Need advice, please - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

stars13 · 03-30-2007, 12:25 PM

I have had problems tolerating both cholesteral and bp meds from the beginning , 17yrs ago.

i usually pick up the rare side effects , i have completely stopped takeing cholesteral meds, but i can't do that yet with bp meds.

i am now taking 40mg benicar, hzt1.25, and cardizem la 240. i've been on this combo for a few years i think, but since last summer i've been having joint and muscle pain which comes and goes. i'm not sure if it's because i take the combo for awhile and when i start feeling ill i stop the cardizem and take benicar 4o in am and benicar 20 at night. this only works for 2 or 3 weeks and then bp start rising so i go back on cardizem for a few weeks. i've been fluctuating like this for about 5 months.

the aches are terrible and sometimes, most times last a week or more. i asked my dr if he thought it was ms or fibro, he said no. maybe an adrenal gland defiency. so he sent me to endro dr. took tests and he said my glands are fine, both adrenal and thyroid, but i do have a hgh renin level. he thinks this is the problem. he said there is a brand new med for this problem, i forget the name, but he is going to suggest that my dr. swithch me to this. he said it would about 2 weeks for my dr. to get the info. why? i don't know.

I was just wondering if anyone had heard of such a problem, or is dealing with a similar problem. i know the havoc that bp meds can do to a body,and i really would like to believe that this is all medication problems. but i just don't know what to think. i'mactually afraid to start new meds any more, i 've had such problems with most of them.

Please let me know if you have this renin problem, how you are handling it, if the meds work, ect.

i'm thinking i might have to see a rheumatologist or something , i 'm so confused.

it would be great if this was all just from meds,

thanks in advance for your help..........stars

bethsheba · 03-31-2007, 07:18 AM

WHOAAA!!!!! I have never taken the cardizem but I have had experience with hct and with benicar hct and believe me, both can cause EXCRUCIATING PAIN!!!

While on an entry level dose of hct I experienced the following:

woke up nights with hip pain (which I have reason to believe was due to periodic limb movements/restless leg) so bad that I had to go out and buy over the counter pain meds (I've never used otc pain meds before as I don't get headaches). Haven't experienced this since disco'ing hct.

experienced such excruciating back pain (no injury) that I almost was unable to get out of my bed in the am so I took my phone to bed with me--my doctor ruled out a tumor so I requested physical therapy (3 x's/week for 6 weeks) which helped but did not eliminate the pain. Haven't experienced this since disco'ing hct. (I have read of others whose back pain on hct was so severe it landed them in the ER).

experienced shoulder pain (no injury) so severe that I was told by my physical therapist that I shouldn't lift so much as a gallon of milk. Had 4 weeks of pt for this--again, pt helped but pain did not go away. Haven't experienced this pain since disco'ing hct.

While on an benicar/hct, I experienced pronounced leg spasms from the afternoon until my next dose of benicar/hct in the am. A sleep specialist and my primary told me there was no literature to support a correlation between the problems. Haven't experienced restless legs since disco'ing benicar/hct.

IMPORTANT: My symptoms disappeared either immediately or within 2 weeks of discontinuing the medication!!!!

I do not know if meds are causing your pain or not but from my experience, it only took me a day or two of not taking the meds to figure out what was causing my problems. Please keep in mind people process meds differently and the half life of drugs varies so it may take more or less time to get the drugs out of your body. But I must say that even when the drugs were not completely out of my body, I experienced diminished symptoms almost immediately.

Re: side effects. I have learned that doctors don't always remember what side effects are listed on the drug literature sheets and that not all side effects are listed on the drugs literature sheets. Before adding another medication, I would reduce or eliminate a medication unless there is a VERY, VERY immediate and compelling reason not to do so.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Bethsheba

stars13 · 03-31-2007, 07:31 AM

Thanks Beth for your reply. I have wondered about the benicar and hct. over the last 5 months i have stopped the cardizem off and on and i have also cutback on the benicar, but i have never been without the benicar at all or the hzt. so it is a very viable possiblility that one ofthese drugs could be the culprit. can i just stop the hzt all at once or should i wean off of it. i'm afraid that i will blow up with retained water, thus raising my bp. i tend to retain water anyway.

