Lisinopril and flu

i took lisinopril for 5 months for moderate high bp. stopped taking it 3 weeks ago because of the incredibly intrusive dry cough which often led to vomiting, and the feeling of utter exhaustion and muscle aches. some days i could only take one step at a time. i made stupid mistakes at work and found difficulty in multi-tasking, eventually questioning my ability to continue working. but even after 3 weeks i still cough with distressing frequency, peeing my pants and throwing up--and i'm as stiff, sore and tired as ever. after talking to friends who had experience with lisinopril, i now fear it may take many months to return to normal. having no insurance, it's not always easy to just run to the doc for this and that. i'm going it alone now. i am a 62 year old woman.

I am 40 years old and was prescribed lisinopril/HCTZ 20-25 a little over two weeks ago. I went in for a little congestion and low grade fever. I am a teacher and have many kids out with the flu, swine flu, etc. and felt that I needed to get checked. I came out with 5 medications, one of which was lisinopril. I have never had bp problems in my life. I am almost certain that the nurse practicioner wrote me down for something else and the dr came in and changed. I am usually a very calm person but in the last two days have experienced what I thought was a panic attack and anxiety, horrible anxiety. I haven't been able to face my students which isn't like me at all. During the first week I took my students on a field trip and had a really great day with them- much less stress than a normal day. I got home and my bp was around 138/98. I thought that was kind of odd. It has been under control since I started taking it. On this same day, I got blistered on my face and wasn't outside much at all. I have Rosea and thought that it had been aggravated. I believe now that it was the lisinopril. I know that it has a diuretic in it, but it doesn't make me go frequently. Instead I get a sudden urge and have had two "accidents" recently. I have a sometimes dry, other times full of mucous, cough to the point of nearly gagging. My neck muscles were already stressed out and tight, but have gotten worse. I feel a tightness in my chest constently. My lips are so dry that they peel all the time. I have no appetite and when I do eat I get nauseous and almost feel like vomitting. I have been lightheaded and dizzy. I am not sleeping and feel extremely tired all the time. But these last two days have been awful. I love being around people and right now can't stand the thought of it. I am guessing that lisinopril has caused much of these problems. I am about to go see the doctor today and think they will want to put me on some sort of nerve pill. I hate that!!!! I have a plan to achieve everything that these meds are supposed to. Exercise, change my diet, go see the chiropractor, do more relaxing things for myself and take better care of me! After reading these blogs I believe that I am going to take myself off of lisinopril and see what happens. My hubby is also on it and just last week developed an oozing sore and his left cheek - could be the lisinopril. I will pray for all of you bloggers and those who are unaware. This is definitely a poison to our bodies. I think I even read that it contains snake venom. Is this true????? I will update in a few days. Good luck and God bless!

ok, i have been on lisinopril 10mg hctz for about a year now. sometimes i feel the cough, sometimes my throat fells tight , but one thing that scared the hell out of me just in the last few weeks was a sudden bald spot on the top of my head, granted i am 50, but i have a reasonable head of hair, i also, to my surprise found a little bald spot usually where a man does not go bald down toward the back of the head. I just walked by my haircut lady to ask her if i had this bald spot two months ago and she said no way and to hurry and see a dermatologist, i am truly thinking its this dam drug, anyone else experience sudden hair loss in strange places on the head? thanks.

Thanks for the post on urticaria. I occasionally have red itchy flaky splotches on my face though I usually had attributed this to high sugar-- though I hadn't worried about it before. When I got swine flu it got really bad but antibiotics seemed to have helped. It doesn't bug me. Though in relation to the other post about depression I'd be interested to know if others have had low hormone levels as well.

This is a good forum and I am thankful I came across it. I had hardly ever taken medicine (other than cold/flu medications) in my life. I am a 36-year old male and in pretty good shape. My wife and I had been under considerable stress in recent years after our baby son passed away. Plus, we are both teachers so the everyday nature of our jobs can be stressful. I had frequently gotten a sensation of chest tightness and it was very uncomfortable. My blood pressure was elevated at times (130/80 or 140/90 range). One time it shot up to 153/93 and that scared me.

