Can somebody please answer this ? for me? I was recently prescribed avapro, 150 mg for hbp. I took the samples given and it made me sleepy, so I started taking half a dose. When i take a full dose, my skin gets very dry and dingy . My feet hurts and toes tingle. I also get real tight sharp pains in my ankles and back of my legs. Please help, because I need to continue walking at least 4 miles a day, but it seems impossible. I really need to take something for my bp. I feel so helpless. The dr thinks I just hate taking pills, but the truth is I've been given so many in the past that only caused problems, i am reluctant. HERE IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH:
1. Side effects 2. How long will side effect last. 3. Are the things mentioned side effect of avapro. My bp is 143/80 most of the time.

I have been taking Avapro, 150 mg. also for the last 3 months. It seems to be doing good on the BP, but I do get lousy backaches and pains in my legs. Somedays it doesn't seem to bad and other days I could scream, especially if I walk alot. Like U, I have also noticed my skin being very dry. I have to go to the dr. next week and am going to mention it to him. Of course I expect him to give me a dirty look, as I am very sensative to meds. and have not had good luck on many. I took Altace for almost 2 years and PLEADED with the dr. to take me off of them due to the horrid cough, diarrhea and lousy appetite, but was told they are a great drug, it must be you. Reluctantly he finally gave in and switched me to this Avapro stuff.

God I hate it when they treat U like your a mental case. I know my body, and yes, am very sensative to alot of meds., but hey, I didn't ask for this. Discuss it with your dr. and see if these are side effects. I know I read they can cause backaches and a few other things, including urinary track infections, so who knows. Almost all these fool drugs sometimes make ya feel like the cure is worse then the disease. Good luck!! :)

Thank you so much JJ. I go in to see my dr on Friday. What do you do about the dry skin. It seems this med has aged me alot. My hubby told me to stop taking it, but I really need to bring my bp down because I am a diabetic.Like u i've tried so many bp meds i think all my dr are getting frustrated with me. I am going to try and stay on the avapro for at lest a month, but i am worried. My skin feels so tight and dry and this is on half a pill. Can you imagine what's going to happen when i finally increase to the full dose.

Basically I really don't do much except put a little lotion on my legs after a shower, as that seems to be where I get it the most. I've always used Noxema on my face, so it seems to take care of that ok.

I know what u mean about the drs. My old dr of 32 yrs. retired, but I loved him. Not only was he a darn good dr. I could talk to him about anything, as could my hubby. After he retired I went to a new one, liked him, but he moved..DARN IT! Since then I have tried 2 new drs. in the last 4 yrs. , one female, this one male, and to be honest, I don't like either of them. This guy is like the female one, shoves ya in and out and doesn't listen at all. The female dr. that I complained so much about the Altace to, just wouldn't listen till I finally told her ENOUGH ALREADY. She put me on Atenolol, 25 mgs. and I felt alot better, but this guy said 25 mgs. was a baby dose, so uped it to 50. I started having wacky dreams, a touch of insomnia, and very low pulse rate, plus my glugose level went up as did my trigs. I asked him about it and all he said was "don't worry about it". Well excuse me, but I was worried about it, as mine was usually very normal! :rolleyes:

2 months ago I went in for a physical and he got all freaked out cause he said my EKG didn't look normal to him. I asked what was wrong but all he would say was, it ain't normal, so off to a cardiologist I went. The cardio guy told me, the only problem he saw could be caused by 3 things, low pulse rate, low potassium, and high BP, all of which I had on the blood test. He did an Echo and said all looked fine, but to have my dr. put me on another BP pill, as he felt the Atenolol was causing alot of the problems, so that is when I was switched to Avapro, put I still take 25 mgs. of the Atenolol till I can ween off. When I go to see my dr. I want to see if he will knock my dose of Avapro down to half, as sometimes my BP gets really low and I feel a bit light headed. I'm a very petite person, so sometimes I can't take the same dose as someone larger then myself.

