When I was much younger, I was able to switch from one med to a
different kind of hbp med at will. Now, i somehow 'feel' that once i
am out of one med, it is very difficult for me to get back to the same
kind of med. I was out of Norvase and could never get back until i
realized, after a lot of suffering, that this whole category of pills
named calcium channel blockers is not that effective in controlling my
bp without being co-administered with beta-blockers. Is such a change
permanent because of the passage of time or aging?
THX
FP
===============================================
ospam@heartmdphd.com (Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD) wrote in message news:<a4b1bd78.0312011012.7d5bbd81@posting.google.com>...
> fyfpoon@hotmail.com (francispoon) wrote in message news:<936eaee8.0311300645.5a4abf8c@posting.google.com>...
> > nospam@heartmdphd.com (Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD) wrote in message news:<a4b1bd78.0311280954.45f0312b@posting.google.com>...
> > > fyfpoon@hotmail.com (francispoon) wrote in message news:<936eaee8.0311272045.faedb7c@posting.google.com>...
> > > > I have been on 30 mg of adalat gits a day for the past half a month.
> > > > In the first week of taking the new medicine, the blood pressure was
> > > > relatively normal. It was 135-40/80-85 both before bed time and in
> > > > the morning before taking med. But a flu came and with the flu my bp
> > > > went as high as 180-200/90-100.
> > >
> > > Not surprisingly.
> > >
> > > > I immediately put back my
> > > > lodoz(diuretics and beta blocker combined) and the bp had a
> > > > significant reduction. I used to take lodoz before with 2 tablets of
> > > > nifedipine(10 mg each taken twice a day) but changed the whole regime
> > > > upon the doctor's advice 'for convenience' into a single tablet of 30
> > > > mg of adalat gits. The curious thing is i used to hear quite a bit of
> > > > buzz in my ear with the new medication of adalat gits but with the
> > > > lodoz put back, the buzz sound was greatly reduced too.
> > > >
> > > > Question:
> > > >
> > > > (1)do you think it is a good idea for me to go back to the old
> > > > arrangement?
> > >
> > > As long as you involve your doctor, I don't see a problem with it.
> > >
> > > > (2)for the past years my experience with calcium channel blocker is
> > > > that the body gets tired of it easily and this medication is not very
> > > > stable or effective without other med to go with it. should i
> > > > consider changing to other categories of drugs?
> > >
> > > Ace inhibitors have more data supporting their use for prevention of
> > > cardiovascular and renal disease than calcium channel blockers.
> >
> > Thank you very much for the reply.
> >
> > I am trying to move out of nifedipine altogether but will do it
> > gradually for fear that my blood pressure may get out of control. The
> > reason is because i suspect it to have a bearing with my tinnitus that
> > took place about 2 months ago at the same time when I moved up my
> > daily intake of nifedipine from 10 to 20 mg, and went worse when I
> > moved into adalat gits which comes with the min 30 mg tablets.
> >
> > Questions:
> > (1)Do you have anything to suggest to help alter my above-mentioned
> > combination gradually? How about replacing one tablet of nifedipine
> > with one tablet of plendil 2.5 mg or others?
> >
> > I know what my doctor will say. He will urge me to stay on and
> > dismiss beta-blocker content in Lodoz(5 mg of bisoprolol fumarate
> > +6.25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide) as being a possible cause for my poor
> > erection and will ask me to put up with my tinnitus. So I would
> > forget about him first.
>
> You might need to consider changing doctors.
>
> > (2)I am using a kind of generic fidedipine drugs which are made like
> > adalat retard. It needs to be taken twice a day. But when i moved to
> > adalat gits (30 mg) about half a month ago, i found the new drug
> > (adalat gits) to be totally ineffective without its drug interaction
> > with beta-blocker. The day before I discontinued adalat gits, I took
> > one tablet with a diazide(25 mg hydrochloridethiazide) at 8am in the
> > morning. But 10am, my bp went to 170/100 and this was not the first
> > time! So that was the clear signal i should discontinue adalat gits.
> > Now I am back to the old combination as mentioned above. Whenever my
> > bp is out of control, i have found a Lodoz to be my life saver! IS
> > THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADALAT RETARD AND ADALAT GITS?
>
> I believe the pharmacokinetics are a little different. Regarding
> this, I am not certain.
>
> > (3)I used to be on Norvase for many years until sometime this year I
> > discovered the tablet was getting weaker and weaker. I moved out of
> > it upon a doctor's advice and moved into nifedipine. I tried to get
> > back also upon two doctors' advice but have been unsuccessful. It
> > took me A LOT OF suffering to have finally realized that most calcium
> > channel blockers are not effective to me at all AT THIS TIME without a
> > drug interaction with beta-blockers. And i do find beta-blockers to
> > hiner my erection. But now i place controlling my bp as the first
> > priority and ask my girl friend to 'work harder' when she is with me.
> > So Dr. Chung, what do you think is the reason that my body no longer
> > responds to calcium channel blockers adminstered either alone or with
> > diurectics(with the exception of indapamide, which caused me headache
> > and constipation)? Is there anything wrong or changed with my body
> > metabolism?
>
> Hypertension typically worsens with age and weight gain.
>
> > Thank you in advance for your answers, in particular to how you would
> > advise me to alter my current medication intake. By the way, I just
> > had to try by trials and errors to have come up with my current
> > combination, sometimes with doctorS' advises during crisis about 2-3
> > months ago. Most of the doctorS' advices did not work at all. Most
> > new med combinations prescribed worked for the initial few days and
> > all of a sudden my bp got out of hand. Without that Lodoz, I would
> > have been in serious trouble by now.
> >
> > I so miss the old days in which I took just one pill a day for my hbp.
> > Now i have to take med twice and sometimes 3 times daily. Taking bp
> > med is now an issue in my daily life and is getting very unpleasant.
> >
> > Thanks,
>
> You're welcome.
>
> Humbly,
>
> Andrew
