Lisinopril and hives

Took first pill (5mg) on 7/8. Second on 7/9. After lunch on 7/9, food stayed in stomach and would not digest. Felt like a huge lump. Digestion continues to be a problem. No appetite. Food does not look good. On 7/11, developed two hives with large red areas surrounding them, however, they were not itchy. Became quite tired also. Allergy symptoms of itching eyes, watering eyes, itching throat, stuffiness developed. Headaches to the point of taking a pain reliever. Developed muscle cramping in calves on 7/15. Still great difficulty eating with no appetite. Existing hiatal hernia became a problem at night with nausea. Terrible flatulence also. Exhaustion is now the description, not just tired. Feeling depressed, but perhaps that is a result of the exhaustion. Blood in urine on 7/18, the final straw. Discontinued med on 7/18. Hives have still not cleared up totally (7/28) and the tiredness has still not gone away. I have been told that when you have hives on the outside, you have hives on the inside too. I would never take this med again. Going to look into biofeedback.

I have been using Lisinopril for about 4 months. About two months ago, I noticed a rash, itching, and hives. After eliminating soap, changes in diet, weather, etc. I believe that Lisinopri is the cause.

I also noticed a cough and scratchy throat, although not as serious or pervasive as with other posters.

I stopped taking the medication 6 days ago. The side effects have not cleared.

My doctor was supposed to call me back a couple days ago, but never has. Go figure...

Was taking Norvasc when my Doctor added Lisinopril i took it from Friday to Monday experienced chest pain,blood pressure dropped to 95/60,neck and arms had tightness and cramps,also a few fingers went numb.

I am 60 years old and have been on Lisinopril for about a year. I have experienced the nagging cough (day and night), numbness in my arms and hands and occasional unexplained hives. I was suspicious of meds causing the cough, and now I can say it's likely the Lisinopril. I also have poor quality of sleep, due to coughing and numbness in upper extremities waking me up.
On the plus side, my blood pressure is under control. :-)
Linda, Oshkosh WI

I have been on Lisinopril for 10 months. In July 07 I started having itchy skin. It wasn't bad, just annoying. In Sept the itching was worst and I developed a rash. In November one evening I got a serve pain in my right hand and it started swelling within a matter of minutes. The next morning I called my doctor and she had me come in. She looked at my still swollen hand and seemed mystified and referred me to a Rheumatologist who diagnosed me with psoriasis, remember the rash, that is what he was calling psoriasis. I also developed a dry hacking cough. In Jan. 08 I developed full fled hives all over. Went back to the doctor. She started giving me BS. I told her I had done some research on Lisinopril and every symptom I was having was connected to Lisinopril. She took me off the stuff to see it the symptoms disappear. I have been off of it for 5 days now and I am still getting hives and my right foot became very swollen last night. Does anyone know how long it takes to get this stuff out of your system? It's poison.

I feel so blessed to have found this site tonight!!! I took Lisinopril for a year...June 05' to July 06'. I started experiencing allergic reactions....swollen lip, eye, hives (more like welts) all over. Did not connect to the lisinopril right away though I had just renewed my Rx and the pharmacy was using a different manufacturer for my medication. I then started experiencing indigestion and constipation (never ever had problems with)....actually had to go to the ER one night.....ended up calling 911 the following morning because I was going to pass out....woke up fine, after 10 minutes broke out in a sweat....my BP was apparently dropping....never passed out in my life, but knew it was coming so I opened the front door and called 911. The operator kept me on the phone talking while waiting for help....I started throwing up as they walked in the door, and felt immediately better. They had me sit, took my pressure....I was feeling much better.....I still didn't tie it to the Rx, but after several more allergic reactions and tired of taking Benadril, I asked to have my BP Rx changed. I continued to have allergic reaction on 4 different types of BP Rx over a 6 week period. I decided to stop taking all BP medication Sept.06'. Two weeks ago I decided to try the Lisinopril again as I have not been able to control my BP for the past year. I thought maybe I had experienced a food allergy last year....until I found your website tonight. What caused me to look for info tonight was a hot flash experience today....all day. I am 48 and Perimenopausal, but I have not experienced a hot flash as of yet....after reading all the blogs, I don't think I was experiencing a hot flash! I also have not been sleeping well the past two weeks....and I never have trouble sleeping. I also have been lacking energy and have had tingling in my hands and aching muscles....I'm not taking another pill!!! I'm going search for a natural remedy and start working out!
Kathy

Has anyone experienced a problem with hives since starting lisinopril? My doct changed me to lisinopril about 45 days ago and about 2 weeks ago I started being plagued by hives....

