Is anyone out there taking diovan 320? If so, how has it been tolerated. I am on diovan 160 and i take a hctz (12.5) every other day. Have been taking this combo for over a year now but my pressure could be better. Lately i have been getting readings of 140/150 over 75/85. I am afraid my dr will want to introduce another medication (at first i was on a beta blocker and i did not like the way i felt). Although i initally had some symptoms from the diovan (lightheadedness and tiredness) I seem to tolerate it much better now. I would like to stick with an ARB even if it is stronger, rather than introduce another class of drugs..Any input would be greatly appreciated
I'm a big fan of Diovan so I know what you mean when you say you'd like to stick with it. I take 160mg myself. Not sure how much more control you can get on a higher dose.
How about trying the HCTZ every day instead of every other day?
Thanks for the reply...for some strange reason when i took the hctz every day I did not feel that well - when we tried it this way i did much better and the readings did not change at all. I just thought the higher dose might reduce the BP even more. Why do they make it in 3 different strengths???
Here's what Novartis says about the expected effect of the increase: (Damn, I can't seem to copy from the PDF!)
Oh well, a'typin we will go:
Quote:
Doses of 80, 160 and 320 mg. produced dose-related decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with the difference from placebo of approximately 6-9/3-5 mmHg at 80-160 mg, and 9/6 mmHg at 320.
So there's SOMETHING to be gained from going to 320 but it's really only a couple points. You'll get more bang for your buck if you add a second drug (sorry!)
I think what happens with these drugs is that there is a critical dose to get a therapeutic response. Once you get there, increasing the dosage doesn't make any difference. However, if the dose is inadequate, it doesn't work. It's more like a binary thing. It's either working or not.
Another Diovan Question 
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... but it just goes to show it can happen! 
