Lisinopril and diarrhea

I just started taking this drug three days ago, and I am already having such bad side effects that I don't want to take it anymore. I am only 29, but have a family history of high BP, and went to the doctor last week to find out my bp was 175/90. Since starting the drug, I've been getting dizziness, but last night took the cake. I woke up around 4:30 with horrible nausea. I ran to the bathroom where I fainted while sitting on the toilet lid, wanting nothing more than to vomit. I remember waking up and looking in the mirror, and my face was as white as a sheet, as were my lips. I looked dead, and it scared the hell out of me. As I came to, I suddenly had diarrhea hit me, and once that was over, I felt better. My husband thinks my body is trying to get rid of the drug. In addition to all this, I am having palpitations and feel that my heart is beating too fast. I know that part of this is nerves, because I'm scared of taking this medication, but the fainting and nausea ARE because of the drug. I called my doctor today, and she wants me to come in to get my BP taken again. I am so scared that she won't lower the dose or (better yet) switch me to something else, because my bp always goes up at the doctor's office when I get nervous, every time. Oh, and I also started metformin last week because the doctor tested my blood sugar and it came back 250. Could it be the combination? I don't know. I just know I have only been on this stuff for a few days and already hate it and feel that it's bad for my body! It's very scary.

10-1-09 For the past year my husband has complained of severe headaches, muscle and stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea, hot flashes weight gain and severe depression.(he takes anti depression meds) He sleeps 8 to 10 hrs during the day and all night. He has seen a stomach specialist and a neurologist. He has had numerous tests done by both Drs. He had his gallbladder removed in Dec.08 He had over 100 gallstones His thyroid is very low, (has been since diagnosis 6 yrs ago) his medication has been increased 2xs in the last 2mos. He is not any better. He will see an endocrine specialist 10-5-09. I have researched for hours on the internet for anything that will help the drs. find what is causing all of these complaints. He has so many symptoms, nothing matched and from head to toe. No luck until now. He has every symptom that you good people are describing. I will most certainly use this information and share these stories with his Dr. I have seen the LIFE being sucked out of my husband. None of these "Specialists" have ever suggested that perhaps the lisinopril might be the problem. I GUARANTEE YOU I WILL!!
Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories, GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. A. A.

Just found this blog. I was on 10 mg Lisinopril for a few weeks for moderate BP. After about 2 weeks I started getting muscle aches cramping at night in legs and arms. I am also in physical therapy for ankle tendinitis. Thought pains were from that but they did not go away and my arm pain continued through day. I never had arm cramps before. I told my Dr and they said they had not heard of this reaction to the med but said go off of it for 5 days and then back onto see what happens. I stayed off for 2 weeks. BP started to creep up again. I had in the meantime decided to start breathing meditation to see if I could go a more natural way. I have only done breathing techniques for a week so decided because BP was gong up would try taking 1/2 dose of Lisinopril one am at 5 mg. I was ok till later in evening, pretty wiped out. I thought that was no big deal. But when I got up next am and took another 5 mg, I had diarrhea and kept peeing all day. I am not on the diuretic version of this. It was like my kidneys went overdrive. I could hardly move my legs and arms, VERY weak muscles, very sleepy and the cramping was starting to come back , though not as severe as before. I also have palpation and pain in left chest, seeming more like nerves than heart though. I usually push my physical therapy and can do anything they say but could hardly do anything and therapist said quits and told me to call doctor asap. I left them message on their phone with symptoms and have not heard back from them today but I am not taking this med again in the am!

i am 30 yrs old and started taking lisinopril 20 mg along with 25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide about 6 weeks ago and then lisinopril was raised to 40 mg and i dont know whats worse the high blood pressure or the side affects that im getting,tired all the time,that damn cough,shortness of breathe,diarrhea,and nausea and a racing pulse that when i was watching tv went up to 135 and my insides just started to shake.im starting to get a little scared with my high pulse .if anyone else has the high pulse due to lisinopril p;ease let me know,thank you

