I have been off of this drug Lisinopril for about 2.5 months and ...

You might consider increasing your mineral intake.

A dedicated multi-mineral might be a good addition, even if you already take another multi-vitamin. A natural trace mineral supplement (like Country-Life Kelp) would also be good.

Also, the usual for fighting infection (even though this is a chemical infection): vit-c, vit-e, vit-b, etc... Note that my take on vit-b is that it helps your body do its organic processes, but will further lower your mineral reserves, so it should be taken with a multimineral.

I had numerous side effects that took me years to get under control. I'm pretty sure that I have permanent damage from lisinopril, but can function sort of normally with increased mineral intake.

I had the cough and shortness of breath, which took over 2 years to recover from, because no doctor could tell me what to do to help myself. In the end, I found that zinc and selenium were key to the recovery.

I had lots of abdominal pains, and still have a much weaker gut than prior to the lisinopril. I take some gentle forms of calcium and magnesium that seem to help.

Over time, I've had to adjust my doses of each, and its been pretty difficult to figure out what what changes to make when I'm feeling effects one way or the other, especially since I'm in such unchartered waters and without any guidance from the medical community, most of which is in total denial about side effect and their possible permanence.

Taking too many of one of the minerals can also cause some of the symptoms of lisinopril damage to be worse, so over the years I've had a lot to figure out. For example, calcium was very helpful at first, but too much causes stress that feels similar to shortness of breath - and the amount I needed kept changing - I needed more and more at first, then later finally, less and less. For another example, when I first discovered selenium, I was severely short of breath and at the oddest times - not always, and mostly between meals and only sometimes when doing activity. Because of the odd patterns, I figured out it was nutritional and eventually discovered selenium. I started taking over 400mcg / day for about a month because I found I needed that much to really helped. Nowadays, I take only 50mcg / day, but if I don't shortness of breath comes back after about 3 days. On the other had, if I take 150mcg / day I also get tired and somewhat short of breath. (Selenium helps if you don't get enough, but hurts if you get too much more than you need; mostly it affects the thyroid system.)

In any case, without knowing too much more about your situation, I'd suggest considering adding a multi-mineral supplement to your diet. If you are already taking a multi-vitamin w/ minerals (probably a good idea), then maybe try the extra multi-mineral at a different meal time.

Best of luck to all!

You don't say what your blood pressure is, but the symtoms you still have also can be the symtoms of high blood pressure. Lisinopril may not be the drug for you, but you may need something to control yours. Talk with your doctor if you can. Get a second opinion if you must - but be careful! Good luck.

I was on Lisinopril last April of 2007 and only took one and a half 20mg pills and all of the ssymptoms finally go away in a month and a half. The medication has a long time breaking down in your systme. It stores in your kidneys and takes a while for it to come out naturally. Dyalysis cannot vene flush it out of your system. I feel what you are going through I've been there last year and kept saying to myself I wish I had never taken this poison? I'm not sure how much you've taken and what dose. I only took 1-1/2 pills in total and it took a month and a half.