Muscle pain from valsartan?

[Peabody]

About a week after starting 40 mg/day of valsartan (Diovan),
I've got some soreness in my hamstring and calf muscles, and
in the buttocks, but not (so far) in the lower back.

I can't find this side effect in the Diovan prescribing
information, but I can't account for the problem otherwise -
nothing else has changed. I do yoga every morning, which
includes stretches of these muscles, but they are the same
stretches I've done for years. So that wouldn't account for
it unless the valsartan somehow makes the muscles more
susceptible to injury from stretching.

If it matters, last year I tried another drug from this
group, Cozaar, but did not have this problem. Unfortunately,
I also had no BP lowering from it.

Can anyone tell whether the valsartan is likely to be
respsonsible for this muscle soreness, or is it just a
coincidence?

[Dr. Andrew B. C]

Peabody wrote:

> About a week after starting 40 mg/day of valsartan
> (Diovan), I've got some soreness in my hamstring and calf
> muscles, and in the buttocks, but not (so far) in the
> lower back.
>
> I can't find this side effect in the Diovan prescribing
> information, but I can't account for the problem otherwise
> - nothing else has changed. I do yoga every morning, which
> includes stretches of these muscles, but they are the same
> stretches I've done for years. So that wouldn't account
> for it unless the valsartan somehow makes the muscles more
> susceptible to injury from stretching.
>
> If it matters, last year I tried another drug from this
> group, Cozaar, but did not have this problem.
> Unfortunately, I also had no BP lowering from it.
>
> Can anyone tell whether the valsartan is likely to be
> respsonsible for this muscle soreness, or is it just a
> coincidence?

Typically not, however, God has made each of us differently
so it is still possible. Would suggest you inform your
doctor so s/he can switch you to something else.

Servant to the humblest person in the universe,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
http://www.heartmdphd.com/

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[Jim Chinnis]

Peabody <waybackKILLSPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote in part:

>About a week after starting 40 mg/day of valsartan
>(Diovan), I've got some soreness in my hamstring and calf
>muscles, and in the buttocks, but not (so far) in the
>lower back.

Are you sure you have the medication properly identified?
Valsartan isn't available in a 40 mg form. Are you splitting
an 80 mg tablet?
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA

[Peter]

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 09:39:42 -0500, Peabody
<waybackKILLSPAM44@yahoo.com> wrote:

>About a week after starting 40 mg/day of valsartan
>(Diovan), I've got some soreness in my hamstring and calf
>muscles, and in the buttocks, but not (so far) in the
>lower back.
>
>I can't find this side effect in the Diovan prescribing
>information, but I can't account for the problem otherwise
>- nothing else has changed. I do yoga every morning, which
>includes stretches of these muscles, but they are the same
>stretches I've done for years. So that wouldn't account for
>it unless the valsartan somehow makes the muscles more
>susceptible to injury from stretching.
>
>If it matters, last year I tried another drug from this
>group, Cozaar, but did not have this problem.
>Unfortunately, I also had no BP lowering from it.
>
>Can anyone tell whether the valsartan is likely to be
>respsonsible for this muscle soreness, or is it just a
>coincidence?

I have been on 80mg per day for a couple of years or so. It
has not affected me this way but everybody is different.

Peter

[Peabody]

Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD says...

>> Can anyone tell whether the valsartan is likely to be
>> respsonsible for this muscle soreness, or is it just a
>> coincidence?

> Typically not, however, God has made each of us
> differently so it is still possible. Would suggest
> you inform your doctor so s/he can switch you to
> something else.

Thanks Dr. Chung. I'm dealing with the VA here, so it's a
bit more complicated than just going to my civilian
internist. I'm currently taking 240 mg of diltiazem, which
works quite well, but not quite good enough. At 58 I'm

trying really hard to stay away from beta blockers and
centrally acting meds, but ACEIs make me cough, and Cozaar
had zero effect on my BP.

So I really want to give valsartan every chance I can, so I
can continue to avoid the meds with bad side effects if
that's possible. I'm going to go off valsartan for a few
days, and then go back on it. That should pretty well tell
me whether valsartan is the problem.

As for the more general problem, my understanding is that if
one ACEI makes you cough, they all will. Lisinopril does.
One thing we haven't tried is two different CCBs. My
research indicates that this might work because the
different types of CCBs (verapamil, diltiazem, and the
dihydropyridines) work through different channels, and their
effects may be additive to some extent. So maybe nifedipine
and diltiazem.

Oh, and I was willing to try HCTZ, but the VA won't give it
to people with high creatinine. Mine is 1.4 (0.5 - 1.3).
Actually, it was normal until they changed the reference
range. Isn't bureaucracy wonderful? :-)

And, yes, I already have a flat belly, exercise a lot, eat
well, and do yoga and meditation.

Any suggestions for meds to try?

[Peabody]

Jim Chinnis says...

> Are you sure you have the medication properly identified?
> Valsartan isn't available in a 40 mg form. Are you
> splitting an 80 mg tablet?

Yes, I'm splitting the 80s.

[Peabody]

Peter says...

> I have been on 80mg per day for a couple of years or so.
> It has not affected me this way but everybody is
> different.

Yeah, apparently if valsartan is causing the soreness, it's
a relatively rare event. I'm going to suspend valsartan for
a few days and see if the soreness goes away. If it does,
I'll go back on it and see if the soreness returns. That may
settle the issue.

Thanks for your reply.