My husband is a 64 year old relatively healthy man. His family doctor prescribed 20 mg. Lisinopril and 40 mg. Pravastatin to lower his blood pressure and cholesterol. He began taking both drugs on March 17, 2009 and since then has had nothing but problems. Dry hacking cough, lack of appetite, disorientation, dizziness, joint pain, leg cramps, stomach bloating and diarrhea, metallic taste in his mouth, sweating, numbness and tingling in his fingers, EXTREME fatigue (sleeping 18-20 hours a day), sore throat and swollen glands,frequent urination, itching rash on his forearms and head and just about every other bad symptom you can think of. Today I am going with him to his doctor to let her know that I took him off both drugs April 15th because I firmly believe they are toxic to his system. To date, there has been little improvement in his health, and I am wondering how long it will take for these medications to clear out of his system. In my opinion, Lisinopril is a VERY DANGEROUS DRUG and should be removed from the market. I am so angry that my energetic husband has been reduced to a state of the walking comatose. He cannot perform the simplest task without needing to rest or sleep. We can lower his cholesterol with diet and exercise, but now I'm wondering what we are going to do about his high blood pressure. It scares me to even think about adding another drug to his system without knowing what the consequences are going to be. Everything I have read in the blogs on his website indicate to me that someone is making a lot of money making people sicker. The question I'm going to ask my husband's doctor this morning is "would you give this drug to a member of your family" knowing the devastating side effects"? Then I'm going to tell her that I hope her malpractice insurance is paid up because if anything more happens to my husband, I'm going to own everything she has. And one more thing, after I hear what her response to my husband's symptoms is, I'm going to find another family doctor who takes a more conservative approach to the matter of high blood pressure and cholesterol.

I have been on Lisinopril for over 30 days. I started getting severe pelvic pain and a routine UA indicated I had an infection as well as blood and protein present. Dr. was worried about bladder cancer. Took sulfur based drugs for the infection and subsequent UA was clear but severe pain continued. Scheduled PAP and Dr. ordered ultrasound. He indicated that uterus was pushed over slightly to one side and indicated it could be fibro cysts. Ultrasound was normal. Dr. ordered CT scan, normal. Dr. wants to send me to gastroenterologist. It takes three 7.5 mg. Vicoprophen for pain to abate for 4 hours. I sat up all night researching and came up with isolated viseral angioedema a very rare and seldom known side affect of ACE inhibitors (Lisinopril). It affects the small bowel. Would assume that small bowel was so swollen that it was pressing on all other abdominal organs, especially bladder, causing pain. Had diarrhea at first then constipation. When looking up isolated viseral angioedema it says that gastroenterologist usually do lap surgeries looking for cause of pain before they figure out that it is the Lisinopril. Immediately quit taking and 3 days later almost pain free. If you have abdominal pain and are taking Lisinopril, cease before undergoing any further testing. It cost me $2,000 to figure it out on my own.

I am a 31 year old male, in decent shape (play basketball, volleyball, workout at least 3 times a week) but I have a family history of high blood pressure and have had it myself as long as I've been tested. Went to cardiologist as a check up on my slightly enlarged heart, long story short, ended up on Metoprolol (25mg) beginning of 2008 and have been fine but no real help with bp. Then was put Lisinopril (5mg) a few months ago and my blood pressure was great at last checkup. However during that time I had a couple of weeks where I was very dizzy, that sort of feeling your brain is taking a second to keep up with your head as you get up, along with a fogginess and what seemed like sinus issues but I chalked it up to weaning off of a small dosage of Zoloft I had taken for over a year. I also developed "the cough" everyone refers to, but since it is winter in New England I chalked it up to dry heat, even though it was a choking cough unlike any I've ever had before. Also during that time I seemed to completely lose my sex drive, again figuring it was just something to do with the Zoloft or general anxiety. Then in the past week I started getting a constant headache, having really interrupted sleep, very foggy and out of it, tired, dehydrated, constipation, nausea, all things that I would normally associate with allergies or some kind of sinus/flu, but yet I couldn't really pinpoint anything that would be causing it.

Then I finally started looking up things about the meds I was taking and came upon this site, and guess what? Everything and every way I was feeling was described in hundreds and hundreds of posts on this site. I don't think my side affects were quite as strong as some have experienced (for instance the cough is very infrequent, like twice a day) but I have only begun my journey with Lisinopril. So despite the warnings, I decided to stop taking it a few nights ago, and almost instantly I began feeling better the next day and since then.

