Hi,
as you have found out, there are many causes of abdominal swelling. The well known, more serious ones are usually accompanied by symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, vomiting and other GI effects. You already know that hernia can also cause abdominal swelling.
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In mid February I went back on 10 mg. of Lisinopril. It brought my readings down to around 140/90. I had some left over HCTZ so I added 12.5 mg. of that about 3 weeks ago. My pressures now are around 120/80. Last Friday when I was showering, I noticed a slight bulge on my abdomen. It is located just under the left ribcage about 3 inches or so from the sternum.
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I am glad you suspect the medication. Though it is not very likely, there is a chance that you could be reacting to the medication. Angioedema of abdominal viscera, caused by angiotensin converting enzyme, happens to about 0.5% people on ACE inhibitors and can take up to several months to develop. Adding other antihypertensive drugs to an ACE inhibitor will sometimes bring it on. There are well documented cases of people who developed angiodema involving GI tract, leading to intestinal wall edema. There can be symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. When the medication is suspected of causing this reaction, it must be stopped. The problem then usually resolves.
There are several very good possibilities, including a hernia, for my abdominal swelling. Because I am still looking for answers, I like to read about these and related issues. Your post has made me curious.
I have not even considered this possibility.
I've just read several case reports about the drug-induced visceral angioneurotic edema (angioedema of abdominal viscera). The drugs responsible were ACE inhibitors, occassionally ARBs and, rarely, CCBs) I only mention this because you might want to read about them yourself. In one instance, a 29 year old woman on 20mg lisinopril added 12.5 mg hctz to her therapy. You can guess what happened a couple of weeks later -abdominal swelling with abdominal pain. After a thorough workup in the ER, her medications were discontinued. The symptoms resolved. The other cases were very similar to hers. So, you never know.
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It doesn't seem to be a hernia
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How do you know this? You say you have some discomfort - that sure sounds familiar.
My hernia was discovered during an abdominal ultrasound when looking for a possible cause of the swelling. It had been missed during physical examination.
There is a good chance that the swelling will disappear before your next doctor's appointment, and you'll never learn its cause. If it persists, or you develop other symptoms, your doctor will probably order some tests. I hope you'll get to the bottom of this.
flowergirl
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