Hello everyone,
I apologize if this has been addressed but I am a newbie. :confused:
I have been on 5mg norvasc and 25mg hydrochlorothiazide. I am also on effexor 25mg as I tend to be a little high strung. My bp is now under control mostly at 126/85, but I ALWAYS feel lousy. Tired, dizzy, lightheaded, blotted, constant lower back pain and lack of any energy are common friends of mine. I have started splitting the norvasc but still have cronic fatige and dizziness. Yes, I am 100lbs over weight, and have zero energy but one heck of an appitite.
My Doc likes the meds because they are keeping my bp under control.
Before the meds my bp was steady around 140/90.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone,
I apologize if this has been addressed but I am a newbie. :confused:
I have been on 5mg norvasc and 25mg hydrochlorothiazide. I am also on effexor 25mg as I tend to be a little high strung. My bp is now under control mostly at 126/85, but I ALWAYS feel lousy. Tired, dizzy, lightheaded, blotted, constant lower back pain and lack of any energy are common friends of mine. I have started splitting the norvasc but still have cronic fatige and dizziness. Yes, I am 100lbs over weight, and have zero energy but one heck of an appitite.
My Doc likes the meds because they are keeping my bp under control.
Before the meds my bp was steady around 140/90.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

You know, your "before meds numbers" were slightly elevated but certainly not extremely high. I'm willing to bet if you got off of the meds (w/ your doctor's approval) and worked on losing the excess weight, your BP would probably be in the normal range. I'm suprised your doctor hasn't taken that route with you. Your doc gave you the worst BP med, norvasc which has a ton of side effects. In addtion, Effexor will elevate your BP.

No one should feel lousy. Please consider exercise and a change in diet. This will most likely reduce your BP and make you feel a whole lot better.

I agree with redherring. My mom lost 50 lbs and she got off the norvasc. she is still on the verapamil and clonidine. After about a yr or so her bp has finally dropped to 130/79. Losing weight certainly makes a difference.

Your doc gave you the worst BP med, norvasc which has a ton of side effects.

That statement is just flat out irresponsible. I take 5 mg Norvasc with no problems. I think part of her problem could be the combination with 25mg HCTZ. If the 5mg Norvasc isn't suffcient, she might want to drop the HCTZ and use an ACE inhibitor or an ARB in it's place.

Everyone is different and a lot of people on Norvasc reported no side effects at all and others report A LOT. I was against Norvasc before but now I can say that one have to try the Med for a month or so to see its effects.
Thanks,
Michael

Hi ZooKeeper,

I also take Norvasc with no problems. In fact I take 10mg. However as already said, everyone is different, and that is why there are so many Bp medicine. You should not have to feel that way. Have you asked your doctor to experiment with other. I had to try two others before, I was switched to Norvasc. I thought I would never feel normal again, it was very frustrating. So please go back to your doctor, or switch doctor like I did. Your BP can be controlled and feel normal, you just have to find the one that is right for you.

Everyone is different and a lot of people on Norvasc reported no side effects at all and others report A LOT. I was against Norvasc before but now I can say that one have to try the Med for a month or so to see its effects.
Thanks,
Michael

You are still being biased..highlighting *A LOT*. The MAJORITY of those with NO PROBLEMS at all, don't bother to post on message boards like this. It's those who have had adverse effects that overwhelm a message board, giving the impression the the drug is (in this case Norvasc) a poor one. In fact, Norvasc (or generic) is taken my MILLIONS world wide with no problems at all. I'm not trying to down play the experiences of those who have had problems, but reading this board, you would think this drug is bad news. :eek:
In the case of Norvasc, it is true that adverse events are highly dose dependent..more so than say Ace inhibitors or ARBS, but when it works, it does so very well indeed. Just my 2 cents worth. :D

That statement is just flat out irresponsible. I take 5 mg Norvasc with no problems. I think part of her problem could be the combination with 25mg HCTZ. If the 5mg Norvasc isn't suffcient, she might want to drop the HCTZ and use an ACE inhibitor or an ARB in it's place.

Well, I'm happy that you're happy with Norvasc. As far as as my statement being irresponsible, I was just conveying my opinion. Afterall, that's what this board is about. There are many others who post here who have the same sentiments about Norvasc.