The doctor ran an EKG on me. Everything normal. Then, I wore a 24-hour Holter monitor. Again, my results were fine. He then prescribed me 10mg of lisinopril. After I started the drug, the chest tightness seemed to worsen. I always have this squirmy feeling inside, like body parts are moving around in my chest area. It is hard to describe but it kind of feels like parts are pulsating or are inflamed at times. Weird. I would wake up at night and start feeling nervous without thinking about my situation. The tension would just come on quickly. Other symptoms are dizzyiness, anxiousness, headaches and fatigue. One of the other forum writers said he or she felt tired all the time. Same here. All I want to do is lay around when I know I could be doing something constructive. I push myself to get up but it is difficult. Lastly, this drug also definitely affects sexual performance.

Now, I have quit the drug after taking it for 2 weeks. The final tipping point was when I was doing a morning walk/partial jog yesterday. I jogged the second half and when I slowed down to walk, I immediately got dizzy and had blurred vision. I managed to get to the front of my house and fainted. I remember making a grunting sound as I fell flat on my face in the yard. Luckily, I landed on the grass. I got up slowly, walked into the house and laid on the carpet. I felt very fatigued all day. Granted, I had only drank water before I went out and my blood sugar was probably low so that played a role. But I also think the lisinopril has screwed with my system and might have caused this since I have never had that happened before.

In hindsight, I suspect I have a problem with anxiety and that was the culprit for my problems before I took the lisinopril. As far as the chest tightness and anxiety is concerned, I will do my best to manage my anxiety with natural remedies (the herb Valerian works okay) and commit myself to better diet and exercise.

Does anybody know how long it takes for lisinopril to completely exit my system? I drink a lot of water. In my case, I took it for approximately 14 days.

Hi I'm 36, with high blood pressure. I have been on 25mg/day hydrochlorothiazide since July 08. I went in for normal 3month check up and Dr tells me that my bottom number is to high, so she gives me yet another pill to take(yep you guessed it) Lisinopril. I filled the RX in the morning, by lunch time, I felt sick to my stomach, dizzy, everything hurt. I thought I had gotten the flu. This was just 2 days before my daughter and my mothers birthday.(both the same day) We had big plans after all you only turn 18 once. I put a smile on and went to the party, but it was living hell. My Fiance' noticed that I didn't start feeling bad until after I had taken that new pill. I only took 1 a day for 3 days and it took me over a month to feel half way normal again.

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.

For just over two years I suffered with chronic sinus infections and I could not understand what the cause of it could be. My doctors (two sinus specialists and also GP) did not even know about this side effect of Lisinopril. I was on antibiotics five times last year. The sinus specialists told me I must go for sinus surgery. I tried to remember when my sinus problems started and tried to link it to something else. Then I realized that I started taking Lisinopril in September 2006. Shortly after this I had my first severe sinus infection and I almost had pneumonia from it. Shortly after I recovered (after taking a strong course of antibiotics) it was not three weeks then I had it again. I had sinus problems the whole of 2007 and 2008. I decided to do some research on the internet to see if the infections are related to Lisinopril. I was shocked to discover that so many people reported the same side effects. I requested my GP to change my BP medication to a different group (Non-ACE Inhibitor). I cannot believe the difference. No more sinus infections! Also, I had flu once so far and I managed to recover from it without the use of antibiotics. This is a real breakthrough for me. I am just glad that I found this forum.
JM, South Africa

I was on 10 mg of Lisinopril for 2 weeks. After quitting, major side effects of the drug gradually subsided (including ringing of the ears, headache, sleeplessness, nausea, fatigue, general flu-like symptoms, panic and anxiety). I'm now 2.5 weeks off the med and was feeling fine but suddenly had a flare up of sleepless night followed by 2 days of nausea, dizziness, irritability and depression. This spell came just after I played an aggressive soccer game. Does vigorous exercise trigger recurring spells?
Has this happened to anyone? How long should I expect symptoms?

i got a bad sinus infection for the past month after starting lisinopril, on many meds for this, i switched from avapro to lisinopril as i wanted to join the walgreens plan for cheaper drugs, the doc put me on lisinopril instead after i sent him the walgreens list of available drugs that they use, the avapro was not on the list,, ive been to my ent and allergy doc for this sinuse thing that is well over a month now and getting better, but i have spent more $ for drugs to combat this infection that r not on the walgreens list over $300 spent out of pocket but with a discount for switching to the lisinopril from the avapro that ive been on for about a yr,, it was not worth it,, BUT my cardio doctor thinks it ws just a coincidence that i got the sinus infection about the same week that i started lisinopril, he asked me to tell my ent and allergy doc about this, the ent thinks i shld go back to the avapro if ii feel that it may have started the infection with the little cough, i have not talked to my allergy doc about it yet, has anyone felt they got these symptoms with lisinopril????? i am still taking it all thru this sinus thing, MRI and 2 inhalers and antibiotics, narcotic cough med, sinus wash and musilex r doing ok and on the mend, i have no other symptoms and on the 5 mg , what do u all think? and anyone else have a sinus thing going on when starting the lisinopril??? D.