another question, if yu dn't mind. did your pain come and go while on the benicar hct , you know, good days bad days. sometimes i have weeks where i feel pretty good, not great, but good. of course, could be when i cutback on benicar. i don't know, i hope it is the meds.

thanks again Beth.............stars

bethsheba · 04-01-2007, 06:07 AM

Stars,

I'm not a doctor but I would first look at reducing or changing the meds. I know for a fact and by experience that doctors treat side effects with more meds (thus more side effects) instead of getting to the root of the problem. Do not let the doctors tell you it is not a side effect... 1. They can't possibly remember all of the side effects. 2. The drug sheets that come with the meds actually say something like the info sheet is not designed to cover all drug ineractions or side effects.

RE: hct. I, too, have a problem with fluid retention (a fluctuation of 2-7 pounds per day) but haven't had a problem with water retention (0-2 pound fluctuation per day) on my current med which is not a diurectic. However, I'm really careful about my salt intake now (I wasn't aware of the importance of diet when I was first diagnosed with hbp and on hct.). My doctor took me off the hct immediately (I went to lisinopril from there) but I can't tell you if that is ok to do. You might want to check with either your pharmacist or your doctor for disco information.

Re: pain coming and going...The first drug I went on for hbp was hct. I had multiple side effects with this drug, one being brain fog which never lifted so I do not have daily documentation of my symptoms. However, I did report my pain within 3 months of starting the medication and experienced pain in varying degrees over the 30 months I took this med. The pain definitely came and went as I did not sleep with my phone nightly. Also, I did not wake up every night with hip pain---it was a random thing---I think that's why neither the doctor or I associated it as being a side effect of the med. I didn't realize it was a side effect until AFTER I was off of the drug and my pain disappeared never to return. Since that time I have read of others (on this forum and elsewhere) with very similar experiences.

I was on benicar 40/hct25 for about 12 months. Again, I experienced brain fog which interfered with daily documentation. But if I recall, I experienced the leg spasms regularly, not daily, during the waking hours.

Lower back pain and side pain are documented side effects hct and muscle pain and weakness is a documented side effect of benicar---and these side effects are listed on the drug information sheets that the pharmacist gives out with the meds (at least they were on the sheets that I received). If your doctor doesn't take these side effects into consideration, you might show him information you get from the pharmacist or from some other sources. If he still doesn't acknowlege the connection, I would see another doctor.

That's not to say there may be other causes for your aches and pains, but I'd explore the obvious options (reduce or disco meds, second doctor's opinion) first.

Bethsheba

stars13 · 04-01-2007, 06:49 AM

I truly believe you are right, Beth, and i thank you again for giving me hope. You see, when i feel bad, it's soooo bad that i can't imagine this coming from a stupid pill. this usually happens after 2 weeks of 40mg benicar in am and another 20mg in pm. i just hurt so bad from head to foot. this is also with 12.5 hct, which i have always taken each day for years. it's seperate pill.

when i first start aching, i have realized lately by stopping the 20mg pill and going back on the cardizem that in about 4/5 days i will feel fine again. but then after taking cardizem in pm and 40benicar and hzt for 2 weeks i then become tired/ nauseated and just plain sick. so the cycle begins again, with the2 doses of benicar, around around and around.

that's why i'm anxious to speak to my dr., hoping he is notthinking of adding new med, hoping we will dispense of old ones to try this new one. but now i am really wondering about the hzt. maybe tomorrow i'll try to stop that one and see what happens. right now i'm in a good place. yesterday was my first good day. went back on cardizem last sunday.

the side effects of starting and stopping different pills can be so horrendous that i have most of my anxiety attacks over this. terrible , isn't it?

i really appreciate your help, Bethsheba. Are you doing well on your meds now? i hope so. i know how crazy this all is. i have been on accupril..hyzaar....diovan....dynacirc.. ..norvasc.....and forget about statins. i just refuse to take them anymore.

i'll keep u updated..................stars

just a quick ps.....i had been on this combo of pills for a year or so without a major problem, until lastsummer, when all problems started. at that time i was also on a statin which i blamed for all the problems. oh well..........