Starting new meds any advice? - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

Yikes777 · 10-01-2007, 12:37 AM

I'm going to start taking Lisonpril (10 mg) as well as HCTZ. I hate to admit it but I'm always paranoid of side effects. I'm a firefighter assigned to a ladder company and don't want to feel funky when I'm working on a roof.

I know everyone is different but I'm curious to see if anyone has has any experiences with these meds.

I was also wondering if I should start them seperately so I can determine if any possible side effects are caused by one or the other.

asc01 · 10-01-2007, 12:51 AM

I didn't have any side effects from lisinopril - unlike when I was on beta blockers.

bethsheba · 10-01-2007, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes777

I'm going to start taking Lisonpril (10 mg) as well as HCTZ. I hate to admit it but I'm always paranoid of side effects. I'm a firefighter assigned to a ladder company and don't want to feel funky when I'm working on a roof. I was also wondering if I should start them seperately so I can determine if any possible side effects are caused by one or the other.

Yikes,

I would be very, very, very careful....I had started up a 6 foot ladder to clean out gutters when I passed out with NO WARNING!!! I was lucky because someone was with me at the time and I had only gotten to the second step! This was about 2 1/2 hours after taking lisinopril...I called the doc's office, I was told it took a little while for the body to adjust (I think I had been on it about a week when this happend), yada, yada, yada, and several weeks later it was worse. Doc took me off lisinopril. Months later he admitted I was overdosing on it...just a few more mgs than you've been prescribed...oh, and I'm not small, must have been about 200# at that time (I gained over 20 pounds on bp meds).

You are NOT paranoid about side effects! You have numerous reasons to be concerned because not only does your safety and life depend on the side effects, the safety and lives of your co-workers and your victoms do as well. I've been on 5 different medications and have had serious, if not life threatening, side effects on most. If you're asking for advice, I would stay off of ladders and out of dangerous situations UNTIL you find a med that works for you. I have found that the side effects of a minumum dose of the commonest medication (hydrochlorothiazide) interfered with my judgement and response time....that may not be your experience but you need to be aware of any changes in your thinking, your body (arthritic symptoms are common side effects of bp meds), and your sleeping and you need to stay out of dangerous situations until you know how you're going to respond.

Why is your doctor starting you on two meds? Did he prescribe lifestyle changes first? What are your pressures? How long have they been at that level? Do you have any other health conditions?

Although some circumstances warrant more than one medication initially, I personally don't think it is a good idea for two reasons:

1. Identifying side effects and the medication causing those side effects becomes difficult.

2. If the pressures drop, you don't know if one or more of the meds is working and if they don't drop, you don't know if one or more of the meds may be artificially elevating those pressures.

FYI, side effects may start at any time and of course they can go away...keep that in mind when you're taking medication.

Much more can be said about your situation, but I'm sure others will offer their thoughts as well.

Take care, and good luck! And let us know how you make out...

Bethsheba

famnd · 10-01-2007, 09:22 PM

Listen to Beth. Don't let anyone tell you that you are paranoid!!! These drugs can be just as lethal as the fire you are fighting !!! On the other hand they can prevent heart attack & stroke.

Start with only one drug at a time with a very small dose. Always get the pill form when possible so you can cut it into tiny pieces. Get the package insert (info) from the pharmacy & read every word. It will be scary but the info may prevent you from a serious side effect.

If you chose to start the diuretic, you must be willing to eat healthy & drink at least 8-10 glasses (8oz) fluid a day or you will probably get into serious blood electrolyte problems that will make you weak etc. Don't want to feel like that on top of a roof!!!

Are you sure you need b/p meds? What is your B/P?

Thank you for doing such a dangerous job!!! Fam

Yikes777 · 10-03-2007, 09:08 AM

Thanks for the responses. This b/p thing has been an on again off again ptoblem for a few years. In 2005 I went to the ER for a nasty upper respiratory thing and my pressure was high - 170 110. My Doc heard of this and started my on Toprol. The odd thing was that my pressure at home was always much better, almost always staying below 140/90 with many readings much better than that. To be sure our machine was working right I brought it to the doctor's office and it was pretty close to his readings.

When I went to his office for checkups my pressure would always be on the higher side. The Toprol didn't seem to work for me but caused me to have problems with my allergies. The Allergist told me about this and I saw another Dr who said that since I had lost a ton of weight during the year my pressure was great 120-30's /80's that the Toprol was causing more harm than good. I had also been feeling like garbage all year from some wild vertigo, weakness and sinus issues that actually caused me to lay up from work for 6 months. (Another guy in the same station as me had the same exact symptoms as me and also had to be out for 6 mos. They think we ran into some kind of nasties together) We're both back and mostly normal from that one.

I have to admit that I have put on a bunch of weight since march of 2006 when I quit smoking.

I recently went to the oral Surgeon to have a tooth pulled and my pressure was sky high 180/120 both mechanicaly and manually. He put me on antibiotics and told me to go home, as he wouldn't pull the tooth with my pressure so high. I returned in a week and same thing 180/120. I went to a new Dr closer to home and same thing 180/120 with lower readings at home. He gave the 'script for the new meds.

This thing is that while I think cuff anxiety may be a part of the puzzle the newest high readings make me realize that I have high b/p and while lifestyle changes will certainly help as the did in the past I need to control this NOW.

The newest trend in my job is that after a fire you need to be cleared through rehab and if your pressure doesn't drop below 180/100 after 10 minutes you are kept out of the fire and sent to the ER which causes a ton of problems. They're also taking your b/p before certain training exercises and so far i've been able to fly under the radar but I know it will become an issue and I can't blame cuff anxiaty although a few other guys I know of complain of having decent pressures until the old cuff comes out at work.

Thanks for the responses and listening to my rant. As a typical alpha male I don't usually muse of these things unless they're serious.I just don't want the cure to be worse than the problem. LOL