Thank God for this site and others. I have been on Lisinopril for about a week. The third day I woke up and couldn't speak. Felt like i was getting the flu. lost 6 days work for the first time in 20 years. Have been to the Clinic twice because of bad dry cough,fever,weaker by the day,can't sleep,BP 90/50 yesterday and ox level was only 96%.They wanted to put me in the hospital. Then a new Clinic Dr. suggested in might be the Lisinopril. I stopped taking it yesterday and i really believe this med. is the cause of all my problems. I honestly have felt this week that i could have died from this, I have never been this sick. I am also very angry,not only did i loose lots of money from not working, but more money on meds to treat pneumonia, but to put me through all this. i am very glad to read about other people who have had real issues with this drug. Hopefully in a days I will start to feel better.

I am 37 with elevated BP. I started taking Lisinopril about ten days ago before bed every night. My kids have been sick with colds and I had also been ill with a cold a few weeks ago. My Dr. did tell me that I may develop a dry cough, but that I shouldn't worry about side effects. WHATEVER!!! I have felt like crap, flu-like symptoms and trouble breathing. I used to smoke and I feel like I have been on a smoking "bender." Then, this morning, my top lip was slightly swollen and peeling. I thought maybe one of the kids hit me with their heads (twin 13-month-old), but the swelling has gotten worse throughout the day and I look like a Botox-gone-wrong. And maybe it is the power of suggestion, but I have been feeling pretty down....

It must be the HCTZ... I was on Lisinopril 20mg for a month with little avail to my bp. I'm 25 and prior to taking it I was at 150/120: during I was bouncing between that and 130/90ish. A Walk-In clinic doctor started me on Lisinopril/HCTZ 20/12.5 and within the week, I had major upper back pain, trouble seeing and severe nausea. I have since gone to half a pill and feel much better. I hadn't heard of any of these side effects. Please let me know if anyone has similar experiences. My Mother thinks I dealt with a bout of the flu, my sister thinks I'm pregnant. Hmph.

I am so glad that I stumbled onto this website. I have been feeling bad for over 1 1/2 years with unexplainable symptoms all of which started around the time that I was put on Lisinopril/HCTZ 10/12.5 to help control my HBP. I started out with flu like symptoms, that progressed to terrible headaches onto chest pain that sent me to the ER. I thought I was having a heart attack. I've been to see every kind of Doctor you can name: neurologist (headaches) allergist,cardiologist (heart doctor), hematologist (bloodwork), rheumatologist (to rule out Lupus) all of which can't seem to find anything wrong with me. I mean nothing. I specifically asked my doctor some time ago if my symptoms could be could be related to the new BP meds and he told me "NO". After reading these testimonials, DON'T THINK HE'S RIGHT. I'M GETTING' A NEW PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN!!!!!

My experience has been hell. I thought I had the flu. I began feeling nausea and a tickle in my throat at night. I would begin to cough and would get sick. I've had it now every night for 6 weeks and am sick of it. Now it's happening in the daytime. I also was having dizziness upon getting up. No more for me.

I am a 43 yr old female and have recently developed high bp. I have been taking lisinopril 20 mg for about 1 1/2 months. I have not been able to sleep for the past few days, as my heart is racing and I have a constant feeling of anxiety. In addition, I am having trouble swallowing and my throat feels raw. I thought that the fever and aches I had last week were the flu, but after reading other similar stories, I will contact my doctor as soon as the office opens in the morning.

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.