I have since called my cardiologist and he has recommended I switch to Diovan, basically saying that based just on the cough symptom alone, he wants me off of Lisinopril as this is a known side affect. Now I am left debating whether or not I want to continue down this path of trying different combinations of pills to poison my body in order to lower my bp. It seems like others have noted marked differences between taking Diovan and Lisinopril, where the Diovan has been much more tolerable than Lisinopril (with a great decrease in any side-affects) but I'm 31 and although I know it will be very difficult to reduce my bp on my own (believe me, I've tried) maybe I'm too young to start with the "last resort" of these toxins. Just reading about the possibility that Lisinopril was robbing my body of zinc or other minerals, so that my immune system is greatly weakened, likely being the cause for most of the symptoms, is enough to ward me off of pills altogether. It's a sad statement on the state of health care in America when I am left to basically make such an important decision on my own, because I can't trust that my doctors aren't just working in the interest of the drug companies to boost their income. I don't want to have to choose between a silent killer and a horrible existence filled with "side-affects".

In the end, based on some of the reports on here, I think starting on 40mg of Diovan will be fine, but I will certainly be VERY wary of anything unusual and immediately find other options.

I was prescribed this about two weeks ago. I knew I had high blood pressure and decided to work on getting it lowered. I started taking this and immediately had headaches in my temple...then numbness up by my cheeks and something that felt like hot flashes. I would get dizzy, was extremely tired, couldn't concentrate and had one of the worst cases of diarrhea I had ever experienced. My distant vision became very blurred. However, I thankfully never got the cough.

I spoke with the doctor about this and she said that there was no way this drug was causing my headaches. I'm scheduled for an MRI tomorrow and she wanted me to have a temporal biopsy, which I think is drastic.

I read an article from a medical journal that low blood pressure can cause headaches. This was just published last spring of 2008. I started getting the 24/7 headaches 3 days after I took Lisinopril. Aspirin or pain relievers never helped.

I took myself off of it two days ago. Yesterday I was so weak and tired with headaches all day long ...however today, I'm beginning to feel much better with much more energy. The numbness is disappearing in my cheeks and the headaches have greatly reduced.

I am thinking about a natural alternative to this ...losing weight...exercising and going on the dash diet. Unless of course the MRI shows something. I also thought about cutting the dosage of the pills in half or to one quarter.

Side effects seem to be different with two different brands of Lisinopril.

First maker is International Labs Inc. seems to give me the heavy chest along with more sluggish feeling. Which results in some Ed problems as well. Terrible gas.

Where as I have some Lisinopril from Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. which seems to be better.

I was told by someone that the makers may use different fillers to make the pills which I could be reacting too ?

Has anyone else found this to be true, Plus what brands does everyone else get ?

Either way I have been on this Lisinopril for 5 weeks now not liking it much but did get past the terrible couch scratchy throat feel by drinking some milk first to coat my throat, someone told me and it did work.

Waiting to see what troubles show up next with taking this long term. Not sure I can afford the blood work it will require when they soaked me 625 plus 222 dollars for two visits to get this 4 dollar pill.

Maybe they just prescribe this to lower our pressure for when the bills show up for us Unlucky Unemployed people without Health Insurance !!

Oh My Gosh - as I sit here with abdominal cramps typing my experience - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I started taking Lisinopril in late April 2008. On May 2 I had severe abdominal cramps and massive vomiting for 8 hours. Finally got myself to ER after I sent my family on to our vacation (I joined 2 days later). The ER attributed it to food poisoning. Lo and behold, I had another "attack" on May 9th. Back to ER I went (my husband witnessed my attack and insisted I go). They took X-rays and MRI - found intestinal inflammation but didn't know why. My internest send me to gastro dr. Third attack hit on June 5th and gastro doctor sent me to major hospital ER. They, too, did MRI & blood work. Looked at gall bladder, pancreas, stomach, intestines, etc. They found intestinal inflammation. Gastro Dr. took more blood and did more test (CT, MRI, Colonoscopy, Endoscopy). He couldn't find anything so he sent me to rheumatologist. She did add'l blood work and genetic testing. She though I had an auto-immune disorder - like Mediterranean Familial Fever! Please...! But all her tests came back negative. She too had no answers, only treatment for symptoms - Colchicine and Prednisone. Yuk. After having my 8th debilitating attack yesterday (since May), I've had enough. I went to the Web and found this wonderful site - along with some others with helpful info. I don't have confirmation that the lisinopril is causing this - but it sure sounds like it. I am a 49 yr old female and I've had no "life changing" events in my life (except for this nastiness) and have been on no other meds. I find it interesting that out of all the doctors I've seen - and all knew of the lisinopril - that none suspected this as a side effect.

