Changing Bp Medicines

[Emeraldeyes]

I Am Presently Taking Clonidine .1mg - 5x's A Day. I Find That It Is Not Controlling My Bp Very Well. I Would Like To Switch Medicines And Would Like To Know What Would Be Involved In Getting Off The Clonidine. I Hear It Is Very Addictive And You Have To Be Weaned Off Of It. What Would Be A Good Bp Medicine To Try? I Am Very Sensitive To Medicines And If It Has Alot Of Side Effects I Will Be The One To Get Them.

In The Past I Have Tried Toprol Xl But Got Off If It Because My Hair Started Fallling Out Real Bad. I Have Also Tried One Ccb, Can't Remember The Name And Avapro.

I Am Really Losing Faith In My Internist And Just Don't Understand Why I Can't Get My Bp Under Control. I Am Thinking Of Switching Doctors.

I Figured If Any One Would Have Some Solutions It Would Be Here On This Board.

[zip2play]

Emeraldeyes,

Well,
It seems like you're working your way through these drug classes lickety-split. You skipped only two, the ACE inhibitors (which I am loathe to recommend because of the common side effect, cough) and OLD FAITHFUL, the thiazide diuretics (and other diuretics).

If you've never tried diuretics, give them a spin. They are cheap as dirt and work very well, and the side effects CAN be a problem but can be controlled by attention to electrpolye replacement (often as easy as a banana a day.)

I am intrigued by the clonopine. Since it's a pretty good sedative (something I'* LOVE for sleeping) I imagine it can be addicting and, of course, the main withdrawal woul be sleeplessness. Perhaps a few nights of a good sleep-aid to tide you over.
Were there side-effects other than the rotten BP control?

What problem did you have with the Avapro, poor control?

Often the answer to good control lies in combining lower doses of two classes of these meds.

[wr6969]

Like you, I've tried a couple of different medications to try to get my blood pressure under control. I started off with a combination of beta blockers, Xanax and Valium (the latter two for my anxiety) but after about 8 months, found that this combo was ruining my life. I had no desire for life, was depressed (was later told that beta blockers can cause depression in some people) and lethargic all day. I then decided to go off this combo cold turkey (not a good idea, let me tell you this, especially after taking them for so long ), but felt I had to do it to get my life back. I then switched to Plendil, a calcium channel blocker (CCB), but that coupled with my "withdrawal" from the beta blocker caused extreme distress in the form of "rebound tachycardia", ie. rapid heartbeats causing discomfort. I then switched to Norvasc, another CCB but that too didn't really bring my BP under good control (it was hovering between 120/80 to 140/90). My latest drug adventure is to take Diovan, an angiotension II receptor blocker (ARB) on the advice of my cardiologist. Let's hope that this brings my BP under control; I'm running out of hypertensives to try!

My lessons in this adventure were:

(1) always consult your doctor/cardiologist when changing drugs. There are interactions and side effects that the experts will be familiar with that we may not be familiar with

(2) always try to find out the side effects of taking new medications, so if you encounter these, you won't panic. I have to say that unfortunately our minds "tends" to make these side effect a reality, especially if you're an anxious person (like me)

(3) always try to find out the side effects of going off a medication (in my case, it was the rebound in heart rate as a result of it being "supressed" for so long by the beta blocker). These withdrawal symptoms can be debilitating for some people

(4) ask yourself whether you are comfortable having to remember taking the anti-hypertensives more than once a day as happens with some medications. Or would you rather just have to remember to take it once daily, for convenience sakes? Of course, you should be asking this question only if your selected anti-hypertensive is already doing a good job of regulating your BP!

(5) hope for the best! Yes, kind of obvious, but I guess it helps to be optimistic that the next medication you try will be the "one" to control your BP!

Hope this helps...

[Alabang]

Thanks for letting me know about the not-so-uncommon side effect of switching BP meds. I was on a beta-blocker (Tenormin, 100 mg) and my BP was doing very well, but I suddenly had a rash that wouldn't go away. So my internist switched to Plendil. She decreased the dosage of Tenormin to 50 mgs and I took it for a week or so until I switched to a calcium channel blocker. Within days, my pulse rate shot up tremendously and because I'm hypervigilant about my pulse, I wound up becoming very anxious and worried ... w/c made my blood pressure increase. And because I do have an anxiety problem, this has really freaked me out. Am going to see her (again) tomorrow to see what the heck's going on. But knowing now that there is a "rebound effect" b/w beta-blockers & CCB's has calmed me down a bit.
Thanks for the info.

[Random2]

WR.... you sound like you were taking exactly what I am taking now.... Altenolol combined with Xanax (for the anxiety). Was depressed+ on Toprol. Altenolol doesn't seem to have too many side-effects for me. Lotrel doesn't either. Altace & Toprol both had horrible side-effects. I would love to try Diovan & get off of the Altenolol & Lotrel, because I have heard really good things. Would have to wean though. Would not get off of the Xanax though WR, nor would I ever try an SSRI like Paxil ever again. It made me feel like I had the worst stomach flu for 4 days. SSRI's are the worst imo.