I have just recently begun taking Altace. My blood pressure was still not sufficiently under control (Down from resting 189/115 to 166/100 with Atenelol) so the Doctor started 5mg Altace...He was still not satisfied (156/95) so he doubled the Altace. All over the place I see people commenting on the terrible side affects of this medication. I trust real folks more than drug companies....so....what gives? Doubling the Altace has finally dropped my resting pressure to 125/75 and resting heart rate from 95 to 75 so it seems to be working. I notice I am getting less Angina as well and haven't had a TIA in over 2 weeks. I am prepared to completely ignore the new "suggested" BP levels since it was difficult enough getting to this point but if Altace is a problem medication I would like to know so I can switch to a different one in the same stream. Regards, Barbara

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Life....nobody gets out alive....so go laughing

Sounds like Altace is working for you! If it's bringing down your BP #s, helping the angina and TIA, that's GOOD.

Altace, like all BP meds has side effects, but if you aren't experiencing any you're doing great.
It's no more or less a "problem medication" than any of the others unless it produces intolerable side effects for you....
Best,
zuzu xxxx

I used to take Altace and developed a bad cough as a side effect, so now I take Diovan and no problem.

I've been on Altace since January. I stopped taking it in February when I ached for 3 day like I had the flu. I stayed off for about a week and began it again in March. I had a little cough but it wasn't that bothersome. What REALLY bothered me was a lack of energy. Any little task just wore me out. I haven't taken the Altace for 3 days now and I have more energy than I've had in a long while. I'm considering not taking it anymore as my blood pressure wasn't that bad to begin with

Altace is what causes the fatigue? I have been wondering. Everyday I feel like I have run a marathon. Thank you. I was thinking it was the Atenelol. I will discuss this with my doc. next time. The cough has started but is not that bothersome.

Hi-
Atenolol (Tenormin) is a Beta Blocker and it's most common side effect is abject-feeling-like-you've-been-sledgehammered- exhaustion!

Ramipril (Altace) is an ACE Inhibitor and it's most frequent side effect is cough.

However BOTH drugs have fatigue listed in their monographs as possible side effects!

Re: feeling like you've run a marathon,it's hard to know which one is the real culprit with you, but I think you're right. Odds are it's the Atenolol.....

Re: Cough- That's good ol' Altace.

zuzu xxx



[This message has been edited by zuzu8 (edited 05-20-2003).]

Forgot to give you a couple of helpful links through Medline's website, which can be posted on these boards without breaching guidelines.
ALTACE (generic is Ramipril)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a692027.html#side-effects

ATENOLOL: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a684031.html



[This message has been edited by zuzu8 (edited 05-20-2003).]

Originally posted by crabbycdn:
Altace is what causes the fatigue? I have been wondering. Everyday I feel like I have run a marathon. Thank you. I was thinking it was the Atenelol. I will discuss this with my doc. next time. The cough has started but is not that bothersome.

Crabby, both you and Zuzu are probably dead on right about the Atenolol. I was still on a beta blocker as I started incorporating jogging into my new found lifestyle. As the dosage dropped, there was a huge increase in my exercise tolerance within a couple of days. I still remember running about two days after discontinuing the last beta blocker I was on (Toprol XL) and my run time for (just over) 3 miles dropped by 90 seconds, and the pace to me felt almost effortless, as if someone took the chains off of me and I was finally free to push the pedal down.

There are postive benefits to being on a beta blocker, with respect to angina and especially for those of us with a previous MI. Weight loss, lifestyle/diet changes, exercise, only small damage to heart tissue from the MI, a resting heart rate in the high 30s, blood pressure around 90/50 on Toprol were not enough to convince anyone to take me off Toprol. It was not until I begged my cardiologist that 36 year olds should have a sex drive above zero that he agreed to let me come off of it.

Incidently, I still take Altace (5 mg). Even at 10 mg, I never had the cough that some people develop--I am lucky there.

[This message has been edited by ubernier (edited 05-20-2003).]