About 1 1/2 years ago my allergist recommended I switch BPM from Lisinopril to Atacand because of congestion problems associated with Lisinopril. I made the switch and had no problems with Atacand other than my co-pay was considerably higher. Because of this I asked my family practice MD to switch me back to Lisinopril because I remembered it worked okay. However this time - a couple of days after the first dose of Lisinopril I developed flu-like symptoms (aching, congestion, fatigue). I thought I was coming down with the flu AGAIN. After about three days I started having chest pain, a headache that wouldn't go away, blurred vision, dizziness, shortness of breath, very shaky, weakness, couldn't sleep. I thought I was on the verge of a heart attack at times. The fatigue and weakness worsened. I often felt that I couldn't get off the couch or out of bed. My legs felt like weights. It wasn't until I checked out the side effects on this website and read the comments of other users of the drug that I realized what was most likely happening. Needless to say, I called my doctor and asked to be switched back to Atacand. I'm more than willing to pay the extra $'s to feel better.

taking lisinopril -2 yrs. tues. 6/2/08 - started feeling like the flu. by wed. was so sore in places i had never had muscle and joint pain, all i could do is lay...by wed evening was feeling a little better so, ok it's the flu. took med to go to bed and had one of the most miserable nights ever...what i call severe neck and left arm pain. could not raise or put weight on my rt. hip,leg, knee or foot (those were just the worse spots). by the by been i have been having very poor sleep about 4 months. managed thru thurs, by fri i was convinced it was lyme. saw physician...of course all blood was normal. on sat. 6/7 i kept thinking it was the lisinopril because i would start feeling better (not over the pain, just better) in the evenings and then be right back in severe pain by 2 am.

decomposition of lisinopril in acidic medium so narrow absorption window.

Thanks and blessings to everyone who has posted problems with Lisinopril on this site.

I am a 60 year old Caucasian male who was put on Lisinopril 10 mg by my doctor in conjunction with 54 mg of Concerta for treating me for ADHD. Two years later I finally discovered that the “ADHD” was caused by my progressive glasses being one diopter too strong causing Induced Dyslexia. The real problem was not my ability to mentally focus or “follow a task list.” The real problem was my inability to read what was in front of me, let alone find the list.

I now have a correct progressive glasses prescription and computer glasses for seeing what is on my monitor so that I can think again. I weaned myself off the Concerta and haven’t felt this good in 5 years EXCEPT for when I came down with the flu five months ago (despite taking the flu shot – which we now know only worked 40% of the time). After being ill for six weeks with the flu, however, almost all of the flu symptoms were gone except for the dizziness and fatigue.

I was so dizzy and exhausted that “I felt like I was on some type of drug.” That was when I realized that I WAS taking a prescription drug - Lisinopril.

It was also when I discovered your webpage and the side effects of Lisinopril of dizziness and fatigue.

I stopped taking the Lisinopril and within 36 hours the dizziness and fatigue was gone and I feel great. Mentally I think that I am also much more alert, and think that the Lisinopril also increased the confusion that the Concerta was supposed to help reduce.

Again, THANK YOU.

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 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

I have been in Lisinopril for about a month. I have a dry cough that keeps me awake at night, headache, fatigue and lightheadedness. My doctor refuses to believe the cough is from the Lisinopril. He said I have not taken in long enough for it to be side effects. He keeps increasing the dosage from 5mg then 10 now 30mg my blood pressure continues to climb averaging 150/100 not dropping below 140/90 and spiking to 177/118.My doctor is not concerned and says come back in 2 months. I am calling him tomorrow and if he doesn't change my med. I will stop Lisinopril and find a new doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have only been taking 20 mg Lisinopril for about 5 days now. I actually started to notice I was feeling better, my headaches were gone and I could breath better, but about 3 days ago I started to get horrible heartburn, flu symptoms and I haven't been able to get more then an hour or so of sleep before I wake up to shaking and my heart racing.This is the scariest thing,I work overnights and I have serious sleep issues already so I feel like crap.
being that i have only taken this med for 5-6 days does anyone know how long it will take to get out of my system? I was thinking about starting to take them again just to see if it was something else, but after reading these posts I'm not touching that EVER again.

I was put in this med about 6 mos ago in order to protect my Kidney, I had a transplant years ago. My BP was already low in the mid 120s/85-90 and this has dropped it to 120/80.

However on starting this med, I suffered many of the flu-like symptoms to the point where I was out of work for a couple of days. Since then, I have, in retrospect had malaise, depression symptoms, occasional shortness of breath and a general lack of energy.

And last night, the kicker, I was with my new girlfriend for the first time....yep, no work, at all, which led me to checking out the net for symptoms of the meds I was on.

