
Suggest Ways To Manage The Side Effects Of Amlodipine

as your doctor said, can be stopped immediately
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
You mentioned that your doctor stated that it can be stopped immediately, this is true.
The medication can just be stopped.
Tapering doses of medication does not apply to all medications. It only applies to medications that can cause physical or emotional tolerance (like valium, lorazepam etc) or dependence.
Blood pressure medications do not fall into this category. When a blood pressure medication needs to be stopped then this can be done as soon as possible, there is no need for you to taper.
There would be no sudden rebound of blood pressure. As expected without the blood pressure medication , your readings may increase but this would occur whether you stop it slowly or suddenly.
The advantage of stopping it as soon as possible would mean that your doctor would know how your blood pressure reads without medication and may be able to start you on an alternative if necessary.
If your readings go up to values that you are not comfortable with then you can see your doctor sooner rather than later so that alternative medication can be started
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions


I appreciate your answer and its very helpful. Since I took Amlodipine 5mg yesterday, how long the effect will stay?
4 to 9 days for complete removal
Detailed Answer:
HI
Sorry about the late reply
The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the level of drug in the body to decrease by half. It takes approximately three to four half lives for a medication to disappear completely from the body.
The half life of amlodipine is thirty to fifty hours. This means it would take approximately 90 to 200 hours ( close to 4 days to 9 days).
After this time, it would likely be completely gone
The levels would be progressively decreasing and would be very low but this it the time frame for complete removal.
Please feel free to ask any other questions


because of different structure, should have a different response
Detailed Answer:
HI
As you said benicar is in the same family as losartan. Like amlodipine, if it does not agree with you, it can simply be stopped, no tapering needed.
You can switch to another medication if it has to be discontinued.
Benicar is a good drug and should help control your blood pressure, if it is not enough, there is benicar hct which is a combination of benicar and a diuretic (medication to help get rid of excess fluids and salts)
Because there are differences in the structure between benicar and losartan, it is possible that you might respond to them differently
I've never been on the customer side but i've had persons who sent a lot of different follow up questions related to their particular problem. I believe, speaking under correction, that you continue to attach more questions to the original but not sure.
You can also ask a question directly to a particular person
There is a customer care service as well that may be able to help
If anything not clear, can let me know


may need adjust dose or add another medication
Detailed Answer:
HI
If you are able to tolerate taking the amlodipine, if there are no more bothersome effects, then the dose can be increased to 10 mg . This is the maximum allowed dose but this increase should only be done in consultation with your doctor.
Alternatively your doctor can also add a medication to work along with the amlodipine.
There are some persons who need multiple medications to control their blood pressure, when three or more medications are needed, the person is said to have resistant hypertension


add meds only needed if bp not controlled
Detailed Answer:
hi
It is understandable to be concerned.
It is possible that the symptoms are related to coffee withdrawal. Your doctor may want to consider some basic bloods to make sure that there are no other problems. eg complete blood count, kidney and liver function
Resistant hypertension is only diagnosed if the blood pressure needs three or more meds to be controlled.
If your blood pressure is controlled with only the amlodipine, this is good, you wouldn't need any more meds.


As from Wednesday, 5/25 I stop taking Amlodipine 5mg. The following is a list of my average BP throughout the day prior to talk to my Doctor on 5/25, and after 5/25:
5/23 : 133/89 (still taking it everyday since about 8 months ago)
5/24: 134/92 (still taking it everyday since about 8 months ago)
5/25: 134/89
5/26: 138/93
5/27: 137/92 (take 1 around 5 pm when BP went up to 107/165, then I felt terrible through the night, woke up through panic attack and body chill and almost went to ER during the night. I think I should not have taken this one pill I was kind in a panic mode)
5/28: 139/90 (feeling fine during the day, went to bed around 9:15 pm, once again work up with panic attack around 11:45 pm, went to kitchen, drank some hot water and sit there for a while, then went back to sleep around 12:30 am and woke up around 5 am)
5/29: 7:00 am 143/87, 128/81, 144/91 average 138/86
I had been changing my diet drastically since 5/25, I ate a lot of fruits, and walking 1 hour in the morning, and clean some garden work in the afternoon for 1/2 hour and cooking/preparing in kitchen in evening.
Although I still did not get a good night sleep, I was glad to get a BP reading 121/81 this morning among other readings. (perhaps the monitor was not functioning correctly at one point)
The problem is that it seemed I always had panic attack/suddenly woke up during the first 2-3 hours sleeping during the night, felt could not breath normal.
Please comment. Thank you.
there are techniques that can help with panic episodes
Detailed Answer:
HI
Panic attacks can be associated with chest pain, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, palpitations so it could have caused the problem with breathing that you mentioned.
These are some of the more common symptoms of panic attacks though there are others.
Treatment would involve identifying the specific sources, using relaxation techniques and medication if needed.
Relaxation techniques would include deep breathing exercises and visualization (Eg imagining a relaxing place or recalling a relaxing or enjoyable event)
The reading this morning was good, it may remain in this range.


can be used safely
Detailed Answer:
HI
Calcium supplements can decrease the effectiveness of amlodipine and similar medications because they decrease the effect of these blood pressure medications.
Since you are no longer taking the amlodipine for high blood pressure, decreasing the effect will not matter so you can safely use the supplements


most herbal supplements would not require safety profile
Detailed Answer:
HI
Maqui berry is reported to contain a number of different oxidants, this may potentially have a number of different benefits which should include reducing inflammation and risk for infection but it is not known to help with high blood pressure.
Most herbal supplements do not require testing to exactly determine side effects so the side effect profile is not clearly known.
It should be ok however.
In terms of where it is available, you can ask your local pharmacist or look online to find out which health shops in your area have a good reputation and are thought to be reliable and carry safe products
Alternatively most brands of products are rated so you can try to find a good brand to use

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