Lots of great information...Thanks. I have had a re-bound over the past few days with a resting heart rate back up to the 90's and diastolic remaining over 90. The sweats, angina, nausea and shortness of breath have returned in spells so I am thinking what the heck am I taking these drugs for that make me feel so tired when they are not taking away the symptoms anyway. I think I'll just go off them all for a few days and see if I feel better.

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Life....nobody gets out alive....so laugh and slam the door when you leave!

Barbara,

Wait, before you go off of the meds completely http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I was not trying to encourage that in what I told you. Let me back up and add another excerpt. I had been off of atenolol for a little bit, before starting Toprol. The whole reason I restarted with Toprol, was because like you,all of a sudden my resting bp jumped from the 90/50 range up to 160/100. I was feeling stress and anxiety during that time. Knowing that it was high bp that helped get me into trouble I went to my physician and asked him for another beta blocker that might not rob me of my libido, hence we tried Toprol.

I only started to come off of blood pressure meds after I had shed 50 lbs. I did not start running until I was down about the same weight.

You will most likely have decreased angina while on the beta blocker--I was only answering you that yes, there is a link of beta blockers sapping your max exercise potential, because of their action of "attenuating" your heart rate as you increase you increase your oxygen demand upon exercising.

Also, I never went off a med without first getting approval of the physician or asking for other options. Its always a good idea to check with them. Some of the others here have found good control using other classes of blood pressure medications. (Though again, because of CHD/CAD, they will go along with the studies that beta-blockers are highly beneficial).

Ulrich

Barbara- I agree with Ubernier...It is not a good idea to stop these meds without consulting your doctor first, especially when it comes to Beta Blockers.
There is a big WARNING box in the Atenolol monographs, which I've copied for you:

**************************************** **************************
IMPORTANT WARNING:
Do not stop taking atenolol without talking to your doctor first. If atenolol is stopped suddenly, it may cause chest pain or heart attack in some people.
**************************************** **************************
So Barb....Speak to your physician...there are ways out of this, and many other options, but don't go cold turkey with Atenelol, particularly since you already have angina.

zuzu xxxx

Up most of the night with "the cough". Nobody has a cold so I guess I have developed the most common side affect after all. Tried to contact my physician but he is working ER today so nobody in his office (except the machine). So, decided to try a little experiment on my own. I had half my Atenelol this morning and will take the other half this evening. I noticed I am not "quite" so fatigued so maybe this will be the answer since it is not cutting out the Atenelol altogether or reducing the dose -- just spreading it over the day. The Altace...not sure but if I get another "dry hack" night I am thinking about cutting back to the 5 mg since I still have some of them left. I have a heart class on Friday so I can ask one of the docs. or nurses about it then. My own doc may even be there since they do the class in teams and take turns. Thank you for all the good advice and info. Learning from the life experience of others is so much better.

I am glad that you opted to try splitting the dosage up. Just so you know, when they remove you from a beta blocker, you end up taking decreased doses over a period of time. For example, if 50 mg was the starting dose, the next week may be 25 mg, then the following 12.5 mg (quarter pills) before coming off of it.

I have noticed a rebound effect after discontinuing a beta blocker (well all 3 times now). I noticed the next week or so my heart rate was up a little bit and my anxiety was just a little higher. In a few days it comes back down to normal.

The danger that Zuzu mentioned is related to this rebound effect of stopping "cold turkey" on a higher dose.

Good luck tomorrow http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Thank you.

Off the Lipitor, off the Altace, off the Aspirin! Doctor agreed that side affects were outweighing the benefits. Get to visit him more for closer monitoring. But agreed to some mega changes in lifestyle...which realistically I should have made ages ago. In 1 1/2 weeks I have another stress test. If that goes well, we will carry on for 2-3 months and look at things again then. Still on the Atenolol (rats!) but we can't have everything. B/P down to 125/90ish resting heart rate 85-105. So if these numbers stay okay then I will talk to him again about weaning off Atenolol in 3 months.

Thanks for all the wisdom, encouragement and support.

Bran Flakes ('cuase Cheerios are over-rated)

Altace is a bad bad drug.. at least for me and about 60% of users... I can't stress how terrible the side effects were.. what a nightmare..

diovan works for me..

F.