Started taking Lisinopril a few months back and it lowered my B/P way too much. So they half my dose from 20mg to 10mg but put me on cardium twice a day because my pulse was high (up to 170 at one point). I gradually had a B/P that was OK but felt horrible all the time. Blamed it on everything from the weather to the flu. Headaches all day every day for weeks. I have headaches but nothing like this and I was tired all the time and didn't feel like doing anything but laying down and trying to get rid of the headaches. Then the other day I forgot to take my Lisinopril. I felt pretty good that day and my headache was almost all gone! I realized what I had done that night. The next day I took my Lisinopril and back to a bad headache and feeling rough all day. So today I skipped it and again I have felt much better and so far no headache torture. I called my doc who told me to continue my other med and leave the Lisinopril off and watch my B/P. I have also had a rash on the back of my knees for a few weeks and it has started to spread to my arms. I am now wondering if it could also be the med. We'll see! Thank God I just may be normal again in the near future. My kids and I will be LOTS happier!

I had been on Lisinopril for about 5 weeks, first on 40 mg. then I reduced it in half on my own, and have now decided to stop entirely and go back on Avapro. When I started it, I developed flu like symptoms and I thought I was just sick, but my body continued to fill "unwell". I had such terrible vertigo that I fell down 3 times and would get very dizzy when sitting up or bending over. Sometimes, the vertigo comes when I am sitting perfectly still! I became constipated and bloated with bouts of gas, headaches and sore throat in the evenings. My arms and legs were falling asleep during the night, so bad that I had to wake up and massage my hands and move my legs to get them circulating. Also, leg cramps have developed and cramps and shoulder pain that doesn't want to go away.I started to have to urinate all the time, as well! When I went to the doctor's office after being on it for 3 weeks, I complained that I was feeling awful (like I was going to die), depression had set in, I want to sleep all the time and have terrible vertigo, I was told that these were unusual symptoms and to try it for a few more weeks and see if these symptoms subside! Typical!!! It is thru researching blogs like these that I found that my symptoms are not at all unusual, but they are VERY ALARMING! I am a 46 year old woman and am healthy in every way. This medicine makes me feel as if I am being poisoned! I went off of it yesterday and am now doing an herbal cleanse to detox myself. I am also on fish peptides - which lowered my bp substantially in the past, but needed to find a reliable source that keeps it in stock all the time. It is safe and has no side effects.

I am a 45 year old male. My bp at dr's office was 144/90. He prescribed Lisinopril 40 mg once a day and said come back in a month and see how I'm doing. I tried it and immediately experienced dizziness with headache and lack of energy, then later I noticed I was getting winded with little exertion along with fatique. I could hardly climb a flight of stairs with out resting. Also would get out of breath just talking to people. Isn't this a high dose to start with? I stopped after a few days and tried later with same symptoms. I am 5'8 155 pounds in fairly good health except for borderline high bp. Should I keep trying to take this med.....or reduce the dose?

Posted my experience with Lisinopril around March 9, explaining flu symptoms, hacking cough, fever and chills. I stopped taking Lisinopril when I found this site. I have not taken any for a week. The fever and chills are gone, but the coughing has continued - in fact, has worsened. I also have an ear infection now, as well. I daughter wants me to go to the hospital because I coughed all night and no one got any sleep. Can anyone tell me about how long this cough lasts AFTER you quit taking Lisinopril? I feel like it will never go away, and from what I've read so far, antiobiotics are not much help.

Lisinopril helps millions of people with their blood pressure. Just because a medication is not right for YOU does not mean it should be withdrawn. So far, every side effect I've read on here is clearly stated on the Warnings and Side Effects section included with the prescription.

I am not in any way minimizing or mocking the side effects all of you have stated. I had a few myself. It's very upsetting and scary, but again...the vast majority of users do not experience these side effects for long. Lisinopril has worked for me...my dizziness, cough, breathlessness and chest heaviness disappeared after a week or so.

I am not in the pharmaceutical industry (as I'm sure many of you suspect!) and I'm a Nervous Nelly when it comes to taking medication. I was especially worried about this one, but luckily I have had no problems. I hope all of you find the right HBP med that works for you.

I started taking Lisinopril 6 days ago. About 3 days into it, I felt like I was coming down with something like the flu. I had fever, chills, body aches and an overall feeling of just feeling awful! I developed a sore throat and a cough. I did not associate it with Lisinopril until I got online and read that a serious side effect could be fever, chills and flu like symptoms! Today, I can hardly talk, my throat is so sore. Needless to say, I won't be taking any more Lisinopril!