I have been on Lisinopril for 10 months and I have experienced horrible side effects. I am 48, pre-menopausal and I believed the side effects we due to my aging. I thought I was dying on this medication. I started having stomach problems, diarrhea, bloating, swelling in my throat, dizziness, cramps in my feet, constipation, weight gain, hair loss, shallow breathing, increase in my glucose levels making me pre-diabetic. Most importantly, I believe the drug contributed to the heart palpitations I experienced one month after starting the drug. I rushed to the hospital and had to wear a holter monitor for a day to monitor the irregular heart beats I was experiencing. My blood pressure was never stabilized until I started a new drug. I am now off this Lisinopril and taking a wonderful drug called Tekturna. Tekturna dropped my blood pressure down to 122/72 from 150/80. Talk to your doctor if you have experienced these side effects and demand a change.

I was on Lisinopril for about 3 1/2 months. I coughed the entire time-day & night. I coughed until I vomited almost daily. I had diarrhea, severe muscle cramps in my sides and toes. The coughing was HORRIBLE and I really thougth it was going to kill me. I saw a new doctor who told me Lisinopril is notorious for causing coughs. My first doctor told me to take Mucinex. He is a moron. Thank God I changed doctors. It took an additional 16-17 days for the cough to subside once I stopped taking Lisinopril. Now I am taking Norvasc 10MG. It makes my ankles swell. Not thrilled with it but I could not cough another day.

I have been on Lisinopril for about 10 months. I have really not felt well the whole time and have developed some side effects that i have gotten use to and just lived with and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I had fatigue, problems concentrating, headaches, chest pain, blurred vision, body aches and overall didn't feel like doing anything. I also noticed a small rash on my stomach/chest when i would get out of the shower but figured it must have been soap or something. I even tried not using soap and it would still be there. Friends and family started telling me I never feel good etc. So about 3 weeks ago I got really sick with diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, chest pains etc. Kept thinking i had a virus or something. A few times i was so sick I layed on the floor wondering what is wrong with me. Finally got into my doctor today and he also said it was a virus. A few people said they thought i was my blood pressure pills including my chiropractor. The doctor ran a sleu of tests today and i should get the results tomorrow. I have also had itching all over my body and a vaginal infection so i thought that would not go away. From reading all of this I realize everything is a reaction to the medication and I did not take a dose tonight but 2 benadryl instead. I always noticed throughout this that i always felt better towards the evening of course because that was when my medication was due. I will not be taking anymore of this and I am not happy that so many people are being given this everyday without any knowledge. Thank goodness people are responding and telling their stories so we don't think we are going crazy and hopefully feel better and maybe save a life!

Well since we are taking snake venom, here are the symptoms for a snake bite:
* bloody wound discharge
* fang marks in the skin and swelling at the site of the bite
* severe localized pain
* diarrhea
* burning
* convulsions
* fainting
* dizziness
* weakness
* blurred vision
* excessive sweating
* fever
* increased thirst
* loss of muscle coordination
* nausea and vomiting
* numbness and tingling
* rapid pulse

Update and a question:

I posted about a week ago about some of the side effects I was experiencing from lisinopril:

-lightheadedness (including one fainting spell)
-some discomfort and tightness in my chest
-difficulty breathing (when this happened, I would force myself to breathe deeply and usually found that I was breathing OK ... just felt like I wasn't always getting enough air)
-feelings of panic
-muscle pain in back and neck
-diarrhea

I stopped taking it a little over week ago and my doctor wants to start me on diovan. After my experience with lisinopril, I want to wait a little while before starting a new med.

So my question is, how long does it take to get lisinopril completely out of your system?

I've felt some of the same side effects recently (slight dizziness, some discomfort in back and chest area). But that was after working in the Texas sun for a couple of hours in the morning. (I've heard that lots of sweating and dehydration can increase some of the side effects of lisinopril.)

Can anyone tell me your experiences after getting off lisinopril?

I can't tell you all how glad I am that I found this web site.

