I've tried in the past Cardizem, Toprol, Maxide, Vasotec, Diovan. All the different classes of bp drugs. None really got my bp to the right place; all had side effects. Of late I've been taking 25 mg of HCTC. Today the doctor added 2.5 (and 5 if that doesn't work) mg of altace.

Other than the cough, what side effects have people had using this drug?

Hi evelyn,

For me, it was cough plus diarrhea.

Lot's o' fun! :D
Had to abandon it and switched to Diovan (straight, non HCTZ) and okay now.

zuzu x

I was on Altace for a few weeks last year. No side effects but also no lower BP either.
Cass

BP results were good with Altace 2.5mg. I have been having some problems with drowsiness which I thought could be related to a sinus problem I was having. However, after reviewing my journal I am very
suspicious that Altace may be the real problem and I will discontinue it for
a while to see the results.
I would recommend trying it and see what happens. You can always stop it.

BP results were good with Altace 2.5mg. I have been having some problems with drowsiness which I thought could be related to a sinus problem I was having. However, after reviewing my journal I am very
suspicious that Altace may be the real problem and I will discontinue it for
a while to see the results.
I would recommend trying it and see what happens. You can always stop it.
donsabi,
How long were you on Altace before you saw results? My new cardiologist wants me to try it one more time.
Thanks,
Cass

My BP dropped from 150/90 to 120/70 in one day. I have been taking it for two months and I didn't seem to have any problems. In the past two weeks I have been getting drowsy even though I get plently of sleep. This week I seem to be getting an allergic reaction on my face. I looked up the side effects and both are a side effect of Altace. I am stopping the medication.
I took Altace 2.5mg a few years ago and my BP went too low and was told to stop the med. I was also on a diet at the time and I think the combination of the two, meds and diet caused that. BTW, I found that if I can lose ten pounds my BP will fall into a normal range.
Meds react differently on different people. My thought is give it a try and if you have adverse reactions talk to your MD about trying something else.
Good luck!

evelyn,

For me, the drug class (enalapril) produced only the cough as I reacall, and really didn't do much to improve my BP. If you coughed from the Vasotec, my guess is that you will from the Altace also.

I've been on 2.5 mg Altace plus 25 mg HCTC for 2 months now. Also tried with 5 mg Altace but didn't need that much. BP readings very good and doctor said don't need to come back until Feb. 100 to 115 over 75 (sometimes lower) to 82. But I am really tired certain times of day. Think it may be the Altace. The good news is I don't run to bathroom as much as I did taking maxide (trimterene plus hctc). Have no cough or other side effects.

Cardizem made me feel just awful. tired, stomach hurt, etc.

ARBS didn't help me at all. Tried Diovan, bp didn't come down.

I am on my second round with Altace. As I mentioned in April, It didn't work very well the first time. I fired the cardiologist and begged my GP to work with me and so far so good. I asked to be put back on diltiazem but he just didn't feel comfortable mixing that with atenolol (which I have had a hard time weaning off of) So I agreed to try his ideas first. I dropped the ARB and just took 10mgs of Altace with 25mgs of HCTZ and the tiny dose of atenolol.
My BP settled to a consistant "normal" range. Not perfect, not under 120/80 but still OK. It ranges from the 100s / 60s to 130s / 80s. Believe me that is an improvement.
As for tiredness, yes I do get tired sometimes, but it's usually early am or late afternoon and a small shot of caffeine ( diet coke, tea, or coffee ) gets me up and going again. The tiredness seems to be related to the lowest BP of the day.
I have taken other ACEIs before (vasetec) and have never had "the" cough.
I do, however, get a tickle in my throat from time to time. It's not often enough to be bothersome though and I suspect it may just be an allergy.
Cass

Update on my altace experience. No cough. If I take 2.5 altace + 25 mg hctc in a.m., I am exhausted from 4-6 pm. Readings at that time about 100/74. Switched to 2.5 mg altace at night and 25 mg hctc a.m. When I do this, bp is a little higher in afternoon if no altace. I"m thinking I'll try 2.5 altace morning and evening and leave off the hctc. But, I think altace might cause me to have some insomnia and weird dreams.

I also don't think I have so much rebound water retention without the hctc.