Hubby's dr. is from the VA hospital, and she sits and talks to him and if a med is bothering him she tries something else, as he is diabetic and also has very nasty nueropathy from it, plus he has high BP, has for many years, but at least she and the cardiologist listen to him. Sometimes lately I feel like I attract all the quacks out there. Right now I am asking friends about their drs. as I just am not comfortable with this new guy, and if ya can't feel comfortable with them, no sense in sticking with them. Oh well, maybe the right one will come along, hopefully before anymore damage is done. Just can't take this awful fear all of a sudden of freaking out when I have a drs. appt., never had that in my life.

Do try some lotion, nothing fancy, I just buy a pharmacy brand after I usually ask the pharmacist what is good, and so far, so good. Right now I have been using the CVS lotion. Hope U get some answers from your dr. and also maybe the side effects will go away, or U get changed to something that agrees with ya. Good luck kiddo, I know what your going thru!!! :)

After reading some of these posts about docs NOW I can understand why so many people have WHITE COAT HYPERTENSION. If your doc won't listen to you about side effects you must feel so hopeless.
These are the most common side effects of Avapro ( according to WEB MD )
diarrhea or upset stomach;
swelling;
muscle pain, cramps, or backache;
dizziness;
headache;
insomnia; or
congestion or cough (very unlikely).
Take Care

Yup, some of these drs. cause U to have high BP, especially in their office. If this guy doesn't give me some answers next visit, trust me, I will be on the hunt for a new one. I never had this kind of problem with my old dr., nor do I with my GYN, GI guy, or even the Cardio guy. My impression is this guy went out on his own after being with 5 drs. and maybe he got in way over his head and can't handle it. When I have blood work done, it takes me 2 weeks to get results, as when I call the office, they say his desk is full and as soon as he gets to read things he will get back to me. Geez, God help anyone who's tests might be very important. Oh well, I'll just keep my cool for now till I see him again, and am going to tell him exactly how I feel around him. If he can't handle the truth, TUFF! Have a good one, and CYL... :wave:

Maybe not the right thing to say, but I'm glad to see others having nasty side effects from Avapro - My doc made me think I must be the only one in the world.
I've been taking Avapro for almost 3 years, starting at 150mg and gradually upped to 300mg HCT
My old doc retired recently and the clinic is now manned by 2 very young doctors, not long out of school.
I was put on Avapro when admitted to hospital for a spinal injury. They started my course at 8pm and by midnight I was in agony with cramps and leg pains in addition to the pain I had from my injury. This continued throughout my 2 week stay in hospital where I managed to get only a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon. The nights were hell. When I got home I checked RXList for side effects of the coctail of pills I was taking and found that Avapro might have been responsible for the leg cramps. I stopped taking my Avapro and had my first night's sleep for 2 weeks. I noted that the pains and cramps I had started about 3 hours after taking the pill which would be about the time that the pills reached maximum effect.
After a couple of days I started taking Avapro again, this time in the morning. Again, no cramps at night. What did become obvious was some muscle pain during the day. It was another months before I was able to stand up and walk without mechanical aids and then the muscle pains became more obvious.
Four weeks ago I stopped taking Avapro, cutting back to half a pill for a week and then stopping. After about 4 days I noticed the pain in my leg muscles had gone, uncomfortable swelling in my feet had eased, and generally I felt fitter. The downside was that my BP started to rise again.
Two days ago I spoke to my new GP, went over the story from the start, but he insisted I go back on Avapro. He also wrote a script for Quinine which he said would help my leg cramps - what leg cramps? I only had them while the hospital was feeding me the pills at night! I could not convince him that leg cramps and leg muscle pain and muscle weakness were not the same thing.
This morning I took half a tablet of Avapro. This afternoon the leg muscles were sore again.
What do they teach these guys in uni?
I'll give it a few days and if I am sure that the side effects are back then I'll do the rounds until I find a doctor that's prepared to listen and use a little common sense. There must be one somewhere.
Sorry if I bored you.