I've been taking 10mg Lisinopril daily for about ten months now (for slightly high bp). Beginning last October, I started feeling the following symptoms off and on:

-lightheadedness (including one fainting spell)
-some discomfort and tightness in my chest
-difficulty breathing (when this happened, I would force myself to breathe deeply and usually found that I was breathing OK ... just felt like I wasn't always getting enough air)
-feelings of panic
-muscle pain in back and neck
-diarrhea

I've never really had any previous health problems and I've never suffered from anxiety or panic attacks.

I saw my doctor several different times about these issues. When it first started, my wife wondered if it had something to do with the medication. My doctor (who I really like) said 10 mg is not enough to really do much of anything.

Since I've been on it, my bp has been great. And I knew 10 mg wasn't very much. I believed that the medication wasn't causing it. So I went through the series of tests:

-MRI was normal
-blood tests were normal
-repeated EKGs were normal
-chest x-rays were normal
-stress test was normal

My doctor started thinking it was something mental and talked to me about ways to reduce stress and anxiety. But I knew there was something going on.

Then I found this site. I stopped taking Lisinopril yesterday and am talking to my doctor about changing to something else.

Thanks, all!

When my bp, which had always been VERY low, rather suddenly skyrocketed at age 48 (possibly as a long-term effect of the preeclampsia I had 23 years ago when pregnant with my daughter), I was put on 10 mg of Lisinopril. I had diarrhea by that evening. The next day, the diarrhea thankfully disappeared, but other flu-like symptoms set in--mostly nausea and muscle weakness/fatigue. The nausea often made it hard to eat, and the muscle weakness was so bad that sometimes I'd have to stop what I was doing---even typing on the computer--and go lie down. Fortunately, these symptoms abated after one week, and I've been fine for the last two weeks. But now, as my bp is still too high, my Lisinopril is being increased to 20 mg, so I fear getting sick again.

I began taking Lisinopril last week. First the lightheaded and dizziness arrived. Called doctor was told to take at night to lessen this. Now I am nauseous and have a strange taste in mouth and the tip of my tongue feels like I scalded it with hot liquid. Calling Doctor to find out when she can see me again.

decomposition of lisinopril in acidic medium so narrow absorption window.

I've been taking lisinopril for about 4 months for HBP which I have had since I was 18 and I am 40 now. My blood pressure went down immediately--I can never remember the number but before nurses testing my bp would always say I was "a little high" and now they always say "it's normal." When i first started taking it I noticed I felt a little depressed, and I always felt lethargic on lisinopril. I believe that's just normal from taking something which reduces BP. I had bad diarrhea and got pretty sick for a short while a couple weeks ago but there was a flu that was going around. I noticed some dizziness and was pretty out of it, but I have felt those symptoms before I started on lisinopril. I am now worried from reading your complaints about this drug.I ran out of pills a few days ago and I feel much more energetic and with-it now, generally better although now I worry about the long-term effects on my body of my HBP. I currently have a headache and to be honest I still don't feel 100%. While I was on it I noticed some dryness in my belly and my poop seemed weird not normal--I had some bad flatulence and my poop would come out sometimes pretty sparse. I definitely felt different, especially in my digestion and lethargy, but did not have very very bad side effects. Still I'm thinking twice before taking it again. My father had some blindness in one eye that was apparently from long-term HBP, so I am concerned about long term effects of not doing anything about my BP--so I may go back to lisinopril or whatever else my doctor prescribes.

I took one dose of Lisinopril and thought I was doing a colonoscopy prep. I had diarrhea every 10 or 15 minutes all night. No cramping, chills or fever, just flooding, dehydrating diarrhea. My husband had eaten the same food that I had eaten, so that could not have been the cause. I was fine the next day, and will not take Lisinopril again.

