Is anyone or has anyone tried Irbesartan? I just came back from my doctor and he switched me to this drug. I was on Enalapril. I told him I was having a lot of fatigue when I was working out, so I'm going to try this one now.
Is anyone or has anyone tried Irbesartan? I just came back from my doctor and he switched me to this drug. I was on Enalapril. I told him I was having a lot of fatigue when I was working out, so I'm going to try this one now.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
I'm on Irbesartan (Avapro), along with several other heart meds. It has helped to reduce my average diastolic blood pressure about 5 points, based on about 1000 blood pressure readings.
I seem to be having less heart rhythm problems since I've been taking Avapro.
I also seem to be having some increased problems with my heart rhythm, at night, but that seems to be getting better.
Overall, it seem very effective for me at both reducing my blood pressure, and reducing incidences of my heart misfiring. I hope that you have good results from it.
Greentea,
You will probably not get the same degree of BP lowering from the irbesartan that you got from the Vasotec...only your BP monitor will tell the tale. I found the ACEI's the stronger group of drugs.
I'd choose an ACE but for the cough.
I told my doctor about my muscle fatigue, so he changed me to this drug. I don't think he was overly concerned about the muscle fatigue since he already thinks I workout too much, but he suggested I try this drug. I haven't had the ACE cough, so I feel lucky.
Does anyone know if it's okay to donate blood while on these types of medication? I try to give blood regularly, but I stopped for a while when I first started the BP medication.
According to the American Red Cross website, you can give blood if you take blood pressure meds. The only restriction was that your bp has to be controlled to less than 180/100 at the time of donation.
The good news about irbesartan in my experience is that they're no side effects. It may well be the gentlest of the bp medications. The bad, as has been noted, is that
it's not as effective as many others and only rarely can get the job done by itself
The good news about irbesartan in my experience is that they're no side effects. It may well be the gentlest of the bp medications. The bad, as has been noted, is that
it's not as effective as many others and only rarely can get the job done by itself
Everyone is different and can react differently to any medicine. In my case, I find irbesartan, not only very effective, but also long lasting.
Irbesartan (Avapro) is an exciting medical breakthrough in the treatment of high blood pressure and other heart related problems. Irbesartan (Avapro) blocks Angiotensin II, a hormone which causes the muscles surrounding the blood vessels to contract, narrowing the blood vessels and resulting in higher blood pressure. Irbesartan (Avapro) does a good job at blocking Angiotensin II, and has proven to be a very effective tool against high blood pressure in many patients.
Medical science attempted to block Angiotensin II with Ace Inhibitors, but they missed the mark and mainly blocked Angiotensin I without having a significant blocking effect against Angiotensin II. So....... the scientists went back to the lab, and came up with ARBS like Irbesartan (Avapro), which do effectively block Angiotensin II, much better than Ace Inhibitors.
I, for one, am very happy that the drug industry spent $500 million dollars or more to provide me with a great drug like Irbesartan (Avapro).
I have to agree and disagree with Beerzoids. ARBs (Irbesartan) are a great medical advance; however, taken alone they are not very effective at lowering BP. Mixed with a diuretic and, or a Calcium Channel Blocker they do work better. I tried two of the ARBs. Even added a beta blocker and diuretic without good BP control. I got great numbers in the AM but very high in the PM? I switched to an ACEI combined with the other two and got a full 24 hour consistant normal BP. The best answer my doctor could give me was that the ARB just wasn't strong enough to last all day.
you can't beat ARBs when it comes to side effects though.
But....as Beerzoid pointed out, you just can't predict how anyone will react to any of these drugs.
I switched to an ACEI combined with the other two and got a full 24 hour consistant normal BP. The best answer my doctor could give me was that the ARB just wasn't strong enough to last all day.
Irbesartan (Avapro) is the longest acting ARB.
My most effective blood pressure med, for years, was a calcium channel blocker. It lowers my blood pressure significantly, without any other bp med, but it doesn't lower it enough. I tried an ACEI all by itself, but no matter how much I took of it, it had a minimal effect on my blood pressure. It did, however, seem to lower my Systolic, so I took the ACEI along with the Calcium Channel Blocker. Plus, all of the medical articles say that ACEIs are absolutely necessary for those with heart failure.
Over the years I've tried many different meds, and none of them really helped to lower my bp significantly, when added to the CCB and the ACEI.
Then....... along came Avapro. It has additionally reduced my average blood pressure, especially my Distolic, by five points (based on 1000 bp readings over a few months) which is a significant improvement!
But, as we all know, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.
I agree completely that the ARB was one hell of an invention, and that they work well with the CCB. And of course the effects vary from individual to individual. I was unaware of that long-lasting stuff, but now that it's mentioned it does seem true to me. I aslo appreciate that reasonable explanation for why they work better in many cases than the ACEI.
Medical science attempted to block Angiotensin II with Ace Inhibitors, but they missed the mark and mainly blocked Angiotensin I without having a significant blocking effect against Angiotensin II. So....... the scientists went back to the lab, and came up with ARBS like Irbesartan (Avapro), which do effectively block Angiotensin II, much better than Ace Inhibitors.
Actually, the first ARB (saralasin) was discovered two years BEFORE the first ACE Inhibitor (teprotide). This was back in the mid-1970's. It just took them longer to figure out how to synthesize an ARB in a useful pill form. Saralasin is an injectible form only with a half-life measured in minutes. This is not very practical for treating hypertension.