Don't feel bad, I have the same darn problem, but the dr. won't listen to me either. When I was on Altace I had this problem too, plus the horrid cough and diarrhea, and it took me 2 yrs. to make the dr. recommend something else. They had me on Atenolol, and within 3 weeks the pain went away and I could walk like I normally did. He wasn't satisfied with the BP on Atenolol so shoved me on Avapro, and within 4 weeks I noticed the lousy backache and now the leg cramps, REALLY bad when I am trying to sleep. I have no idea what I am going to do, as the dr. seems to think it is me. He knows I am very drug sensative, but this guy doesn't listen to me at all.

I went to him 2 weeks ago and told him about the pain, he asked what I was taking for it, and I told him, NOTHING, so he said...good, try to just deal with it. I am about ready to scream with these fool answers I get. I hate to stop them, as then I know my BP will go up, so right now I am stumped. Hang in there and keep me posted how it goes, and vice versa. :)

Hello everyone, well I went to my gp 5-20 and he insisted i take two of these horrrible pills and he added zetia for cholesterol . I really, really tried to comply. But now 6-8 i had to go to ER becuz my eye, face, lips and feet broke out in hives, and it felt like fire ants were all over my face. ER told me to stop the avapro asap and to take benedryl for the itching. They also wrote me a script for zantac . i don't know why becuz i never said anything about my stomach. However, my bp was 140/70, and that was when i was in a nervous, and agitated state. When I left my bp was 117/72. I thinik i am thru with the avapro for now. i think it is time to find another dr.

Well I have been taking the Avapro for almost 3 months, and the pain started just after I got the second refill. I am going to call the dr. as I am about due for another refill and see what he says, probably nothing as usual.

Hope U are doing better. Did the Zetia bother U at all, as my girlfriend just went on it but said so far so good. I need something for my cholesterol, but the statins really raise havoc with me, even my other dr. took me off I got so sick. Of course he retired so now I am stuck with this guy, but I am looking, as I know we are NOT hitting it off at all. My other dr. I had for almost 33 yrs., and although he didn't baby me, he at least listened and tried different things if I was having problems. Good luck, and hope U feel a whole lot better. That BP was good for such a stressful situation. Thanx for sharing your experience also. :)

:rolleyes: I hate to say it but before i found this board, I believed i was the only person dealing with an a**h***e dr. For many yrs (4 or 5) i really tried to comply with them. Ended up in the hospital 2 with a heart attack and mini strokes. Not one of those a**e* seem to know the side effects of each of the 24 pills they gave me. Finally in frustation I just abruptly stopped taking everything but asprin, levothroid, insulins, and verapamil. All my pains stop immediately. I made it clear no cholesterol meds for me. I stopped again taking the zetia, causes severe backache. Quality of life is more important to me than living a long, miserable life. I want to walk, talk, and think on my own, not be zombified. My endo is my best dr and I trust him more than all the others. My gp won't even refer me to a cardio and I've had 2 heart attacks. He also didn't want me to go to an endo, but i insisted. Drs work for me, I pay them and not the other way around. :jester:

I can't agree with U more. Hubby talked with his cardio man about the side effects he got from cholesterol drugs. Although his cholesterol is pretty good, his Trigs are high, and he is diabetic, type 2. Except for his BP pills, and an aspirin a day, like his dr. said, if the pills are going to mess up his quality of life, then they aren't worth using. Now we make sure his diet is good, he avoids too many carbs. and his trigs have come down quite a bit. Nice to see a dr. actually agree with a patient. Glad U shared your experience, and I wish U all the best in the future. :)

P.S. Like my old dr. use to tell me, WE know our bodies better then they do, so speak up and let them know when things aren't right. Of course he listened, as we know, alot don't! :rolleyes:

I take avapro 300 mg and the only side affect I had and it cleared up was diarhea, and it cleared up, don't seem to have tiredness or any pains, tho I only have been taking it about a month,

I also take verapimil, too since the avapro wasn't enough and I am wondering if the calcium channel blocker is making me lose exercise tolerance.

I sleep okay but I have noticed that I take awhile to go to sleep and a while to wake up don't know if it is related to the veripamil.

