Is anyone here an expert on ACE inhibitors? There are 7 of them and my question is: which one is the best? I heard that Ramipril is the best because it protects against heart attacks and strokes better than the other 6. Thank you!
Sister, I'm certainly not an expert, but I 've been taking 10 mg. Altace (ramipril) for 4 months now and have had excellent results with it. When I started the Altace in March, my BP was 204/110. Now it runs in the 120's/70's and sometimes even lower. Saturday it was 107/73. I have noticed no side effects at all, and the great part is that I can get out in the summer heat without feeling weak or faint as I did last year when I was on labetalol and lotensin ( another ace inhibitor). Also, I didn't have that irritating cough you usually get with ace inhibitors. We have some real experts on this board so you'll probably be hearing from some of them. Good luck.
altace was okay for bp control but I have to say it made my periods way worse then they were and I craved salt like crazy, I mean I never ate so many potatoes chips in all my life as when on altace, and I really don't like potatoe chips that much.
so I got on lisinopril, which was much better the side affects are very minor almost non existant for me.
I'm not an expert, but when I took Lotrel (a calcium channel blocker and benazepril hydrochloride) I coughed my head off. I also got no blood pressure reduction. I'm now taking a different CCB and captopril and getting good blood pressure control. I think I cough a bit on captopril, but not much. When I eat salty food, I get thirstier I think - its hard to tell though since its been really hot recently. I also may get a bit more water bloat after eating lots of salt, but I'm not sure of that either.
So far it hasn't been a problem but it is a bit of an annoyance that captopril has to be taken on an empty stomach - one hour before a meal or 2 hours after.
That empty stomach thing must really be a pain. I already have to take Armour Thyroid one hour before or two hours after eating and four hours away from the calcium supplement. If I had to schedule a BP med on an empty stomach on top of all that, I'd be climbing the walls.
Ramipril 