I have been on lisinopril for 7 years and and have gradually become aware of side effects coming on slowly - and now worsening allot of late. I was moved from 10mg to 20mg and things have gotten quite bad - allot of joint pain, generalized fatigue, and just lately I have broken out in hives in a huge way - on my torso and appendages - but these just do not go away - I take huge doses of anti-histamine, and it barley touches it. I just had to stop taking the drug - so I did not take my dose last night, but today I still am covering with welts and hives. I had my wife take digital pictures of the really bad areas that look almost scarred now from the recurring welts - cortisone cream doesn't help at all - I can hardly go to work like this. I don't know when this will stop but I have stopped taking my 20mg

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?

After less than two weeks on Lisinopril I felt terrible. I told my doctor, but he insisted that I continue to take it because "it was so good for my heart." I do not have a heart problem.

Over the next year, I fell multiple times; and was seen in urgent care for hives, facial swelling, and other symptoms of allergic reaction. I was ultimately referred to an allergist who diagnosed an allergy to Lisinopril.

The drug did not control my blood pressure, and in fact could have caused anaphylactic shock. I was prescribed Epipens to carry at all times, in the even my airways closed at a cost of $500 out of pocket before Lisinopril was identified as the culprit.

I personally know of two other women with the same experience. The drug is not as great as it is made out to be by the medical profession.

All you are Hypochondriacs. If one person says this medicine is causing this, then of course; you all have the same problem "some how." Isn't this weird? It is called the "placebo effect." Normally all the people involved in the testing are given "Lisinopril" (or some other drug), then the placebo group is given a vitamin supplement, the group receving the vitamin supplement is being told they are receving "Lisinopril." Mysteriously?, the "placebo group" is all feeling better and their symptoms are gone. This is due to the fact that all these people in the "placebo group" have interacted with eachother and have told eachother "I feel better" than of course everybody feels better. So WEIRD!! So, my point is this forum is all your peoples "placebo group." If you guys never heard of these side effects from this forum you would have never experinced them. Hypochondriacs all of you are. This is a very good medicine that is helping all of you make up for your peoples lack of self-disipline to control your diet or exercise enough to lower your blood pressure naturally. So be thankful. Lets not complain about false side effects because John has them. I wonder what the side-effects of that cheese burger are that caused high blood pressure. It is funny, I don't see a forum for that. So deal with your so called "side-effects" that are associsted with "Lisinopril" or go on a diet people. Get over it!!

I have been off this poison for exactly a month now.....and my symptoms seem to be getting worse.....i ended up in the ER last weekend thinking i was having a stroke or heart attack but they couldnt find any....i have a rash on my legs and back the dr says is hives....my leg cramps never go away and still have stomach cramps and grumbling....dr says its stomach hives.....never heard of that....metallic taste in mouth sometimes and spells of feeling really ill....arms go numb etc....joints ache.....pains in hands and feet.....on the dash diet and taking supplements.....i pray i get better....

I've been taking Lisinopril for 5 years for moderate hypertension. I'm now 40 years old.

Given the side effects of the drug and my high / normal pressure (typically 140/90 or less without the drug), I decided to quit the drug and try to lose weight (among other things).

Seven days after going off, I am experiencing angioedema - hives with sub-tissue swelling - including last night my bottom lip becoming 4X it's normal size.

I found a source that showed 1 in 100 users of these types of drugs experience angioedema, but I've found nothing that suggests those who quit using it have to go through this.

Anyone had a similar experience?

After being on Lisinopril for 2 weeks, I experienced severe chest pains. Then I began having a persistant dry cough, left arm soreness, unable to sleep at night, hives, severe heartburn, and just plain feeling unwell. I thought I had pnuemonia or bronchitis. My doctor advised it was the Lisinopril and had me stop taking it immediately. I have been off of it for 1 week but am still experiencing the cough and heartburn and joint pain. How long does it take for this stuff to get out of your system? I wish I had never taken this stuff.

My doctor took me off Lisinopril a few days ago, following hives all over my body &, later, raised welt on my arm. I was also short of breath & felt nauseated & weak. I had to have a shot of Kenalog & he told me to take Benadryl every 4 hours. The rash is finally going away. I had also had pain & stiffness on the left side of my neck, which caused problems getting to sleep. Saw on this site that someone else had experienced this symptom. No one else has reported the first symptom mentioned.