RR

Hi
I took Verapamil for a few years and after I got off of it I realized that while I was taking it I was not falling asleep very well and waking up a lot during the night. I also had bad dreams. After I got switched to another drug I slept much better.

At first I had the bad dreams but not now. I also had the exercise slowness with verapamil in the beginning. I have been on verapamil for five yrs and now no problems with it, but it alone can't lower my bp. Now after going to ER last weekend and discontinuing the avapro, i still have a severe itch. I have not taken avapro for almost 5 to 6 days and this dare itching will not go away. i was told to take benadryl but i'm scared it will damage my liver. Is this true. My bp bp for the last 5 days range at 140/155 over 72/84. I really need to lower the top #, but my stupid dr insist i take the avapro until i see him 6-29. No way.

i stopped the verapamil two days ago because when I walked I would get so tired, (and I was up to about 3-4 miles before I started any pressure meds) after only a mile, even on the flat!!!

but i still have this fatigue, not sure if it is the 300 mg avapro. I was so tired today all I wanted to do after most of my walk (which I sat down to catch breath alot and to rest) is sleep. is that the avapro? been on it a little over a month.

I could walk 3 miles or more before I even had a little tiredness, now it is like I do a half a mile without feeling sleepy or sluggish and struggling to put one foot in front of the other Yuck!! will this pass?

RR

i stopped the verapamil two days ago because when I walked I would get so tired, (and I was up to about 3-4 miles before I started any pressure meds) after only a mile, even on the flat!!!

but i still have this fatigue, not sure if it is the 300 mg avapro. I was so tired today all I wanted to do after most of my walk (which I sat down to catch breath alot and to rest) is sleep. is that the avapro? been on it a little over a month.

I could walk 3 miles or more before I even had a little tiredness, now it is like I do a half a mile without feeling sleepy or sluggish and struggling to put one foot in front of the other Yuck!! will this pass?

RR


:wave: As stated before, I've been on erapamil 240 for over 5 yrs and had slight side effects in the beginning. Recently my dr added avapro150mg and i could not walk my usual 3 to 4 miles. I stopped the avapro and now i'm walking 5 or more miles per day. However, my bp shot up to 188/72, called the dr and he said to take 1 1/2 pill of verapamil. I personally think it is the avapro that's causing you the problem. Read other post on this board. I was told to take 300 mg of avapro but it caused too many problems. I was taking 1/2 a pill of avapro and could not function. I ended up in urgent care and they told me to discontinue the avapro.

i stopped the verapamil two days ago because when I walked I would get so tired, (and I was up to about 3-4 miles before I started any pressure meds) after only a mile, even on the flat!!!

but i still have this fatigue, not sure if it is the 300 mg avapro. I was so tired today all I wanted to do after most of my walk (which I sat down to catch breath alot and to rest) is sleep. is that the avapro? been on it a little over a month.

I could walk 3 miles or more before I even had a little tiredness, now it is like I do a half a mile without feeling sleepy or sluggish and struggling to put one foot in front of the other Yuck!! will this pass?

RR

I see that Avapro is a anangiotensin II receptor antagonists. This is the same as DIOVAN, and I got the exact same symptom. And I hated it! It was a shame too, because my blood pressure was beautiful. I was on DIOVAN/HCT which meant part was a diuretic, I tried to tell my doctor it was the HCT part, she did not think so, she suspected the DIOVAN. Of course I did not believe her, but after reading these posts about Avapro, I am convinced she was right. Perhaps this a side effect of angiotensin II receptor antagonists. I am on Norvasc now, and can exercise with no problems. In fact I am about to go do 5 miles now, before it gets too hot!

One other thing I wanted to try with the DIOVAN was to take it a while and see if my body adjusted, but she would not let me, she did not believe that it would.

what is norvasc? I ran out of avapro and won't ask for it for a few days to see if I feel better will ask the doc what else to try, I don't take diuretics because of a condition where I go to the bathroom too much anyway and stay dehydrated, unless of course I take my hormone that stops that.