I took 20 mgs a day for 5 days in September of 2006. I developed...

Read all Lisinopril side effects

Posted at 7:46 PM on May 10, 2009 by melbish, #41364

I took 20 mgs a day for 5 days in September of 2006. I developed a terrible cough, but worse than that, severe chest pains & shortness of breath upon exertion. I still can't go up & down stairs; my pain is brutal and it's going on 3 years since it all began. Before I took the lisinopril, I hadn't been having any chest pains or trouble breathing. Is there any hope of recovery? My doctors all say they've never heard of this kind of side effect; that lisinopril is a very common drug; it's clear that I have reduced lung function & definite pain & symptoms, but there is no way to isolate the exact thing causing it or to figure out how to make it go away; just to control the symptoms. My theory: the lisinopril triggered an autoimmune response in which my body physically tries to reject my own lungs. Any thoughts on that one? I had been taking cozaar as an ACE inhibitor to slow the rate of my renal failure; I have type 1 diabetes and hypoparathyroidism, and while I needed meds before this episode, all I had to do then was manage my diabetes & I was able to live normally. Since this, it's been nearly impossible to do ANYthing. I am at the end of my rope & I want this to stop. But 3 years later, and while the shortness of breath is improved, the pain is actually worse now. I could sure use some advice & support. I'm on my way this week to get set up with a new dr. because we've moved, and I'm going to have to go through this whole thing again. Also - I'm trying to compile a list of other people who have had side effects with chest pain & shortness of breath. Also anxiety & panic attacks as collateral damage.

REPLY TO THIS POSTING | Private Message me | Add as friend | Flag as inappropriate

Reply 6 months ago on May 11, 2009 by guest0222, #19701

I took lisinopril for 3 months and have lung pains, shortness of breath issues lasting years as a result. No doctors helped me so I tried just about every natural supplement I could find. I use one quarter of one tablet of Country-Life Target Mins Zinc 50mg for lung pain. When I first discovered this, I took a quarter of a tablet as much as 6 times a day (e.g. 75 mg/day in total). For me it works well to control the pain, much better than any pain med. Prior to finding this zinc, my cough recover stalled for more than a year, but when I found zinc the recovery restarted. However, after two weeks, I no longer could take this much zinc, and began to steadily reduce the dosage. After 6 months or so, even with zinc my lung recovery stalled again, until I found selenium and learned about how to use it. It is very hard to use, since it depresses the thyroid, but is necessary for the immune system and also necessary for the thyroid system in small doses. Some of the shortness of breath is caused, I think, by the thyroid hormone not being received at its receptor sites (e.g. in the pancreas, liver, etc...) due to lack of selenium and cysteine. Unfortunately, it is very hard to use selenium as too much will depress the thyroid output of the thyroid hormone, which is the last thing you want if suffering shortness of breath from lisinopril. See other postings by me on this site for more info.

Best of luck!

Private Message me | Add as friend | Flag as inappropriate