Lisinopril and thyroid function

Hi again ....I went to see my G.P regarding my symptoms posted here 18th Jan. He has ordered blood tests for kidney, liver, thyroid function, blood sugar levels and a full blood count....he doesn't feel that the symptoms I have are attributed to the lisinopril therefore I am back on this drug again!! I am not so sure and I will wait to see if the blood tests reveal any problems. If not I intend to carry on like this for another 3 months and then I will approach my Doctor again if I am still experiencing the same problems and suggest that we try an alternative BP drug! In the meantime I found that the itching had abated after not taking the lisinopril I guess I am going to be a scratch bag again!! Thanks Jill xx

HI,
I stopped Lisinopril since "August 1st. It took until last week for the heart palpatations to go away. For the last week I finally can sleep a full night again without waking up with a racing heart beat. I feel so much better, it is unbelievable. The hair loss people mention, which I also experienced, is caused by the rise of lithium levels, which in turn messes with your thyroid function, this causing dry skin, flaking scalp and hair loss! I just knew that I never had dandruff in the summer time, but never connected this with the hair loss and of course lisinopril.
Good luck to all of you!

I am a 57 yr old female who has been taking lisinopril for about 4 years, after the Zestril became too expensive. I have had the cough and intermittent shortness of breath for several years, but really did not attribute the shortness of breath to the drug until it became quite severe recently. I stopped taking it three days ago, and of course, am concerned that my BP will be out of control. I exercise, eat pretty well, and am about 20 lbs overweight. I also experience abdominal bloat that by evening I look six months pregnant, but no ankle swelling. I hate that. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, still the bloat. Anyone else bloating? My question, have any of you who stopped taking the drug finally experienced an end to the shortness of breath? I notice I can still exercise moderately, and have the shortness regardless of sitting or exercising. Anyone out there truly get relief for symptoms and how soon after stopping

This medicine can cause weight gain, energy and stamina problems, shortness of breath, etc...

It does this, I believe, mostly by interfering with thyroid function due to selenium and cysteine depletion.

Selenium (and zinc too) is depleted as the immune system uses these minerals to detoxify from the lisinopril and its associated chemicals and toxins.

Cysteine is depleted because it is used in repairing the lungs from the damage caused by lisinopril with the cough side-effect.

With selenium and cysteine depleted, the body runs low on selenocysteine, which is necessary for thyroid hormone reception and response all through out the body.

Also with selenium depletion, the thyroid has more difficulty making the thyroid hormone.

Lisinopril seems to put a heavy detoxification load on the immune system. As a result, the body seems to use up zinc and selenium (and other things, of course, like vit-c, vit-e) at a high rate.

When the body runs out of zinc or selenium, additional problems happen. The immune system is not able to keep up with the detoxification needs, and I think this is a major factor with the cough.

In addition, other systems besides the immune system are also negatively effected when these nutrients run low. For example, selenium, is very important for joint health, and, it is also key in thyroid function (both at the receptor site as well is in the thyroid itself), among other things.

The combination of direct lung damage related to the cough, plus the lowered thyroid function from lack of selenium seem to me to be the major causes of the breathlessness or shortness of breath problems that I've had so much of.

Another problem is that taking selenium supplementation, even when deficient in selenium, further depresses the thyroid. So, I have found a number of things that help me counteract that, in order that I can take the necessary amount of supplemental selenium to feed my immune system. These other things are calcium, boron, iodine, tyrosine, zinc, magnesium. Also, I take the extra selenium only at night, when extra thyroid depression is more tolerable.

Also, for really damaged lungs, as mine were, I found that cysteine, msm, and horsetail (for silicia) also helpful.

And to help with the stomach problems that lisinopril caused me, I found glutamine helpful.

My problems persisted for a long time (2+ years) after quitting lisinopril, however, each time I discovered one of these helpful nutrients, my recovery took a leap forward. I'm pretty sure that if I'd known right away about the zinc & selenium, in particular, I'd have been able to get back on my feet in several months instead.

I posted here in early Sept. about my problems with lisinopril. After reading other posts I started doing some google searches. Because a previous HBP medicine caused my thyroid function go down I was switched to Lisinopril. Two years later, my throid levels which had recovered are now going down again. Several posters mentioned suppelmenting with zinc to deal with the cough so many people develop. A "lisinopril zinc" search had several sites that all stated in practically the same words that no research showed a link to zinc and lisinopril but supplementation might be a good idea. (Don't dose yourself with zinc because that can cause things to go out of whack.) I also found an article by Dr. Ron Hoffman about "Drugs That Steal." He reported that ACE-inhibitors caused zinc to be depleted from the body.
Then, I googled "zinc TSH". TSH is the indicator of how your thyroid is working. There I found several articles about how low zinc levels may cause low thyroid symptoms. Ask low-thyroid sufferers how hard it is to get doctors to diagnose and deal with this wide range of symptoms that are often vague.
Now I'm stuck. Is it lisionpril or is it my thyroid? My doctor sees the HBP first and wants to add medications to deal with the first medication's side effects. But then suppose there are more side effects from the next medication. This is a real quality of life issue.

I was on propranolol for 3 years for mitral valve prolapse and hbp. When I developed symptoms of hypothyroidism I finally convinced the dr. to take me off it and I was put on 20 mg of lisinopril. My thyroid function went to normal range after one year but after 2 years the symptoms are returning. Has anyone seen a connection with this medication and thyroid function. I'm having twitches, cramps, indigestion, some lightheadedness, cold feet, tingling in hands, increased ringing in the ears.