I started taking Lisinpril about three weeks ago. Doctor prescribed 40 mg twice per day. After about a week, I developed a severe case of diarrhea but no other illness. Other than that, I felt good. It almost cleared up in about a week. But soon, it got worse. I was having to go to the bathroom about every 30 minutes. Very, very loose stool and gas. After aboout 2 1/2 weeks, I had to get off the drug after finding this web site and all the side effects. I soon developed severe abdominal cramps n adition to the diarrhea and general flu like symptons. Its been three days after getting off the drug, I'm to sick to go to work today and I have a doctors appt. tomorow morning. I'm a 55 yr.old male with good health except for some elevated high BP. I have not doubt my side effects are caused by the lisinopril. To many of us, this is bad stuff. Its been years since I have been this sick. I plan to let FDA know of my side effects and I would encourage you to do the same. Bad Stuff. glen

Due to recent heart problems, and recently diagnosed HBP, cardiologist prescribed Lisinopril 10 mg. I took it for a month. It did lower my BP, but the side effects were too much to bear. It gave me constant gas and diarrhea. I need to be sharp mentally for my job and normally am; however, the Lisinopril left me feeling somewhat confused and interfered with normal thought processes. I was constantly forgetting things that I normally would not. I went back to my doctor yesterday, and he said to stop taking the Lisinopril immediately, and prescribed Diovan. I took one this morning - no gas as of yet, no diarrhea, and my head is clear. Hoping this is the answer.

59 year old female, overweight.

My nightmare with 40 mg. Lisinopril started 3 months ago with the dry, hacking cough which got bad enough for me to gag & left me short of breath. I stopped this med completely after reading the horror stories here. Had little effect in lowering blood pressure.

I felt achy all over - thought I had the flu or a nagging cold which wouldn't let go, yet no temperature or other symptoms. Been coughing for 3 months. Some numbness in left hand fingers. Very tired all the time with no desire to do anything.

Depression got much worse, I felt like I was dying or had cancer and just felt like I wanted to end it all to get relief.

Had moving chest pains and some pain in left arm. Bad stomach/intestinal pains with bloating, gas & cramps. Some dizziness & light-headed feelings.

Reading the posts on this forum has been a Godsend; I wish I had found it sooner. My mom just got a prescription for Lisinopril; I told her to not take it - it's poison. Referred her to this page. When I read the same symptoms over & over on these pages, this is a red flag. Only wish the doctors would take heed of this - in fact I plan to tell my doctor tomorrow to come here & read these postings - they are an eye opener and could well save others from the horror of Lisinopril.

I'm planning on weaning myself off all prescription meds and start an herbal/alternative lifestyle. I stopped this stuff cold turkey when I read all the posts here & am feeling somewhat better altho I still have the nagging cough. Truth to tell I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

My 82 year old brother was put on 40 mg of Lisinopril to lower his blood pressure. He was already taking Atenolol (50 mg) and also taking Simvastatin (40 mg) for cholesterol. With in two (2) days his fingers started going numb and hurting. It took us about 5 weeks to realize the systems started right after he started on Lisinopril. By that time all his fingers were numb and tingling, with lots of pain. He also had, nausea, shortness of breath, & upset stomach with diarrhea. After reading the same side effects on the website, he immediately stopped the Lisinopril. Most of the systems stopped fairly soon after stopping the Lisinopril except the numbness, pain & tingling in the hands. It has been over 2 months and with some alternative treatments he is finally seeing some relief from the hand problems.

I took Lisinopril for only 2 weeks and quit. First, I was dizzy. Then, I developed nausea, diarrhea, headaches, and a cough. Finally, confusion and depression. I intend to hunt for the answer to lower my bp, perhaps trying a natural solution.

Christine Tippit

I've been on Lisinopril for almost 2 months. At first I was so tired that I needed a nap about 4 hours after taking it. The dry cough came and went more like a tickle. Went back to the doctor and complained that the sleep rx she gave me didn't work so she prescribed Trazadone 10mg and my Lisinopril is 20mg daily. I awoke the next day with nausea, diarrhea, headache. Decreased Trazadone to 1/2 or 1/4 but the diarrhea has not quit. I called the clinic and was told to stop the Trazadone(who needs sleep right?) and take 1/2 of Lisinpril daily. The diarrhea and the cough will not go away and the cough will come at any time. I'd rather take my chances with the hypertension than this. I am an obese woman but have lost 30 pounds in the last 5 months, so as I continue to lose hopefully I won't need any meds.

am taking lisinopril 10 mg, once a day, and celexa 20 mg, once a day for less than a week. initially, the two combined, in the a.m. caused severe nausea, diarhhea, horrible headaches, and double vision. needed to have clear head friday for important meeting at work, so did not take either--felt amazing! Felt I needed to take meds like doc said (doc saved my life after 10 years of undiagnosed diabetes with another doc), so tried switching the times up, taking lis in a.m. and celexa before bed. no side effects until i took the celexa--I didn't sleep. am going to try taking the celexa in the a.m. and lis in p.m. and see if that is better. my side effects seem to only be bad when taken in combination--except for being unable to sleep.