Question: I am noticing a lot of hair shedding. Different people have reported on boards that they shed from various bp meds. Have people noticed more shedding with diuretics or ACEI?

Hello.

I am Adiana and I have recently been put on 2.5 mg of Altace in place of the 10 mg of Ziac I was taking. This was three weeks ago. I have noticed my blood pressure is uncontrollable as well as my pulse. I have bad headaches, problems with my vision, as well as a feeling of general malaise. I tried to donate blood today but was rejected because of high pulse---121 beats per minute as well as 169 over 117 blood pressure! YIKES! No wonder I feel like crap! I have asked my doctor to please put me back on Ziac but she won't do it---I was informed by one of the so-called "gatekeepers" at the doctor's office that I just had to "deal with it" until my next scheduled appointment which is not until the 18th of July!


This person also told me that my doctor said that we would discuss it then. I don't believe my doctor told that idiot to tell me that at all because that is not like my doctor. I don't usually call in with a problem unless it is pretty severe---I think this is just a case of some wannabe doctor's assistant taking it upon herself to blow me off! I am going to go and see my doctor in the morning and if I can't at least get to speak with her, well, then I am going to report it. This particular office has bad problems with giving decent customer service and you might as well forget about your doctor getting accurate messages from you because these people never turn in the correct information. I was told to come in anytime for necessary blood work that my doctor had ordered after fasting for 12 hours. I did what was asked but when I got to the office, I got told that I was just going to have to wait for "awhile" for someone to be able to do the work! I waited for 1 and one-half hours and still never got to do my tests. It does not matter whatever day you come in because there is never anyone to do the tests period! I am also going to tell my doctor about this as well! I hope she chews the crap out of these idiots! :mad: :mad: :mad:


Adiana

I wanted to know if I should increase my dosage from 2.5 mg of Altace to 5 mg instead---should I do this to see if I can get any relief from my uncontrolled blood pressure? Or should I ask my doctor if I can increase my dosage in the morning? That is, if I am going to be ALLOWED to even talk to my doctor!

Adiana :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Well,

I was right. My doctor was not even told my symptoms! She has been notified by a really kind nurse there named Sharon who wrote down every thing that I said and then took the ACCURATE message to my doctor. I will be told whether or not to increase my dosage of Altace or to go back to Ziac by the end of today. I also mentioned that if the office staff was going to take messages that they needed to be trained in the art of taking an ACCURATE MESSAGE because they could cause someone some serious problems by not relaying the correct messages to the doctor. We shall see what happens.

Adiana :confused: :confused: :yawn: :yawn:

I've been taking 10mg. Altace daily since March of this year when BP was 204/110. It took about 10 days to two weeks for it to really "kick in", but once it did it worked like a charm for me. My BP now runs 120's/70's, and I have no side effects at all, not even the irritating cough. Best of all I can go out in the summer heat without feeling so weak and light-headed that I'm afraid I'm going to pass out! That was the main problem I had last year when I was taking Labetalol and Lotensin. And when you live in the Deep South that is indeed a problem!

I e-mail my doctor and he knows what I want and what is happening for me word for word. That way there can never be any he-said she-said kind of nonsense.

Nope, I've never noticed any hair loss from any BP medication...LOTS of other side-effects but not hair loss!

I took altace for three weeks and ended up on lisionpril because the altace made my periods more severe, and increased dramatically my salt cravings and when I say salt cravings I mean SALT CRAVINGS.

no cough, sleepiness when i first started but it let up after about a week, the salt cravings was the worst, and of course as I adjusted diarrhea.

RR

I am now having good control with Altace as well. I take 2.5 mg in the morning. I was taking 25 mg of hctc and sometimes 2.5 mg of altace in the evening, but right now I am avoiding caffeing and alcohol and eating a little better (mostly because I was deathly ill with a virus last week), and that seems to help keep it down as well. No side affects to speak of.

I'm a 21 year old male i've been taking Altace 5mg for about 10 months now. It still makes me sleepy/drowsy sometimes. I've learned not to take it in the morning and go back to sleep, or you wake up feeling out of it. When I started taking Altace, my pulse was high (in the 90's).. now it's dropped down to being around 50 at rest! I havent figured that one out yet since my doc said Altace doesnt slow the heart down.

I just started Altace my BP was 140/100 hopefully I will have simialr success. erik