Lisinopril and stress

I was on 10mg of Lisinopril for 6 weeks (switched from Azor). After the first 3 days, I was having trouble swallowing . . . this went away 2 days later. Then, I was having trouble breathing, sinus problems, dizziness and constant FATIGUE during the course of the 6 weeks. I am a very active, energetic, 30 year old male. I'm not overweight, and play basketball 2 or 3 days a week. I really think I have White Coat Syndrome (170/110 at dr's office - 130/75 at home), but better safe than sorry.I could not even run for more than 5 minutes straight without feeling like I might pass out. I would have to say during those 6 weeks, I was functioning about 50% of normal, at best. I tried to stick it out to see if the side effects would go away; they only seemed to get worse over time. My Doctor said it was the "summer fever" and allergies. I felt it was the medication, especially after reading these posts, so I switched doctors. My new doctor took me off of this medication. He said Lisinopril can has been known to effect your lungs and cause breathing problems. He is located in the same practice as my previous doctor. Why she didn't inform me of any side effects, I'm not sure (thanks for nothing). All of my terrible symptoms were gone within a week. I am now taking Bystolic (5 weeks), and feel normal again. My father has been on 30mg of Lisinopril for 12 years, and never had any problems. I believe everyone reacts to medications differently. I am now on my 3rd medication in 7 months, and think I have found the one that works best. I guess I'm just one of those people that has trouble adjusting to medication. Good luck to those of you that have not found the right medication yet.

I want to add something to my original post. I only took this med for 10 days (5mg) and was miserable. After 3 weeks I was beginning to feel better (having 1 bad day, then 2 good) when suddenly I experienced pain in my left side, numbness and tingling. My doctor sent me for a kidney scan. Five days after this new pain began, I developed another rash. I realized that I had shingles. So PLEASE be careful if you have any symptoms. This puts a terrible stress on your immune system. Apparently my immune system couldn't handle the stress and the result is shingles. So, I'm miserable again and probably have another 3 weeks to go before I begin to come out from this episode.

Also, for those of you who are switching to another blood pressure medicine that is an ace inhibitor (as lisinopril is), you will not tolerate those either. They are all made from the same ingredient, snake venom.

I was prescribed 2.5MG of Lisinopril yesterday because BP is very high every time I go to the docs. The only thing is that it drops to normal every evening. I decided to check the side effects and found this site. I am now terrified start taking this medication because it seems I am going to be suffering!!! I am already on sick leave with work related stress and having had a very bad fall earlier in the year I truly believe that coping with these horrible side effects would drive me completely over the edge. I have phoned my doctor and asked for a respite while I lose some weight and take more exercise - I am determined to get BP down naturally. Lisinopril looks like hell!!

Am I the only one who has gained a lot of weight while on Lisinopril? I have gained over 40lbs in 3 years. I have also experienced odd muscle cramping and have never made a connection to this and Lisinopril. The pain in my ear, side of my head, and my jaw was unbelievable. ENT dr thought it was TMJ or nerve damage. He was not able to really pin down the exact cause. One month later I was bed ridden with severe back pain, which I have never had before. MRI showed nothing. Headaches are daily, cough, leg cramps, chest pain, decreased sex drive, and definitely have feelings of depression. I have never made the connection between the changes in my personality, health, and lifestyle to this medicine; but now I have. I will be immediately contacting my doctor to discuss alternatives. My BP when I started was 150/90 and now is 112/70. Please let me know if anyone has also had the weight gain like I have experienced. I know I am going to have to have hard facts to show to my doctor. Thank you.

Approximately 3 months ago, I was prescribed a daily 10 mg dosage of Lisinopril which I've been taking before bed. Last night was the last straw... I anxiously took another baby Aspirin and lay there wondering if I needed to wake my husband. I really thought that maybe I was preventing or reducing a heart attack as my chest pains had become un-nerving. This has been going on for weeks on and off.

To name a few, various other symptoms combined with last night’s symptom-related anxiety are telling..... Coughing, chest pains, nausea, vomiting, light headedness, headaches (including Ice-Pick headaches), numbness in my toes, nasty stomach aches, and the very tangible anxiety and stress caused by some of the symptoms, particularly the chest pains. I’m so appreciative to have found this site and I truly thank God. To read the postings and matched other’s experiences with my own... It’s a real wake-up call! Last night, I vowed to start exercising daily & eating better. I’m going back to see the Doctor to evaluate and get off this med. I am relatively young but overweight and inactive with only recent elevated BP, which is believed to be transitory and stress related. Regardless, I just read...“if you're overweight, losing weight usually helps lower blood pressure. Regular exercise is a good way to lose weight. It also seems to lower high blood pressure by itself” (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/heartdisease/risk/092.html). As the saying goes, “The “cure” can be worse than the cause”.... might well be true with me and Lisinopril. I hope this post will help as so many others did for me. Now I’m off for my walk.... Blessings and health to you all.

