Pain and BP Meds - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

gib · 10-02-2007, 10:27 AM

I'm well traveled with BP meds, beta-blockers for years, last year BenicarHCT and Norvasc, switched to Avalide about 2 months ago and something other I can't remember when Beni and Norv went off the formulary list.

Anyway, I have the usual fatigue symptoms that is common, but the joint and muscle pain seems to drag on and on. Is muscle pain really that common for some of the meds or is it just in everyones heads?

One pain is in my arm. I do some motorcycle off-road racing and took a minor spill at least 3 months ago. Landed on my side, arm, thigh, ankle, no biggie. Afterwards, buddy punched me in same arm as he does a lot in friendly banter. This arm, bicep area, continues to be sore, kind of comes and goes, but I squeeze the muscle it doesn't hurt, didn't harm my shoulder, can't really point to anything specific that's causing the pain, other than a general ache that kind of throbs, I guess it's more of a muscle ache.

In doing some other activities 2 months ago, I kind of hyper-extended my knee. I've blown out my other knee in the past, so I know symptoms of joint damage, but my recent hyper-extended knee seems to be nagging me much in the same way as my arm is. It kind of throbs, and in the last few weeks I've gone through what may seam to be tendonitis of the ham-string tendon in that knee. I can't see any reason for the tendons to ache for a week. It's finally subsided to some degree.

I'm somewhat athletic and very active, working out 4 times a week with plenty of cardio. I keep my body well worked, but there seems to be no direct reason for these on-going muscle aches and it annoys me!

Is Avalide or BP meds in general responsible for muscle/joint pains? I can understand the fatigue side effect, but muscle pain?

Thanks!

bethsheba · 10-02-2007, 06:04 PM

Gib,

Avalide is irbesartan (spelling?) and hydrochlorothiazide. I haven't taken avalide but I have been on varying doses of hydrochlorothiazide and 4 months after taking it I began 10 weeks (3 hours/week) of extensive physical therapy due to excruciating back pain and shoulder pain...doctor had ruled out tumors so I opted for therapy instead of meds. I had not injured myself and the doctor and the physical therapist said basically, "We just don't know "why" sometimes. It was when I visited this board that my "aha" moment occurred...someone else had ended up in the emergency room with MY symptoms! Seems that person was taking hct, also. A perusal of hct's package insert reveals back and shoulder pain as side effects, and it lists muscle pain also.

So, the answer to your question is yes. And FYI, the muscle pain is NOTHING compared to the joint pain...

You've been on benicar/hct which has hydrochlorothiazide in it....although you may not have had a muscle/joint problem then, you may be on a different dose, you may be "late" in developing side effects as they can develop at any time...or you may be experiencing a reaction to the irbersartan or to the combo of irbersartan and hctz....

Bethsheba

gib · 10-03-2007, 09:08 AM

Thank you! The other stuff I'm taking is Felodipine which is a calcium channel blocker. It too lists muscle and joint discomfort as side effects. I've been taking it at night before bed, usually around 12-1am, I'm a night owl. The Avalide I take in the morning. But almost like clock work, 4-5am I wake up with my arm throbbing. I think I'll take this earlier in the evening see if I notice a change in my arm.

This is so annoying, it's like these minor injuries are attacked by the BP meds (if that's what's going on) and while the injuries have healed, the associated throbbing, stiffness, won't go away.

famnd · 10-03-2007, 07:33 PM

Is Alavide a generic for Cozaar or in the same class of drugs ?

If so, I would suspect that drug. Your remark about throbbing arm pain reminded me of my severe reaction to Cozaar. I only took it 13 days. Usually the symptoms would be on both sides of the body. Please see my post in response to info about Cozaar. Fam

flowergirl2day · 10-03-2007, 08:07 PM

While reading about blood pressure drugs in one of my drug books, I realized that muscle pain/aches are so frequently mentioned, I think ALL blood pressure medications cause them. I even thought of making an Excel spreadsheet for an easy visual comparison of the side effects of all BP meds. Don't have the time just now.

FG