Hi everyone, I have had HBP for several years and I've been been doing pretty well on a beta-blocker. My doctor wanted to switch me to Altace because it's supposed to be better on your arteries. I've been on it for a couple of months and I have this annoying choking dry cough. It comes on about every 2-3 hours, it even wakes me up in the night. I also have asthma, but don't have any problems unless I get a cold or something that goes into a cough. I think this is aggrivating my asthma.If I don't get a liquid down my throat,it gets worse and I feel like I will pass out by choking. The Altace also doesn't seem as good at getting my BP down. When I was taking both of them, it was 112/70. Also, I walk 3 miles a day. When I don't walk, my BP goes up. Has anyone else had this cough and what do you do about it?

Chloe- Altace ( an ACE inhibitor) is notorious for the side effect of a cough. If you read a lot of other posts here, you will find you are definitely not alone. We call it The Altace Cough!

Also, I'm actually surprised you managed the beta blocker okay, prior to this, given that you have asthma. The betas are absolutely contraindicated in people with bronchospastic disease, unless it's a last resort. The following is from the pharmaceutical literature:


PRECAUTIONS:
Bronchospastic Diseases: PATIENTS WITH BRONCHOSPASTIC DISEASE SHOULD, IN GENERAL, NOT RECEIVE BETA-BLOCKERS. Because of its relative beta1 selectivity, however, atenolol may be used with caution in patients with bronchospastic disease who do not respond to, or cannot tolerate, other antihypertensive treatment.

But I digress......sorry.
Ask your doctor if you can try one of the ARBs (angiotensin 2 receptor blockers) which essentially work like the ACEs (Altace) but have the least side effects for most people and are often prescribed for those who get a cough on the ACEs.
Ask about Diovan, Atacand, Benicar and others in that group.
I got a terrible cough on ALTACE and switched to DIOVAN. No cough anymore and zero side effects! Plus great BP control.

Good luck,

zuzu xx

Thanks for the info. I was taking allergy shots and my allergy dr. wouldn't give me any more when I started taking the beta-blocker. It was Ziac which is a diuretic/beta-blocker. I think it was a beta 2 or something like that. I did very well on the beta-blocker and didn't seem to have any complications except that I think it messed up my sex life. I know it's supposed to be bad on guys, but for me, I would get to a point and then it would just go away. (if you know what I mean) I guess it slowed my heart down.

So I was glad to be taking something else, but I can't tolerate this cough. I seem to be getting it about once an hour now.

I'm wondering if my doctor is getting something for prescribing Altace. My husband was doing great on Norvasc and then the dr. switched him to Altace. IT DIDN"T WORK! He was very edgy. I had to take his BP several times a day for a week to show the dr. that it wasn't working. So now he added back the Norvasc but kept the Altace. He has no cough.

I go to my dr Oct 6 and will definitely discuss this with him. I hate getting waked up in the middle of the night choking. Ack!!!

I was on Altace for almost 3 years, and kept begging my dr. to get me off of it. She wouldn't, kept saying it was a great drug. Well maybe it is for some, but it sure wasn't for me.

I had the Almighty cough, diahrrea most of the time, fast heart rate out of nowhere evey so often, and hair was thinning. My hairdresser even noticed it, as like she said, I always had thin hair, but not THAT thin, and it did nothing for my BP.

4 months ago I ditched that dr. and the Altace, now I am on a beta blocker, Atenolol. BP is doing much better, still have a few spikes, but very few, and I feel like a HUMAN again. Even my hair has gotten back to the same texture it was before Altace.

Just got back from my GYN, and BP was 130/80 which is good, as I usually freak when I go to the dr. If U feel a med. isn't agreeing with you, tell your dr. and if he/she doesn't listen, ditch them too if need be. Still don't know why I didn't ditch her along time ago, as she wouldn't listen at all. It was always her way, or NO way. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif Good luck.... http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif JJ

