To Lenin

[Mellie310]

Yes

Just STOP. What did you mean by that?

Mellie

[Lenin]

I guess I should be careful about being too short with my answers but here goes:
You wrote:

So, about 6 months ago, he took himself off of 5 mgs. of it, (he was on 10) and did fine for a while, then all of a sudden, he started feeling bad again, feet and ankles started swelling, so he called my step-brother in law, who is a medical doctor and asked him if he could just stop taking Norvasc altogether, and my step brother said yes, that he could, so he did.

You then listed a bunch of symptomatology indicating that the Norvasc was a nightmare for you, too and your numbers really indicated that they got you on that drug treadmill for nothing. So as far as the Norvasc goes, I think that you could JUST STOP the drug at once and do yourself a lot of good.

So I answered your question with the same words that your brother used for your father.

In short, JUST STOP the Norvasc.
I hope that's clearer.

[Mellie310]

Thanks Lenin, for clarifying that. I thought you were mad at me!!!!!!!!!

And thanks for the info. I've been thinking about maybe starting to wean off of the last 5 mgs. down to 2.5 and then off. What really worries me though is the 160 mgs. of Lisinopril. I have heard that anything over 40 mgs. isn't really effective anyway, so I'm wondering why my dr. put me on that much, and now HE'S the one who's telling me that nothing over 40 is doing me any good except creating more side effects. Do you know anything about it? I do know that high doses of Lisonpril can affect your kidneys. If you know anything, or know anybody who does, please let me know. I'm pretty scared here.

Thanks again for your reply.

Mellie

[Lenin]

Mellie.

That dosage is WAY WAY overboard.

Merck's version of lisinopril is PRINIVIL. They recommend a starting dosage of 10 mg. with a possible boost to 20 mg. and say that they HAVE tested dosages as high as 80 mg. and have not seen much of an increase in effectiveness with the higher doses like 40 or 80.

I think your doctor has made a HUGE mistake prescribing 160 mg. It sounds in the realm of a DRUG OVERDOSE, rather than a sensible prescription.
Imagine, even MERCK couldn't conceive of anyone taking 160 mg. so they never even TESTED that high. It boggles the mind. How do these doctors find their way home at night?

Start chopping up those tablets as quickly as you can. I'd say try into EIGHTS but I know how hard that is...quarters should be doable.
Monitor your numbers.

[Uff-Da!]

You mean anyone even MAKES Lisinopril at 160 mg? Or are you taking several pills daily to get to that total?