I stand by my statement that overweight individuals can see an improvement in their BP readings with lifestyle changes which includes losing the excess weight as in the OP's case. Her pre-medicated readings are slightly high. I'm willing to bet she would drop to normal BP levels if lost the excess weight through diet changes and exercise. How do I know?? My readings were like hers (140/150 over 85/90) until I went on the South Beach Diet (coupled with vigorous exercise) and lost 15lbs. My readings are now consistently in the 110-120/70-75 range. These are unmedicated readings.

redherring,

I agree, I think weight is the number factor in a lot of cases of hypertension. I am slightly overweight, only 10lbs. But I think if I lose those 10 lbs, I will be able to at least reduce the amount of Norvasc I take. Some people think that 10 lbs is nothing, but to me it has been extremely difficult.

I just read an article on norvasc and it states that the medication norvasc taken for high blood presure can cause diabeties also norvasc weakens the artery walls and could lead to a heart atttack. I have been taken norvasc for 3 years. ( 5mg). I was told by my doctor that norvasc is the best safe drug on the market for high blood presure. I was concerned about norvasc so I asked my doctor a lot of questions. I am not attacking norvasc but I want to be able to take norvasc to lower blood presure and not cause diabeties or heart attacts. After all the reason why we take meds to reduce blood presure so that we reduce the risk of a heart attact but yet the med that we take may cause a heart attack and even diabeties. I have found that performing research and then posting on this forum helps get the truth about perscription drugs and lets other people know what the doctor does not.

I hope this helps everyone and If you have any comments or more information just reply................thanks............. ....... :-)

Hi Devie41,

Your post did concern me, so of course I immediately went out to google to see if I could find something on Norvasc and diabetes. I could not. But interesting enough while searching, I did find articles that mention other high blood medicine which increase your risk of diabetes. One of which was Diovan.

I am sure it comes as no surprise that on the Internet you can find all kind of articles that support opposing opinions. But thanks for bringing it up, I will mention it on my next doctor appointment.

I've never used Norvasc, so can offer no opinion on that. I'f think, though, that if a med makes you feel lousy, you should ask the doctor to try a different one. Your BP was high enough to warrant meds, but low enough that with lifestyle changes, there is a high probability you could get off the meds. Losing even part of that weight would probably do the trick. In fact, depending upon your current diet, you might even be able to make dietary changes and get your pressure down enough to get off the meds even without losing weight. (Though obviously losing the weight would be best for your overall health.)

I was on BP meds for five years. I was able to reduce the dosage after reducing my stress level. Then after making further dietary changes, I was able to get off them altogether. I may have also lost some weight in that same time period, but it was not more than ten pounds, and likely less, perhaps none at all. I just don't remember what the time frame was that I lost that extra weight. The dietary changes I made were to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and non-fat dairy. Unless you are eating 8-10 servings a day of vegetables and fruits (primarily the lower calorie vegetables like spinach, broccoli, asparagus, celery, cabbage and the like), you might want to increase consumption. If you eat enough of those, you probably won't be hungry for the higher calorie foods.

You might want to check into the WELL diet which was developed by Australian researchers. It is a weight-loss variation of the DASH diet. The diet plus advice to walk half an hour most days of the week resulted in an average 5% weight loss, an 8 mm Hg decrease in SBP, and a 5 mm Hg decrease in DBP over 3 months among the men in this research group. That's a nice slow and safe weight loss with a diet that can be sustained.

If you do a web search to learn more about the WELL diet, be sure to check that it is the same one developed by the Australians. There is also another diet out referred to as a WELL diet that is a vegan diet. The one I'm referring to is NOT vegan, it contains fish three times a week, as well as red meat up to twice a week.

Your post did concern me, so of course I immediately went out to google to see if I could find something on Norvasc and diabetes. I could not. But interesting enough while searching, I did find articles that mention other high blood medicine which increase your risk of diabetes. One of which was Diovan.Most of the research I have seen indicates the following relationships for diabetes:

Diuretics & Beta-Blockers - Increase risk
CCBs (i.e., Norvasc) - Neutral
ACEI & ARBs (i.e., Diovan) - Decrease risk

Pal