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.

I have been on this horrible drug about 6 months now. At first, no problems. Then about 2 months ago, I developed this itchy feeling in my throat; thought I had a cold coming on. The itchy throat after two months turned into a terrible dry cough so bad you almost gag. I also developed a rash on my throat and itching all over my face mostly, but also down my back. Lastly, I feel really fatigued now and sometimes I have flu like symptoms, that is, achy and feverish with chills. I have been off the Lisinopril now 4 days with no change, but everything I read on these posts indicate that it may take from several days to several months, depending on the individual, to get this junk out of your system. Like many others, I feel this drug should be taken off the market, and yes, it is incredible to me that so many doctors have no clue of its terrible side effects!!

I have been on Lisinopril since the first of November. I had a dry cough at first but nothing really bad. After about three weeks I got a fever and sick for about a day and 1/2. The fever went away but I had shoulder and back pain (between my shoulder blades) The doctor listened to my lungs and told me I had pleurisy!!!! Treated me with antibiotics - got a little better. The soreness still there in my lungs up into my neck - some chest pain. Went to the ER - took chest x-rays.. found everything normal. Still coughing - congested all the time - I am 41 years old and I WAS on 5mg of this drug 1time a day. Not a lot at all but the ER doctor took me off the drug. He said after about three days the drug should be out of my system and then I can evaluate whether it was the lisinopril causing my lung problems. Also I have noticed that I have been having anxiety and worrying about things to excess lately, which is not like me. The anxiety started about a month after starting the drug. Maybe it is from the physical problems that I have been having. I was very healthy before all of this - I am very active and a non-smoker. Since these things starting happening I feel like I have aged 10 years!!! I also have some troubling getting air sometimes - like I feel as if I have to take a deep breath. Anyway - this is the only drug I am on so it only makes sense that it is causing all of this. The first night I stopped taking it I had terrible dreams - anyone else had this after stopping the drug?

I was first diagnosed with hypertension in the late 80's and have been on several different medications to treat it. I think that Lisinopril is the worst that I have been on. I have extreme fatigue and severe dry and burning mouth, sore tongue and difficulty breathing and flu like symptoms. I have anxiety and PTSD so my symptoms have been blamed on that. With all these symptoms,
I sometimes wonder if it would be better off to have the hypertension.
Sometimes my mouth and throat is so dry and sore, I can't eat and I have difficulty breathing which is not addressed with asthma medication. Daytime symptoms are bad at night but when night time comes, it is almost impossible to sleep.
I would be interested if anyone has these symptoms and would like to hear from you.
Jenny

LOW POTASSIUM LEVELS,DIZZINESS,NAUSEA,VOMITING,FEELING FAINT/FAINTING,MUSCLE CRAMPS/SPASMS,FREQUENT URINATION,FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS,TIREDNESS,WEAK,HEART PALPATATIONS; I AM ONLY 30 AND FEEL LIKE A 70 YEAR OLD WOMAN.I HAVE TO HAVE MY POTASSIUM LEVEL CHECKED ALL THE TIME BECAUSE IT KEEPS BOTTOMING OUT AND I WILL PASS OUT AND MY PRESSURE GETS TO LOW.BUT I NEED A BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION WITH A DIURETIC.WHAT ELSE CAN I USE I ASK YOU?

Oh, sorry I forgot the lack of sex drive, continual nausea, muscle aches like the flu, lithargia, paranoia and the red spots. I am so happy to find this website and to finally know after two weeks of hell that I am not going crazy! Like others, the symptoms came on slowly so I didn't put them together. And some things I thought were just life happening and age. I can't wait to tell my husband that I will be back as soon as this last dose leaves my system! I will not take this again and will research anything further. I had similar side effects to an anit-depressant, Lexapro 3 years ago and have sworn off EVER, NEVER taking another anti-depressant. Oddly though with the side effects of this medication I started thinking I needed an anti-depressant again. May God bless this website and its readers!

I've been off Lisinopril for 2 weeks now. The dizziness, light headedness, and general overall flu like feelings are pretty much gone. I still have a touch of the irregular heatbeat stuff but nothing like it was. The doc is running me through some additional cardiac tests (treadmill, etc.) just to be sure. For the most part, though, I feel like way gobs better. BP really doesn't seem to have changed much but I am on a beta blocker too which helps with BP. Doc isn't thrilled with the "no Lisinopril" order from me. She says it's the best drug for protecting kidneys in diabetics. But, we're going to see how it goes.