I am 44 years old, and I have high blood pressure for 4 years now. 6 months ago my doctor put me on LISINOPRIL (10 mg), it was ok for the first two month's then one day I noticed my hair started falling out little-by-little every time I would washed it. I also am forgetting things that i am supposed to do or I can't seem to remember where i put things, I also have been having anxiety feelings sometimes when I am shopping; I want to leave the store. My throat has been hurting and i have to urinate often. I am getting headache's. I went to my doctor I thought it could be stress or maybe a thyroid problem, I had test done and everything came back normal. My doctor told me it was stress. The symptoms are not going away. Today I decided to see if it could have something to do with my medication I have been taking. So I logged on to side effect of LISINOPRIL I could not believe it, there it was in your e-mail my symptoms. You don't know how relieved I was, I finally found out what was wrong with me. I Have never experienced any problem's, I have always been healthy and happy! So i know it is the side effects of LISINOPRIL, I am seeing my doctor tomorrow and changing my medication. Thank you all for your e-mail's and your experience's with this drug. Sign happy Camille.

My primary care physician gave me a scrip today for Lisinopril for my sorta-high-at-times BP. I am a Hepper and I have significantly reduced my viral load from 1.1 million in 2001 down to 39,000 as of last summer through a strict regimen of vitamins, supplements, prayer, stress avoidance, and basic all around clean living. With what I have to face every day with this Hep C...If my dr. thinks I'm gonna take this stuff, he's as crazy as a peach-orchard boar!

The scrip is sitting here on my desk. I go back to my doctor in six weeks. I guarantee my BP AND my weight will be down to acceptable limits....And when he says, "I see it worked", I'm gonna hand him the scrip and say..."Ya reckon?????"....hehehehehe....

fingerpik

I started taking Lisinopril about 10 months ago and now I have had severe redness and heat in my face, neck, and chest. I have constant headaches and my eyes are bloodshot most the time now. I have quick sharp pains throughout my chest arms and legs/feet a lot. I get blurry vision and disorientation every time after taking this stuff.. My heart rate varies from high to low but it feels like my blood is extremely thick no matter if I eat or not, I also get extreme nausea after eating even a salad with no dressing. I hate this stuff so much and it scares me to no end. I have major anxiety disorders anyway but this crap makes it worse. I think I am dying everyday its so nerve wrecking and I am only 25yrs old!!!! I recently stopped taking this junk for about a week but still took my Xanax for my anxiety and my face and neck aren't hot at all most the time anymore only when I move around and work a lot but not bad at all. My heart rate is normal and my blood pressure is staying about the same but maybe bout 8 or 9 notches lower than when i was on this stuff. I think someone is really going to get hurt on this stuff and we are all going to see a commercial on TV saying to call a lawyer for cash rewards because of med induced illness or even deaths... I'm going to the doctor and telling them to give me the most expensive effective and less side effect BP med..

I have read a ton of the posts in this category. I have been taking Lisinopril as an addition to my regular blood pressure medication for approximately 3 years, with absolutely no problems. My 10mg was increased to 20mg a week ago. Still no problems. It has only helped me. If there are any changes, I will definitely post it. I believe that symptoms can arise from reading an article. I actually know a couple people who read things, and suddenly they are convinced they have the problem or disease referenced. I call it an Epidemic of Diagnoses. Always seek a doctors advice before stopping medications. Stopping suddenly on certain drugs, can be more dangerous than taking them.

Glad to find this site. My BP has always been high, but due to stress it has been 170/110 on Inderal 40mg, 3 times a day. My doctor put me on Lisinopril 10mg, my BP was same. He increased it to 20mg, and am having numbness and tingling in arms with nausea and dizziness. My BP is still the same...He increased it to 40mg., I am flushing it down the toilet after reading the comments. My mom was on it for years and finally realized the constant cough and uncontrolled hypertension, which lead to a pacemaker, was due to the Lisinopril.

Summary of what I've read so far...

On emotional level:
1. Anxiety/Depression
2. Fear of having throat/lung cancer
3. Fear of having a heart attack/failure/angina
4. Short temperedness
5. Vivid dreams/nightmares
6. Thoughts of suicide
7. Feel like we're going to die soon

On physical level:
1. Tingling/ pins and needles, on arms and fingers
2. Leg pains (cramp, etc...)
3. Chest pains ( various description...)
4. Shortness of breath
5. Back/neck pain
6. Trouble sleeping
7. Coughing, itchy/scratchy throat
8. Loss of sex drive
9. Dizziness
10. Lack of energy / feeling exhausted / fatigue
11. Muscle/joint aches
12. Night sweats / cold sweats
13. Hair loss
14. Nausea
15. Abdominal pain
16. Swollen feet/ankle
17. Palpitations

Alternative medicine without or minimal side effects...
so far, DIOVAN has been recommended.
I'm calling my doc tomorrow and will insist on DIOVAN...lol.

Feel free to add to this list.

Better health to you all.

God bless!!

