Wellness

[daisyk]

I've taken amlodipine for high blood pressure for a few years now and it's okay but is not doing the job completely. I've taken a bunch of other things, bystolic, water pill, valsartan and others I can't think of right now and have trouble with all of them. Currently I'm taking Hydralazine which is okay but raises my heart rate too much. I'm running out of things to try. Now my doctor wants to try clonidine but what I'm reading doesn't sound too good. I know I have to take what I read with a grain of salt as experiences vary, but this one has me concerned. I asked the doctor about Toprol which a couple of my friends take and he said that is more for heart rate than hpb. I don't know. I go to the doctor tomorrow and I'm really torn. Any advice appreciated.

[sfnative]

Hi daisy,

Though I haven't taken clonidine, it has been around for donkey's years as has Toprol.

In reading through your post, I wonder whether you belong to an HMO and/or whether your physician is limited to a certain formulary. Some formularies consist primarily of rather old, cheap drugs, whereas there are probably much better options for the patient which don't exist on the formulary, so the patient loses out. For instance, I now take Lisinopril for high blood pressure, as I went through several that sort of worked, but not to peak efficienty, until we settled on Lisinopril. This drug has been great for me! However, bet you 2 bucks you won't find it on many formularies.

However, I did take Toprol at one time, so can address this drug. It is a "beta blocker," which means it blocks beta nerve function. It was developed in 1969, the year I was married, so has been around for years and years.

The primary use for this drug is for hypertension (high blood pressure), regardless of what your physician said. Secondary and tertiary uses are for chest pain due to poor blood flow to the heart, a number of conditions involving an abnormally fast heart rate, migraine headaches, performance anxiety and other anxiety disorders.

In 2010, it was the 14th most prescribed drug in the U.S.

The most common side effect is drowsiness. The extent of drowsiness is directly related to the dose of the drug.

This drug, being a beta blocker, will decrease ones heart rate, so if you have a heart issue, you may not be a good candidate for this drug. However, if your cardiac history is pretty much clear, you can be a good advocate for yourself and ask to be prescribed this drug or a similar beta blocker.

I wish you good luck during your appointment tomorrow. Be a good idea to write down questions on a notepad and bring it along with you, as well as a pen, so you can ask your doc questions and write the answers down. Let him know who's boss!

God Bless - R

[daisyk]

sfnative, thanks for the reply. I didn't know Toprol had been around that long. I think I tried the Lisinopril but it was a combo med with the amlodipine. I think that's the one that made me cough. I really need to keep a log as it's hard to remember what I've tried. Anyway, thanks again for the advice and I will try and remember who's "boss"- That's hard for me sometimes.