diovan hct side effect - abdominal pain

[mrt123]

Thank you Beth and Fam -
I appreciate you both!

I am sure it is not heartburn as I had quite a bit of it while pregnant and have continued to struggle with it in the past year (actually had an upper GI type test done and it was all clear).

I have been taking the med @ 8:30 am before eating something, so will try with some food.

I will be calling in the AM and talking with my doctor/NP about trying something else. It seems Benicar is relatively highly rated on this board.

Fam - I know how you feel. I have been taking vitamins/supplements (more recently some natural BP support) for years and would so prefer to do this a more natural way. I am taking several heart healthy supplements now (CoQ10, garlic, Omega 3's, Cal/Mag) but it is not enough. I have reached a point where I have finally accepted the fact that I may have to be on some medication the rest of my life, but I don't like it!!

Thank you again.......

[zekat]

I don't have any experience with abdominal pain with Diovan, but I am on the same dose as you and have had very mild side effects. Previously I was on Labetalol (which made me sort of foggy headed). My main side-effects with Diovan HCT was arm tingling and insomnia the first few weeks. I also had extremely low pressures for a while - sometimes almost fainting

I think if all is good and there are no serious side-effects you might tough it out for a week or two to see if the side-effects subside? I know I'm not much help but thought I'd offer my experience. Good luck to you with whatever you choose!

[Titchou]

I had bad indigestion from Diovan HCT 160 when I began taking it. Lasted about 4-5months. And I took it after eating. We knew I might have issues as I am allergic to sulfa drugs and that is a contraindication with this med. However, my doctor and I discussed and decided to try it. He has had good luck with this med in people like me and really wanted to try it. But we knew i would probably have some stomach problems with it. Just hoped I could hold on long enough for them to subside. Which finally happened. Got switched to the 320 last week due to my BP going up again. Haven't had the same issue with it though I can sort of tell a little. But I think it will pass soon.

[flowergirl2day]

I had bad indigestion from Diovan HCT 160 when I began taking it. Lasted about 4-5months. And I took it after eating. We knew I might have issues as I am allergic to sulfa drugs and that is a contraindication with this med. However, my doctor and I discussed and decided to try it. He has had good luck with this med in people like me and really wanted to try it. But we knew i would probably have some stomach problems with it. Just hoped I could hold on long enough for them to subside. Which finally happened. Got switched to the 320 last week due to my BP going up again. Haven't had the same issue with it though I can sort of tell a little. But I think it will pass soon

How nice to hear you've learned to tolerate this medication, Titchou. I tried it for about a week @80mg/day and kept having constant allergic reactions that just wouldn't go away. My doctor doubled the dose of Micardis then to 160mg (instead of discontinuing it when hearing about my problems with it) and my various allergy reactions got worse.
I had no better luck with Micardis from the same drug class (ARBs). There must be something in these drugs that I can't tolerate. I am glad to hear you can, though. If and when a change in my meds is required, I would like to try Avapro and see what happens.

How well is this med reducing your blood pressure? Increases in dosing are not always the best way to go. Sometimes an addition of another medication from a different antihypertensive class in a small dose yields better results.

flowergirl

[Titchou]

I started on it about 11 months ago. It got my BP down the first week from 180/95 to 135/75. And over the 11 months it was usually around that or lower. It was a little elevated in February but we chalked it up to a busy day in the doc's officer as they were shuttling people around - lot's a flu going around her then. Anyway, changed to the 320 when I finally realized after 2 weeks of feeling light headed and some pressure above my eyes thatit wasn't my allergies or diet but that it might be my BP and I had it checked. It was 162/88. So far so good. Have been on it since last Wednesday and yesterday my BP was 111/77.

I'm not a fan of taking multiple meds for an issue unless there is no alternative. I'm already taking HRT, zyrtec, the Diovan and 2 Aleve every morning...along with one puff of Flovent for my asthma. I'm not looking to add to that regimen!