What about hair loss? I am not a hairy person, but I used to shave under my arm every now and then. Relax, I didn't need to. Now I have to draw on my eyebrows to make them even, again I never had a unibrow. The hair on my head grows, but not a lot.I won't discuss anything else. Maybe this is just old age ;-)

I have been on lisinopril since January 07. I had a drug eluting stent put in my heart Feb 05, and after a bad experience with Beta Blockers had to go off of them, and try to find natural ways to help my heart/pulse rate. The lisinopril has helped with the pulse spikes, and lowered my bp, but the past three months I have been experiencing really bad cramps on the left side of my body and in chest. Very frightening and uncomfortable, wake you up in the middle of the night. both legs, and kidney area. Cannot carry my purse or anything heavy on left side. Also had bad cough in the morning. It got so bad this weekend thought I was going to have a heart attack. I awoke this morning realizing that maybe, just maybe it is the BP medication. Would not be the first time I have had problems with the poisen doctors hand out. I want to find a natural supplement that will lower my bp, without the lisinopril it was about 150/90, not great, but not too crazy. I think I won't refill the lisinopril and see how it goes....any ideas out there?

I have been on Lisinopril now for nearly 16weeks, went to doctors with a headache and they checked blood pressure it was 150/100. They put me on 5mg to start with, after 8 weeks they upped the doze to 10mg. I have experienced fuzzy headaches, severe neck pain and pins and needles down left arm for the whole of 16weeks, also been noticing that my clothes are becoming tight so weight gain as well, some days feel like i'm not even all there and that I'm never going to see my family growing up. Want to come of the pills but am too scared.It's reasuring to know I'm not the only one experiencing these side effects.

June 4 I almost fail out in a store and I thought my vertigo had returned. Rushed to the jospital and my blood pressure was 195/95 and they said it was due to stress. I am currently taking Lisinopril and I feel crapy and tired all the time. Plus they gave me Xanax for anxiety. I do not know how long I can continue this medication. My head hurts, I have tingling in my right arm and of course I have a cough I though was due to sinus problems. We take medication to help us not to make us feel worse.

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.

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!!

hello, was on lisinopril for about the first 3 weeks of 2007 and had bad stomach problems and could not uriniate, felt like my bladder was full. i thought i had prostrate problems, went back to doc, said it was probably a urinary infection. gave me cipro and said it would clear up in a couple of days, got worse. found this site on jan 20 and quit taking lisinopril that day. after 3-4 days i could uriniate again. doc then gave me atenolol and took it for about 10 days, have had a wierd kind of sore throat and sore around adams apple, feels like something hung in my throat and my appitite is nothing like it used to be, not hungry, and not sleeping worth a darn. anybody know how long these side effects last. driving me and my wife crazy. also hoarseness in throat and voice. i sure am glad to find this site. tommy p.s, am sure symptoms were before taking atenolol.

I have taken Lisinopril for over a month now. I have been miserable. It wasn't until a couple of days ago when I surfed the internet about what other patients were saying about this medication and I decided to take half a pill yesterday and today. The side effects subsided some, not all the way, but manageable. I was getting this weird pressure in my head and eyes; neck, shoulder and back pain; hair loss; and it felt like I had a lump in my throat. I've gone to an psychologist, opthamologist, cardiologist and have a future appt. with a neurologist. After reading what others have felt, I emailed my PCP today and told her that it's the Lisinopril that's causing all my pains, stress and miseries. I told her that I want to change meds, but instead she suggested to get off the meds and see how I feel. I also have vitamins that we ordered last week in her office so I will be taking the vitamins 3 x a day. I'll keep you posted.

I have beent taking 20 mg of lsinoprill tow weeks now I am exhausted and dizzy I feel like a hang over the next day I told the doc they say it isnt the meds what are they wac? I take nothing eles... I have notice an itchy cough specialy at night, I am restless when I go to bed wake up disoriented if stress and 40lbs over wieght which Iknow is the problem would exercise and dropping the weight give me cause to drop meds? alternitives to this medication?

My elbows hurt. I have not been exercising to cause any stress to them. Otherwise no other joint pain. Anybody else?

The cough didn't start immediately for me--it took about a month. I took the Lisinopril at night because of the dizzyness and that seemed to control it. I am now on Cozaar (my doctor listened to me about the side effects and the pharmacist did, too--both told me that some people do have bad reactions).
The side effects are kind of sneaky--you start out by just not feeling quite right and then you end up feeling like you would like to die but would have to feel better to do so. I ended up feeling like I was looking at the world through saran wrap. Between the cough, aching joints, exhaustion, etc., quality of life definitely bottomed out.
I have been off the Lisinopril since May and am finally starting to feel more like I did before--still get tired easily and I stress a lot easier over little things--but life is definitely better.

Female 52, 60 pounds overweight, unfit suffer from eczema since infancy and for the last 10 years from recurrent depression with stress inducing most relapses into depression.
Started lisiniprol some 3 yrs ago combined with lithium and efexor for depression. Ceased all medication 6 wks ago but resumed 10 mg lisinopril 10 days ago as BP was 160/100. Noticed constant moderate low back pain and pins and needles in hands and forearms on waking each morning, which improve on shaking arms vigorously but which don't subside completely for several hours completely. Still being monitored for BP as resumed dosage and shall raise query but wondered if anyone else has same problem.