Diovan and diavan

I'm a 57-year-old male. I have been on Divovan 160 for about 3 years now. Several months ago I started to have back pain and it has been increasing. The doctor took x-rays and cat scan and the reports said that while I have some disc degeneration in my lower spine, the films are virtually unchanged since they were taken 5 years ago. In other words, I should not have back pain - but I do!
Lately, the pain has gotten worse - so bad that I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. It is located on the left side of my lower back. I also have incredible gas and despite diet and exercise, which is now impossible due to the pain, I could not lose weight no matter how hard I tried.
In the last 6 months I have slowly transformed from feeling pretty good for my age and capable of an hour a day on the treadmill to feeling like a 90-year old man. Today the pain was so bad I had to book off sick from work.
I went to the doctor and told him about all the negative stories on the Internet about Diovan. He looked up in his medical journal and decided to take me off the drug. Instead he prescribed a new drug, Rasilez (aliskiren fumarate).
Last month I tried stopping Diovan for 4 days and experienced a significant reduction in pain. I had to go back on because my pressure shot up again. I hope this new drug works without side effects.
Would appreciate responses from any of you who have had success with drugs alternative to Diovan and also success with natural remedies.
Best wishes to you all.

Since I have been on Diavan Hct I have put on weight.

I started taking Diovan after trouble with Lisinop (bad cough!) and Hydrochlorozide (didn't work). At first I took one tab a day, but after a month, my BP was not low enough to keep my Dr. happy, so dosage was increased to two a day. I became so exhausted I could not get up off of the couch. I would lay there and try and will myself to get up and do the dishes or something simple. I just didn't feel like myself. Then I found myself lying in bed at night thinking about how I didn't want to go on this way and what would be the easiest way to do away with myself! Now this just isn't me! I immediately quit taking the Diovan and insisted to my Dr. that I will never take it again. Within two weeks I was feeling more normal. Now I am on Toprol, better energy level, but my feet are really sore...guess I will have to wait and see.