I started taking Lisinopril for my bp about 2 1/2 months ago and even though it did lower my bp, I started having strange side-effects. It started out with drowsiness throughout the day, no matter how much sleep I got. And, waking up feeling drowsy even after 8-10 hours of sleep. Then, I started getting strange aches and pains throughout my body, like I was getting over a stomach flu. My asthma also flared up and I started having to use my inhaler for the first time in almost 15 years (usually I just need it after exercise.) The side-effects continued to get worse over the next months with increased fatigue, drowsiness, coughing, anxiety, muscle aches, poor concentration, feeling like my nerves were "shot," headache, weakness, tightness in my lungs, numbness in my hands and feet, and just plain feeling bad.
I made an appointment to see my doctor because I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. It crossed my mind that I might be feeling this way because of the Lisinopril. I stumbled across this website and after reading everyone's testimonials, I decided to stop the Lisinopril. I haven't taken it in 3 1/2 days, and I am already feeling much better. I would rather try a more holistic approach to lowering my bp then taking Lisinopril.
I hope this helps someone else out there who might be going through the same thing.

I had been taking 5mg of Lisinopril for almost 10 years with no noticeable side effects (at least not ones the dr. would consider), I have gained weight and attributed it to age or eating habits, I started snoring and attributed it to weight gain, my stomach feels bloated every night (my wife blames my eating)... In any case, after pharmacy error in Nov. when I took 40 mg instead 5 for one month by mistake, the Dr. brought me down to 20mg instead of the original 5mg since he said 5 might not have been doing anything. After 2 months on 20mg I started with a persistent dry/tickle cough in my throat which I thought was part of the winter flu. I never had any other flu effects, however, now 3 months later there is not a day that goes by without the cough. Finally, a new dr. has taken me off this family of drugs. It has only been a week. Cough persists. When should I expect it to go away, and what can I do to help it along?

To guest 41494:

Yes, I realize that I might sound like a Country-Life salesperson!

But I also like NOW Foods, Solgar, and Solaray.
And please note that I favor very specific supplements, not necessarily everything these makers have.
If I'm looking for a new supplement, yes, I look first to these brands; however, I have found some items from each of them that I also don't like.

So, in direct answer to your question, I'm just a patient with no investment in any of these brands.

I have spent several years comparing various nutrional supplements.

In my lisinopril weakend condition, I can really tell a difference that others who are stronger/healthier may not notice. So I just call it like I see it.

For example, before finding the Country-Life Target Mins zinc, I tried many other zinc formulations, that were either ineffective or irritated my now very sensitive stomach (due to lisinopril).
I specifically remember two of them: I tried a Whole Foods zinc that made me feel sick (kinda flu-like and mild headache) and I could not take it long term.
I also tried a Country-Life Maxi Zinc 100mg that I found very hard on my stomach and also not as effective as their other one.

And, yes I take supplements with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and some in between meals too. Before lisinopril, I used to just take ordinary vitamins with dinner. It is not fun to be in this situation. Thanks lisinopril!

I started on lisinopril june 05 for high blood pressure. also, the water pill. At first diziness and light headedness were experienced. This was not more than a week. Until recently all was well. I caught bronchitis,as diagnosed by my doc, at the beginninin g of the year and have had systems off and on since. I"ve dicontinued the drug recently, but still haven't been able to shed the flu like symptom. The worst part has been a feeling in my throat that is like the inside swelling. Sometimes it was hard to swallow and even restricted normal breathing. I found I was not able to talk continuously for short periods of time just before I quit taking it. I'm looking forward to an end of these symptoms and normality again. It's been 2 days and counting since i discontinued using lisinopril. Any good news from anyone

I have been on a very small (2.5mg) dose of Lisinopril for nearly a year. Until this year, all was well, and I experienced no particular side effects. Then in January I contracted a flu like virus which lasted for about 10 days. About two weeks following recovery, I began to be aware of ringing, hissing and buzzing in my ears - sometimes just one ear, sometimes both. It varies in intensity, but is particularly noticeable, and irritating, at night. The GP informed me I have fluid behind the eardrums and gave me a nose spray to clear it. To date, the nose spray hasn't helped, and I'm wondering if the fluid and resulting tinnitus is in fact nothing to do with the virus, but a side-effect of the lisinopril. Has anyone out there experienced similar problems with this drug?

