On Lotrel 5/20 & Atenolol 100 MGS. B/P has averaged 113/65. It was 107/60 yesterday. Really hot in South Florida this summer. My cheeks tend to get pink & I really think that it is because of the Lotrel. I get flushed much easier out in the hot sun. Doc won't wean me off even though my #'s are low. I look like I have been out in the sun, even though I haven't. My girlfriend tells me that I am crazy & I am stressing myself out. It isn't as red as I think. I really think that it is the Lotrel, because I have been mentioning it to her for over a year now. I am light complexion, it's extremely hot in South Florida this summer... I have no clue. I just want it to go away.

Went to the doc. & he said that I am just fair skinned. I tend to sunburn easy & it wasn't flushing. He recommended sp15 15 everyday. My B/P was 120/78 in his office & he said that I can come back in 6 months or whenever. There was nothing wrong..... I just have fair skin. Life is grand. No more appointments for a long long time. Every test has come back good, so no reason to go back, but for 2 times a year for a b/p check. I wish he would have checked my b/p yesterday.... it was 107/62. I'll keep taking the meds.

We have a tanning bed at work and there is a list of medications that cause sensitivity to sunlight and quite a few blood pressure medications are listed there. I use a sunblock on my face every day and my "pink cheeks" have gotten better. By the way, I use Banana Boat just for faces-it's great-won't cause your face to break out because it's very ungreasy.

Axe,

I think taking 2 meds (actually three: an ACE inhibitor, a channel blocker and a high dose beta blocker day to control BP down to 107/60 is unwise (to put it kindly.)

Even if these drugs don't make you feel like "death warmed over" as they would me, I'd drop one and monitor myself for a month to see if I can control to below 130/85 ON AVERAGE.

It's the same *****. I wake up in the morning & it will flush after a shower, if I am driving on a hot day, when I get frustrated+. The doc. says that I am fair skinned, so that is the reason. He checked for roscea & said that isn't the cause & there is nothing to be concerned about. I am on 2 good b/p meds. Last 2 reading at the doctor....

120/82
125/78.

Last 2 readings on my own 107/62 & 107/63.

Flushing is a mild side-effect from these stupid meds. I woke up today feeling like junk (my stomach). He said it is a side-effect, but my b/p is under control. I really don't get it. At 33, I have been to 3 different doctors & 2 psychiatrists in the past year after spending 10 years not going at all. I am 5 '11 153. I have to spend from 7:30 to 11 usually everyday dealing with these stupid side-effects. All 3 doctors believed in the meds. I have taken 2 EKGs, a chest xray, full blood work+. He said I can come back in 6 months if I need to for a b/p check. Before the meds, I was taking nothing. It was in the 140/78 range normally. When I quit smoking it would be 126/75. I never felt like junk in the morning (unless I drank too much) & I wouldn't have pinkish cheeks. In the last 14 months, I have cut out the drinking, cut out caffeine & have lost about 10 pounds. I even bought some base, so I don't look like I have been out in the sun. What pis*es me off the most is that he says that the meds. can't cause the flushing... b.s. I am tired of switching docs. My B/P is low now & I'm stuck. Everyday is an adventure. I just wait to see what side-effect will be present. Atenolol is the worst. Lotrel is causing the flushing (I am convinced from the calcium channel blocker component). I would have been much better off never going to the doctor & just making modifications to my lifestyle.

My girlfriend had a reading of 143/78 at 23 years old the last time we checked it with a pulse rate of 103... is she on meds???? No

Her dad had a reading of 160/100. Is he on meds? No

My Mom had a reading of 140/90 the last time at the doc.... she refuses meds as well.

I get really low readings, but I have to stay on this garbage.

Why do you have to stay on it?

The 2nd doc. said that I could get off of the Atenolol when I saw her the next time. She was in the same office as my 3rd doc., but she left. She wasn't very good as a doc. imo, because she tried to wean me down from 2-3 mgs of xanax a day to none within 10 days. That is a big no no to try to do that so quickly.

My current doc. says that 120/78 on meds. isn't low enough. I show him my readings outside of his office & I guess he doesn't believe it. His exact comment to me last week was "we have put you through enough tests & they are all fine. Come back whenever you want."

I left the 1st doc., because he didn't believe that Altace nor Toprol could cause side-effects. He switched me to Lotrel. My 2nd doc. switched the Toprol to Atenolol. I feel like a guinea pig & the only people that suffer are those around me. I'm only 33. I had high b/p, because I used to drink too much, which I stopped. All of my tests are fine. My B/P is normal at the docs now. The only med. that they prescribed to me that has actually helped is the xanax, which I have not increased nor exceeded what I was prescribed.

Why does he want me to stay on these meds? Because it makes it so I have to go back in 6 months for an appointment & it makes me rely on the doctor when I need refills. I don't have the solution.

Axe,
You have made so many great healthy changes in your life, I hate to see you feeling victimized here.

Your doctor feels 120/78 on meds IN HIS OFFICE isn't good enough?

Exc-u-u-se me but HUH?

And your home readings are amazing.

Now that you're not drinking like you used to, have lost some weight, cut out caffeine and have the anxiety more or less under control I still don't understand why you feel you need to continue on the med merry-go-round indefinitely.

Your non-medicated BP was originally 140/78 when you were simply not taking as good care of yourself as you are now. And even that # isn't all that alarming for god's sake.

You need not let the medical profession hold you hostage.

I asked you this once before but why NOT wean off everything (or even something as Zip suggests) slowly, continue monitoring at home and now that you are "healthier" overall, see what happens to your blood pressure?

I still can't help but think (when we first "met") you were put on meds too precipitously.

zuzu xxx

I agree. It s**ks to wake up everyday & not know what you are going to feel like on the meds. Now that I have quit drinking cold turkey for the last couple of weeks, I am getting these B/P readings that are a joke (on the low end). I have tried to be a "good little boy" & listen to all of these docs. I just feel that they should tell a patient

1) If you are going to go on Atenolol or Toprol, they take weaning when you get off of them. They are addictive.

2) My anxiety is under better control, but I still take the xanax. I have a great job now & I am not anxious before client meetings+.

3) My girlfriend agrees with you. Like I said, her B/P was like 143/78 with a pulse rate of 103 when we took it at Eckerds.... mine was 120/78 with a pulse rate of 59 the 1st time.

It is just sad that when you go to docs. all they say is that xyz is a good medication. Your b/p $'s are great. Can I wean off doc? You can wean off of the xanax. What about the atenolol or the lotrel??? No, they are good meds. & your b/p is not low enough. Do any of them do anything but prescribe b/p meds, check your numbers that the lab has already shown them what is normal & examine EKGS & chest xrays????