I was prescribed Metoprolol and broke out in hives. My doctor then switched me lisinopril. I took it for the first time yesterday and I had a very bad sore throat to the point I could hardly swallow, diarrhea and I feel very blue (not myself). Is this common after only one dose?

I took Lisinopril for only 11 days and stopped due to the horrible night cough - ALL NIGHT LONG !! Wasn't getting any sleep, it was awful. I know I had some earlier minor side effects, but they were not as bothersome and went away - like diarhhea, urinating a lot, minor muscle aches. But this cough was something I couldn't put up with. The night after I stopped taking, I slept thru the night!

I Started taking Lisinopril a week ago. I been a zombie every since. I just found out it is Brazilian snake venom. The first time I taken it my bottom lip swelled. I was given benadryl. I cannot hardly function. I have nausea, i been vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and right now. I feel like I have something in my throat. Feel like my tongue is swollen in the back. I feel like i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because If I quit taking it. My pressure will rise. So, what's a girl to do?

i have been taking lisinopril 10mg for nearly 3 months. It has resolved my blood pressure issue But i have had constant dihorea and always feel tired early evening. I feel that my legs have started to swell and am carrying more fluid.
Am i going mad??

I was taking Atenolol for a few years and it worked marvelously, but because I am diabetic- my Dr put me on lisinopril because Atenolol supposedly raises your sugar somewhat.

I have only been taking lisinopril for a few days, but I have already noticed headaches, stiff neck and sore joints, nausea and diarrhea, and my pulse seems to be racing. I feel like the blood is rushing to my head so I doubt it is working for my blood pressure.

I also take lipitor and metformin (and low dose aspirin).

I was reading the ingredients, and I am curious why lisinopril wouldnt raise glucose since it contains starch!?

I think I will be heading for the emergency room shortly if my head continues to feel like its going to pop. I would rather go back to Atenolol and deal with the tingling, because at least it maintained my BP which is what I was taking it for.

I see that most people have had gastrointestinal side effects from Lisinopril; my dosage is 20mg. I started the Rx on 07/14/06 and on 07/20/2006 have had multiple symptoms: indigestion (acid reflux?) diarrhea, nausea w/o emesis, no energy and worst of all, it seemed to stop what it was supposed to do, control my BP.

Has anyone had any Positive (besides decreased blood pressure) things happen on this medication? My doctor just prescribed it to me, and he said It was a wonderful drug, but now i dont even want to take it after reading all these. It doesnt seem worth having other health issues to resolve one problem. I could deal with dizziness and light headedness because i already suffer from vertigo, but I've lost 30 lbs in 6 months and that was hard enough, Ill be darned if I gain it all back and suffer from coughing,diarrhea, pain and worse headaches. Email me @ ****** if anything positive has happened

I've been on lisinopril for quite a few months now. A week and a half ago my Dr. upped it from 10mg to 20mg. For almost a week now after I eat I have the urgent feeling of a bowel movement. It isnt diarrhea but it isnt normal either. This occurs at work or at home. Also for years I have been treated for panic disorder and depression for which I take lexapro. Lexapro has been working very well. Now I have noticed that my anxiety and depression are creeping back and affecting me. Am I going crazy or what?

I just found this site. Whew, I am not going crazy! I began taking 5 mg. of Lisinopril a couple of years ago and it didn't seem to help my borderline blood pressure. We moved to another state and the the new Dr. upped it to 10 mg. I have been on this for a few months and have experienced several of the symptoms others have shared. My coughing, especially at night, can be horrific. Since I have allergies, I thought it was associated with them, however, I never had coughing spells like these, until Lisinopril. Other symptoms included heart burn and dull headaches. The most significant problems I have had are sleeplessness, a few anxiety attacks at night, diarrhea and serious dizziness. I have gained weight and my Dr. wants me to lose 15 pounds. But no matter what I do I can't seem to shed the unwanted pounds.