I have been taking Lisopril 10 mg. for only 4 days. Already I have felt terrible. The first 2 days I had so much fatigue and aching in my body - I felt like I had the flu. I spent almost one whole day in bed. Today I was feeling depressed and like I was menopausal again - with heat sensations. Now I notice a red rash on my chin and chest. I am not taking anymore of this medicine! My question is this......I had previously been taking Mavik 2 mg for almost a year. It too is an ACE inhibitor, but I never noticed any side effects with it. The reason the doctor switched me to Lisinopril is because the cost of Mavik is so expensive...even with insurance. Does anyone know, about Mavik? Also, I have taken Atenolol for many years, and if I have side effects, I'm not aware of them. Will I need to ween myself off of the Ace inhibitors? I'd appreciate your comments.

I have been taking Lisinopril for 7 months. The cough started after 2 weeks, so I went to a doctor thinking I hada strange kind of flu. I sometimes can´t speak after coughing, seems that my vocal chords have an irritation. This doctor prescribed me antibiotics, as it seemed that I was experiencing some kind of pneumonia. I was fine for 2 weeks, but again I began with the dry coughing, specially at night and when running a little. After I visited my Cardiologist, he told me that my cough was a reaction to Lisinopril, so now he has prescribed me another medicine.

I took 10mg of Lisinopril for one year without problems. Then I had a flu with bronchitis. The bronchitis subsided but I frequently felt fatigued and had panic attacks. Also my feet started tingling when walking for more than 5 minutes. I stopped taking Lisinopril 4 weeks ago - the fatigue and panic attacks stopped straight away , the tingling hasn't stopped yet. Funnily enough my blood pressure has stayed down at 120 - 130 as well.

When I first started on 10mg of Lisinoprill, I immediately noticed a weird kind of sore throat. Not like the sore throat you get from a cold or the flu, but rather, the muscles around the adam's apple were sore, and it always hurt to swallow. Also, my BP did not go down very much. And pulse was twice as fast as normal.

So, my dose was doubled. After one day, my throat closed in a violent spasm which scared the hell out of me. After that, my throat really hurt, as though someone had hit me in the throat with a Karate chop. It actually hurts to touch, right below the point of the adam's apple.

And still my BP was dangerously high. I borrowed a Tenormin 100mg and within 30 minutes, my BP and pulse were at texbook normal.

I will never take another lisinopril. I think it is a horrible drug.

Hello, I was placed on Lisinopril in August /05. In October I got what I thought was the flu. Really sick. I had a really bad cough , fever, aches etc. The cough would not go away. Finally In March I decided to go off the Lisinopril to see if that was the culprit. After two weeks I still had the cough and my BP was up. So I started back on the drug. The cough became worse! I decided to try stopping it again. I have now been off of it 9 days, I am still coughing, but I am not going back on the LIsinopril. I am a Gospel singer, and it is really hard to
to sing with this cough . You should try giving a concert with cough drops in your mouth! The cogh is really bad. I cough so hard I almost throw up. Like the cough you get with bad bronchitis, but I does not go away.

I have been taking lisinopril for about two months. Shortly after I started taking it, I noticed a dry, annoying cough. As it was winter time, I didn't worry about it too much. Several people had been sick with coughs and colds. I did notice, however, that it kept getting worse. I mentioned it to the doctor during a routine checkup. She checked my lungs and throat, and said that it was most likely allergies, and that my lungs were clear. I would wake up during the night, coughing so hard I would almost vomit. My throat felt like it had something caught in it, and would occasionally be swollen. Two night ago the symptoms got so bad, I felt like I was suffocating. I also experienced minor joint pains, and thought that was from the flu.

I called the doctor, and they said that these were side effects of lisinopril, and they called in a different prescription for an alternative blood pressure medicine. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the new medicine, I mentioned to the pharmacist that I was allergic to the lisinopril. She said that the same thing had happened to her, with the coughing, etc.

I would avoid this medication at all costs, or at least stay on top of things with the doctor and report any side effects of the coughing. Don't let them just tell you its allergies ..... it is allergies, but it was the pills that I was allergic to. (As a side note, this is the only medication in 50 years that I have developed a reaction to ...... ).