I was taking Lisinopirl for one month almost to the day and then one day I woke-up with huge hives all over my legs and starting to go to the rest of my body. I went to the doctor that day and was told I was having an allergic reaction to the drug. That same day they did a blood draw and put me on a new medication called Verapamil. I have now been taking the new meds for one week and today I received a call from the doctors office and they are making me come into the hospital for "stat" blood draw, because my kidney functions were not good. I truly believe this is due to taking the lisinopril. I also had other side-effects in the muscles of my legs and was also very fatigue. I'll let you know what the results are. Sounds like I got some kidney damage from taking this drug! If your currently taking this drug, I would highly recommend getting off of it immediatally!

Hello. I was a long term Lisinopril user. I was taking 5 mg for several years with no apparent adverse effects, except for constant short coughing and scratchy throat. It lowered my Systolic pressure, but didn't lower the Diastolic pressure, so the doc upped my dose to 10 mg. Over the next several months, I began to get rashes, small pin-prick itches on my legs, sleepless nights due to extreme itching, fatigue, burning sensation in the chest, and excessive weakness. The Diastolic pressure still remained high so he upped my dose to 20 mg. Within a week, my hands swelled up and I got an extreme case of the hives all over my arms, hands, and legs. I never recalled ever having hives before and I didn't know what it was. I was terrified as to what was happening to me. The help counter at Walgreens Pharmacy told me I was having a severe allergic reaction to something that was causing a severe case of the hives. At that point, I still didn't make the connection to Lisinopril. The side effects continued to increase including burning sensation in the chest when I did the smallest chores, massive fatigue, dizziness, abdominal pains, headaches, rashes, and intense itching. I had 9 out of the 10 side effects caused by the drug. I research hives and found that I had the kind that would vanish after 6 weeks, because low and behold after exactly six weeks it went away. I kept complaining to my doctor about the problems that I was having, but he was of no help. After nearly 6 months on 20 mg of Lisinopril I became light headed even while lying down. I thought I was going to die. In mid-December, a year and a half ago, at 3:30 a.m., while lying down, I cramped up with severe abdominal pains, bloating, and extreme light headedness. I sensed that this was the end. I scrambled to my feet and tried to get upstairs to tell my family to call 911. I collapsed on the stairs and thought that this is where they would find my dead body. I made a second effort and struggled to my feet and made it into the dining area where I collapsed for a second time. My wife heard my body hit the floor. I saw the tunnel and light. She rushed out and called 911. When the paramedics arrived several minutes later I began to come out of it. My blood pressure was extremely low. After a short period of time, I recovered and felt relatively normal again. After that episode, I looked up the causes of light headedness on the internet and found a site that listed 10 medications that caused this side effect. Lisinopril made the list. I immediately stopped taking the drug. Within a few days, the light-headedness and rashes went away. I put 2 and 2 together and took my findings to the doctor. All he said was, "why didn't you tell me?" I had been complaining about these problems to him for the past several months. He switched me to a calcium channel blocker. Within a week I began getting rashes again and I discontinued the use of that drug. I now take a natural diuretic concoction of calcium, potassium, garlic pills, vitamins, other minerals, and a daily regimen of low dose aspirin. My strength and stamina have returned. I feel 90% better, but I think the experience has done permanent damage to my digestive system.

Jack - 2/28/06

I am a 63 year old female whose Dr. insisted I begin taking the drug after several OV's during which a 149/85 BP reading was noted. I declined the drug several times as the elevated BP readings were unusual as I am thin, exercise regularly and have a very healthy diet routine. I have experienced almost every one of the adverse side effects posted on this bulletin board including gagging cough, fatigue, hives and swelling of the tongue, lips, throat and hives. I am experiencing urticaria and angioedema. Beware of this drug!
I was on the drug from August, 2004 until my last pill Feb. 9, 2005. My symptoms have caused a major disruption in my life including: working(I have missed only 2 1/2 days from work but I am uncomfortable part of each day at work) exercising, eating, bathing, sleeping and simply being comfortable with my body. The cough no longer awakens me at night, just the hives. I hope the hives and swelling will end soon. Even with the above symptoms my Dr. did not want me to stop taking the drug. He gave me two new RX's, Zyrtec for the hives and Zantac- just in case acid reflux was causing the irritation in my throat. My thanks to everyone for their input. I think you may have saved my future good health. This drug should be off the market.

hi i started lisinopril 1 week ago my blood pressure is 170/90 i noticed that my toes are kinda numb and i keep getting itchy it almost feels like i have hives but not bumps just itch and this morning when i got up i am all shakey and nervous feeling i hardly slept last nite i had so much on my mind just dumb things nothing important or to worry about i was takeing 1/2 of a 20 mg pill for 4 days then i had to take 1 whole pill 20 mg i am gonna go back to 10 and see hat happens if this cointinues i will call my dr