Any audiophile who is on blood pressure medication

Thank you you all for the response. At least, I know the side effects are not my imagination as my family members put it. Ras422. My first 20mg Benicar appeared to be a wonder drug. It made me moving around like Hercules but not only in the day time and also at night time: Insomnia and extremely hyper and agitation. The blood vessels in my limbs dialted so hard that I could feel my limbs moving when lying down in bed.I tried to cut myself of the Benicar 20mg but whenever I am dealing with difficult customers, I feel pressured on my face and my eyes. I now on 5 mg Enalapril ( ACE ) twice a day. Good night rest for the first two days and thanks God no cough yet just dizziness and tiresome most of the time. The third night, my sleep pattern was disrupted on and off so many times... Again thank you all. HBP med is like hi-end ICs, I guess my body will be a guinea pig for a while.

I've been a Type 1 diabetic since I was three. When I turned thirty-five, I was prescribed a low dose of Lisinopril (a cheap and effective medication) for kidney protection. I was on it for ten years then changed to Avepro because of the persistent cough Lisinopril will cause over long use. I run 5 miles a night--not a fun task while coughing.

Slightly more expensive, Avepro's side effects are nil. I breathe deeply with no wheeze. I've also found that I'm less likely than before to catch whatever colds my young children bring home from school. However, I had to ask my doctor to change the prescription, which is what I would suggest you do. That, or have him/her adjust your present dosage. Repeat: they won't do either unless you ask. Your blood pressure doesn't seem dangerously high; you shouldn't feel the way you do. Good luck.

Thank you for posting this. I have been feeling like crap for a year, about as long as I have been on blood pressure, thyroid,prostate, and cholesterol medication. Now I know its just not me and I have some things to look into. Hope you feel better soon. Tom G

I've tried a lot of prescription meds to control my high blood pressure. It's a bit higher than yours is.

I was on lisinopril and it gave me a cough and was not very effective. I tried Exforge, Bystolic, Benicar, Tekturna, and Diltiazem. All of those made me lethargic and drained the life force right out of me. Benicar is not too bad, but it still makes me fatigued and makes my feet hurt sometimes.

Diltiazem (over the course of a year and a half), which is the worst side-effect class of hypertensive med, a calcium channel blocker, gave me a wide range of side effects. I had fatigue, dry skin, sensitivity to sunlight, dry mouth, frequent urination, and insomnia.

On Diltiazem I was convinced I had Diabetes but tested negative and then, one day I took a short bike ride... I only rode 3 or 4 miles and came back extremely fatigued from only a moderate effort. I guess Diltiazem also constricted my pulmonary function and max heart rate too.

To top it off I had a mild left-chest dismomfort or pressure. I thought I was having a mild heart attack, so I went to my local emergency room and they ran a bunch of tests on me concluding with an angiogram (I was convinced that at the very least my arteries must have been clogged).

But no, there was no heart disease and no clogged arteries. Mind you, I'm supposed to pay nearly $3,000 for this one night stay they originally billed as $21,000 (Healthnet paid 80 percent of the 14 grand they contracted for).

I had informed my doctor all along about my various symptoms and the chronic dibilitating fatigue and he said something like, "What's a little fatigue?" He never once hinted or suggested that my symptoms could be related to Diltiazem.

But after my Angiogram, I looked up the various side effects on the web and had almost every one on the long list. I weened myself off that "wonder drug," because stopping it abruptly was ill-advised. Then whadayaknow, over the next month or so all my various side effects have faded, even my chronic sinus congestion, which I forgot to mention.

I've tried an ACE inhibitor since then which brought back some fatigue, so I stopped it. Currently I'm taking Benicar off and on (depending on how bad it makes me feel and how high my pressure is). All the BP meds that were most effective in lowering my pressure have had the worst side effects. I've modified my diet and I'm trying to bike ride and walk regularly.

My goal is to lose about 20 pounds and then be free of the drugs once and for all. Curiously, all the statin-based products for reducing cholesterol also make me fatigued and give me muscle pain, so I can't take those either. My wife, on the other hand has been on Caduet (a Lipitor and Norvasc combo pill) for over a year. She hasn't had any bad side effects yet... I've been on Lipitor and Norvasc at different times and don't tolerate either one very well.

Hi Andrew-

In my early fifty’s, I was diagnosed with hypertension. My doctor scheduled a treadmill stress test, which I could not complete, because my blood pressure got dangerously high. I was put on cholesterol medication and a beta blocker. This motivated me to change my diet (mainly vegetarian with very low levels of caffeine), and I started exercising. After about three years, I was able to reduce my medications. So my doctor scheduled another treadmill test. This time I did so well, I was taken completely off my meds.

One thing that helped me was I got a home blood pressure monitor. I was motivated to stick with the diet and exercise program by seeing whether I was sliding back, maintaining or making progressing towards better blood pressure levels. Last week I went to see the doctor, because I bought a new BP monitor (Panasonic EW3152) and I wanted to check its accuracy. My BP was 127/70 on my monitor and 122/70 on the equipment in the medical offfice.

I’ve been off meds for about six years, and I’m about forty pounds lighter than went I was first diagnosed with hypertension. For me, exercise and diet allowed me to first reduce my meds and then get off them completely.

Good luck! -Don