we can do to get it off the market or have it improved.

There is alot more information about the drug and its generic brand as well, but I thought this was important to put on this website. Hope this helps!

Martha

I am a reasonably healthy 57 year old male, 6' 1", 220 lbs. I started taking Lisinopril 10mg about 1 year old for HPB. My BP was all over the chart, but averaged at about 160/80. After being on Lisinopril for about 1 week, I noticed that my BP would be about 130/70 in the mornings, but jump back up to about 150/75 in the evenings. I have never achieved the 120/70 range that others talk about. It was also at this time that I developed the tickle and dry cough. I lose sleep by waking up coughing. The cough also comes on at any time, day or night. Sometimes I cough until I feel my head is going to explode. I never cough up anything. Always dry.

Over the last year, I have had other side effects that have come and gone and come back again. Among them have been itchy skin, numbness in fingers and toes, chest pains (EKG's and stress tests were fine), stomach pains, back pain, jaw pain, pounding heartbeat, racing heartbeat, loss of sex drive, erectile dysfunction, vivid dreams (when I sleep), feelings of dread and recurring thoughts of something happening to family members.

Since I do not have any prescription coverage in my insurance, I was happy to find a $4.00 drug, but now that the refills have run out, I think that I will ask the doctor for something else.

leg pain, muscular weakness, especially in the thigh muscle, pounding heart, light headedness, persistent for weeks, all disappeared within 2 days of quitting lisinopril

i was given vasotec by mistake instead of my regular vesicare(for bladder issues due to MS). I already have low blood pressure, but developed blurry vision, EXTREME fatigue, and of course hypotension. I thought all of this was an exacerbation of my MS, but now have it figured out. no more vasotec for me!
sara 31

Transient volume overload
Pulmonary edema
Renal failure
CHF
Hypotension (from excessive diuresis)
Sodium depletion

hypotension & hyperglycemia

hypotension: if it is infused rapidly.

hypotension

Anaphylaxis. While under general anesthesia, the patient developed truncal erythema, bronchospasm, and hypotension (BPsys 50-60s) within minutes of lymphazurin administration. The patient recovered after being treated with a 2 L. I.V. fluid bolus, epinephrine, SoluMedrol, Benadryl, and neosynephrine.

severe drowsiness dizziness fatigue hypotension bradycardia palpitations and dry mouth.

Anaphylactic reaction, blood pressure dropped to 70/40, flushing, generalized hives/angioedema, tightness in throat, diaphoresis, palpitations, and lightheadedness(even near syncope) and hypotension. Alterations in the kinin metabolism pathway due to the ace inhibitor