I spoke to my previous Dr. who told me to take Imodium for the diarrhea (common complaint in people over 50) and didn't seem too concerned about the sleeplessness. The dizziness has begun since being on 10 mg. and has been progressively worse. Maybe I should also go off the Lisinopril. Now there are concerns about diabetes-none in immediate family that I know of.

I have been taking lisinopril for several months and I, too, have had the itchy throat with uncontrollable coughing. It seems worse when I lay down to go to sleep. I also have sleeplessness and don't know if this is from lisinopril or other medication that I am taking. In addition I have almost daily diarrhea. Sometimes the cure is worse than the symptoms.
My husband just started taking lisinopril and he is coughing and aching all over.

I've been taking lisinopril since 10/05/05.
My side effects are as follows......severe migraines......fevers......extreme fatigue.......blurred vision.......diarrhea.......an annoying cough that lasts all day......insomnia at night....sweating

Picked up a prescription for Lisinopril today. 20MG tablets for High Blood pressure. 57 yo male, smoker, beer drinker, chronic bronchitis. (Yeh, I know)
Was on beta blockers before (Tenormin) At night cramps in feet and calf mucles, cough, diareah, lethargic, fatigue, cough and most importantly IMPOTENT, Viagra is not all its cracked up to be.
So, as far as side effects, looks like they about simular, but I sure hope the impotency problem will be solved.
I'll take the stuff stuff tomorrow, but thanks to this site, I'm warned. Thanks to all. I asked my doctor to switch me to an ACE inhibitor. I want a normal sex life back, as I did before the Beta blockers, then I think I can live with some of the side effects.
I'll report back in a month.

My wife started Lisinopril 5mg last November for slight high BP. When the BP did not change, she was up'd to 10mg. Following this prescription, severe diarrhea and dehydration set in. Dr.'s blamed this on IBS. Tests were then done for IBS related symptons; Upper GI, Lower GI, and finally Colonoscopy. The Colonoscopy sent her into further dehydration, to the point of severe cramping, nausea, fatigue. After a few days I took her back to the family Dr. who sent us to the ER for the dehyrdration. In the ER, we were informed her Kidneys had stopped functioning (creatinine levels at 16.8, .08 6 months before). Since then, her kidneys have improved, but it looks like there may be permanent damage as her Creatinine level has stayed at now at 3.2.

Please watch yourself if you are getting side effects from this drug.

vertigo, depression, psychoic episodes, confusion, diarrhea,

My mother, age 89, was diagnosed with high blood pressure after cataract surgery. At the 6 month check-up the ophthalmologist found flame hemorrhages and hypertensive vessels on the back of the eyeball indicating the presence of HBP. The internist found her BP 190/90. She started taking Metoprolol 100 mg twice a day and Lisinopril 20 mg once a day. After 2 week the BP had only lowered to 160/80 so the lisinopril was increased to 40 mg per day. She now is lethargic, lost her appetite, lost 16 lbs, slightly nauseous, confused (particularly after taking the Lisinopril) and headaches. For the last 3 days she has had diarrhea pretty bad and has taken to her bed. We can't determine which of the medications is to blame. Anyone else experience these symptoms?

I took 10Mg for about 1 month. After one and a half weeks I was at the doctor for diareah. He blamed it on a "bug". That subsided but I had two to three bowel movements per day! Then started the stomache cramps and horrible trapped gas. When I go my refill for month 2 I read the literature that stated these symptoms. I stopped taking it that day and the problems went away. Of course my blood pressure is heading back up and the head aches I had previously are returning.

I just wanted to add that I've been taking Lisinopril for about 3 years. I lost about 25 pounds during the last year and had extreme cases of diarrhea and dizziness. At some times I felt like I would faint.

That is the reason I searched the website to see if other folks have had the same problem.

Today I found your site and felt so relieved to hear that other folks have had the same problem. I can't thank you enough!!

Am going back to my Dr. to see what she can recommend.

Blessings!

I have been taking Lisinopril for two months. My systolic is still high 140, but the diastolic is a much lower 72. My heart rate is it's usual sluggish self, anywhere from 43 to 60. I had diarrhea for about three weeks, it has gone away, but the dry cough is driving me nuts and I also get a lump in the throat sensation with this drug which is uncomfortable. On the plus side, it seems to have lowered my appetite so I lost 10 pounds. I would like to switch to something else though, because I hate the cough and lump in the throat thing.