feeling bad on bp pills

dont know if ive put this in the frght section, but on amlodipine and propranolol, the propranolol is giving me terrible side effects, no sleep at all most nights,shaking panic attacks i think as never had them before, feeling really ill im 71, im reducing the dose bur heart racing bp going up a bit, told doc he said take them when needed which i try but then get depressed/anxiety . im monitering bp for doc but as soon as i see bp machine my heart rockets. im getting upset a lot which i never did before is there a end to this misery and my bp not controlled well. thank you

Hi Peter,

I have heart disease and take a plethora of medications that include BP meds. I've been on them for over 13 years. The first meds (and I don't recall the names) caused side effects like breathlessness and body aches etc. I never had any negative psychological effects from them, only physical. After consulting with my doctor, we played around with a couple different meds and dosages in an effort to balance the benefits with the negative side effects. I'm currently on lisinopril and carvedilol. No issue with the lisinopril at all but the carvedilol (beta blocker) can cause breathlessness if I exert myself too hard. I know its because its doing what its supposed to be doing but its unpleasant nonetheless.

It would be worth a discussion with your doctor to see if you can strike a balance both physically and mentally.

Positive thoughts

Hi Peter,

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply, I can't access the forums from my phone right now.

I've been on propranolol on and off for years, for my blood pressure, anxiety and migraines, and I've noticed it can cause truly horrendous insomnia.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest asking your GP for slow release propranolol tablets, then take them in the morning - that fixed the sleeping issues for me.

thank you im trying to wean off them,whenever i take them i feel so poorly and depression or anxiety sets in, im taking bp for 6 days in a row ,day and night for doc report but doing so stresses me out ages before i do it, so pulse rate always high, ive only been on then 4 months and since then im always stressed.at 71 i dont need all this trying to get bp down to the same as a 20 year old.im happy at 150/90 or even 160 /90 ,its taking my quality of life away with worry/stress