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=5] Hello there. I also take that ALTACE. I hate it. Not only does it make me cough, but it keeps me dizzy day and night also. My Dr. says it will go away with time. But it's been 3 weeks and it is still there..............Hi everyone, I have had HBP for several years and I've been been doing pretty well on a beta-blocker. My doctor wanted to switch me to Altace because it's supposed to be better on your arteries. I've been on it for a couple of months and I have this annoying choking dry cough. It comes on about every 2-3 hours, it even wakes me up in the night. I also have asthma, but don't have any problems unless I get a cold or something that goes into a cough. I think this is aggrivating my asthma.If I don't get a liquid down my throat,it gets worse and I feel like I will pass out by choking. The Altace also doesn't seem as good at getting my BP down. When I was taking both of them, it was 112/70. Also, I walk 3 miles a day. When I don't walk, my BP goes up. Has anyone else had this cough and what do you do about it?
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I stood it as long as I could. When the cough kept occuring every 2-3 hours through the night I called the doc and told them I couldn't take it any longer.
Now I'm on Hyzaar. It took a couple of weeks for the cough to taper off. When they say cough, it's not just atickle. It's a choking nonproductive one. They say it's only in 1 out of 10. My husband had no cough, but his BP went up on it. He had to add back in his Norvasc.

Try to get your dr to get you on something else. It's a quality of life issue. I was getting no sleep.

Chloe

Chloe,

From my experience that "1 in 10" figure is a wishful-thinking joke :rolleyes: ....Perhaps it's more like 1 in 10 cough so hard they have to be hospitalized and put on a ventilator. :D
If the ACE inhibitors weren't so cough-making, MANY more people would still be on them instead of on the much more expensive ARB's.

My cough got so bad on Vasotec, I couldn't get a decent night's sleep because I kept coughing myself awake every couple minutes.

CHLOE- I agree with ZIP2PLAY, your doctor was underestimating the number of people who develop cough on Aces. I've read in several med journals and studies that report 33% of patients develop cough.

I too was one of them!

zuzu xxx

Is a cough or indigestion a side effect of Atenolol?

I had a problem with aceon and the cough and now am on 10mg of altace and its not as bad but i also take coreg,lanoxin,lasix and plavix so its hard to tell for sure maybe im just too tired to cough now.

LILYWOOD- Neither cough nor indigestion are side effects of Atenolol. The closest to these would be wheeziness (or bronchospasm) and nausea, both of which can occur with this beta blocker.

zuzu xx

Hello everyone,
I also take the ALTACE. Not only does it make me cough all the time, but it also keeps me dizzy. Does it do this to anyone else? The dizzy part I mean ? I'm giong to my Dr. tomarrow to see about changing it.

CGGONZALEZ- You aren't alone at all.... Youre cough and dizziness can both be side effects of ALTACE.
The most frequent side effects of the ace inhibitors are:
cough
dizziness or lightheadedness
headache
fatigue
nausea

If you are getting good BP control, but feel lousy on Altace, and have no other contraindications to change drugs ask your doctor about one of the angiotensin 2 receptor blockers (the ARBs), like Diovan, Cozaar, Atacand, Avapro, Benicar. They are often prescribed for those of us who develop cough on the ACEs and have, of all the BP meds, the least side effects overall.

zuzu xxx

thanks for the info on ALTACE. I will indeed check with my doctor on the others. This dizziness has got to go, and now.

Hi everyone, I have had HBP for several years and I've been been doing pretty well on a beta-blocker. My doctor wanted to switch me to Altace because it's supposed to be better on your arteries. I've been on it for a couple of months and I have this annoying choking dry cough. It comes on about every 2-3 hours, it even wakes me up in the night. I also have asthma, but don't have any problems unless I get a cold or something that goes into a cough. I think this is aggrivating my asthma.If I don't get a liquid down my throat,it gets worse and I feel like I will pass out by choking. The Altace also doesn't seem as good at getting my BP down. When I was taking both of them, it was 112/70. Also, I walk 3 miles a day. When I don't walk, my BP goes up. Has anyone else had this cough and what do you do about it?
Hi you all. I just wanted to let you know that without my Dr. premission, I took my own self off the blood pressure meds. And would you believe that when I went back to the Dr.'s office. My blood pressure was normal. And it has been for a week now. Lets hope I can keep it that way. Seems that when I was on the meds for it. My pressure was staying up. And that was being on 3 different kinds, 3 different times.