I am 46 years old and have moderately high BP. 140's/90's. I have been on several different types of medications in the past three years (beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, diuretics. I am on 5 mg of norvasc now. I was on a potassium sparing diuretic but the side effects were bad. I am now taking 20 mg of lasik. On norvasc, I seem to have weakness in my leg muscles. Is this normal. Is there any BP drug that allows you to feel normal exercising? Its a catch 22. YOur BP is low, and you cant exercise, but you need to.
Also, When I exercise I feel my BP is too low,then I go and get it checked its high again. Very frustrating. Help.

Hi andbeck- Wecome to the Boards.
I ( and many others here!) can tell you first off, you are SO not alone with having to experiment with many different classes of meds before hitting on one that doesn't trash you with side effects.
So now you're on Norvasc which is a calcium channel blocker. It's not only prescribed for hypertension but also for angina...
Are you on meds solely for HBP or do you also have other heart/health issues for which your doctor felt Norvasc would be appropriate?

I went through exactly the same route and you; beta blockers caused intolerable fatigue.
Diuretics trashed my potassium and electolytes, causing profound weakness ...in spite of it being a potassium-sparing one, and in spite of extra pot.supplements! In spite of a potassium rich diet!
ACEs gave me "the cough".
Finally got onto one of the ARBs (angiotensin2receptor blockers).
DIOVAN.
Have experienced NO side effects.
Some people on this board swear by them after trying eveyrthing else. Benicar is the newest entry in this class and also has a lot of fans.

I was getting really worried that I was running out of options.
The ARBs are relatively "new" in the hypertension marketplace but seem to have less side effects in general than many others.
However, everyone is so different, and one man's meat is another's poison, as they say....
Here's some info on BP meds by class: http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=HQ00900

Talk to your doctor about yet another change. Maybe the ARBs are the answer for you.

best,
zuzu xxxxxx




[This message has been edited by zuzu8 (edited 05-22-2003).]

P.S. You mentioned 'lasik". Do you mean 20mg of lasix?
Lasix is a VERY potent diuretic. Given that you have not tolerated diuretics well in the past, I'm puzzled by your doctor's choice for you.

Re: Your muscle weakness:
Both Norvasc and Lasix have muscle weakness, pain, and myalgia as possible adverse reactions in the drug companies' literature.

zuzu, what a great post. I'm soooo thankful you posted the different BP meds. I've been looking the past few days for info just like that for my Dr's appointment tomorrow (another med change), but nothing I found compared to what you posted. Thanks again!!

Andbeck,
I am also 46 years old and have moderately high BP. 160's/100's. I have been on Ace inhibitors and Calcium Channel Blockers. I then changed doctors because I could not exercise and everytime I went, he doubled the dosages.

My new doctor said that no one uses those anymore. He gave me an ARB -Benicar 20mg. I have no side effects. I run 8 miles per week - 3 on Tuesday and 5 on Saturday. My last BP was 127 / 77.

Moxie and I think zuzu report good results with Diovan which is also an ARB. Anyway you may have to trade this guy in so you can keep running those hills in Rome. I am getting ready for the Peachtree Road Race in July.

Good luck,
Jay

I have to agree with Zuzu and Sunny..I too am on Diovan and have had no side effects and I workout with running and weights 6 days a week. Can't do any races yet like Sunbird but am happy with my walking and running program. I could not do any of these things on all the other meds they tried me on. I had no energy and I swear they made me retain fluid. My hands and feet use to blow up from them..I'm golden now..good luck, Lisa

I'm 44, run 3 times a week and weight train 5 times a week. I'm on tenoretic (50 mg atenolol and 12.5 mg chlorthalidone) and aside from initial feelings of fatigue which have since gone away, I've had no side effects at all. And my BP stays around 120/70. Best part is, the stuff only costs me around $8 a month. Lucky me.

10 mgs of norvasc and 24mg hctz....

with no meds and 210 lbs i was at 216/116...

on norvasc and 210 lbs a year later i'm at 155/90 or so...not too good. dropped 40 lbs in a year and bp on norvasc alone, no change....felt like a million bucks, lost a ton of weight and bp the same...

doc put me on lotrel and all i wanted to do was crawl into bed...leg cramps, fatigue and malaise. puts me back on norvasc but with a diuretic, 12.5 hctz...one month check up i lost only 10 points both systolic and diastolic but 12 lbs in body weight with no change in diet or exercise regimen....now, i'm able to run my 40 minutes 4x a wk without any leg pain.

maybe i need to talk to the doc about those new drugs out there that i've read about here...i told him i'd rather eat a bullet then go on a beta blocker because i gotta keep the weight off and i love to exercise. i just rediscovered healthboards after a year layoff...