benicar

[pat-FL]

I HAVE BEEN TAKING BENICAR FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND I HAVE SEVERE JOINT PAIN..HAS ANYONE HAD ANY OF THESE SYMTOMS..I HAVE TRIED TO TELL MY DOCTOR THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WHEN I STARTED THE BENICAR..BUT SHE DOES NOT THINK THIS IS FROM MY MEDICINE....PLEASE SEND COMMENTS..THANKS...

[pat-FL]

PLEASE SEND ME SOME COMMENTS IF ANYONE AS HAD JOINT PAIN WHILE TAKING BENICAR...MY DOCTOR DOES NOT BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL HER I THINK IT IS MY MEDICATION....THANKS PATTY

[Anna]

I have been taking Benicar for about 7 months and in the last 2 weeks have been experiencing severe joint pain and pain in my left leg at night. You are not wrongabout this.

pat-FL wrote:

PLEASE SEND ME SOME COMMENTS IF ANYONE AS HAD JOINT PAIN WHILE TAKING BENICAR...MY DOCTOR DOES NOT BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL HER I THINK IT IS MY MEDICATION....THANKS PATTY

[Bill - Scottsdale]

My left ankle continues to be tight and swells and my calf muscles do not relax. I have cut back on my dose and do not have the intensity as before.

[Gary]

I started taking Benicar two yrs ago. In the first week I had severe insomnia accompanied by anxiety. Two different Drs told me that it was unlikely that Benicar could cause these symptoms, tho the symptoms stopped when I stopped the Benicar. I was convinced by my Dr to try Benicar again, so I did and did not again have the severe insomnia and anxiety, tho I had periodic muscle pain, headache, and dry cough, all minor. Two weeks ago I inadvertantly missed two consecutive doses of Benicar. A few days later I again had severe insomnia and anxiety. I have now stopped the Benicar for good. It's a great drug for controlling my BP, but the side effects are intolerable.

[Cricket]

pat-FL wrote:

I HAVE BEEN TAKING BENICAR FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND I HAVE SEVERE JOINT PAIN..HAS ANYONE HAD ANY OF THESE SYMTOMS..I HAVE TRIED TO TELL MY DOCTOR THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WHEN I STARTED THE BENICAR..BUT SHE DOES NOT THINK THIS IS FROM MY MEDICINE....PLEASE SEND COMMENTS..THANKS...

It sounds to me like you are having a herxheimer response due to the benicar enabling your body to kill bacteria. You can find out much more about this here:
http://www.marshallprotocol.com/index.php

Cricket

[barbara]

Gary wrote:

I started taking Benicar two yrs ago. In the first week I had severe insomnia accompanied by anxiety. Two different Drs told me that it was unlikely that Benicar could cause these symptoms, tho the symptoms stopped when I stopped the Benicar. I was convinced by my Dr to try Benicar again, so I did and did not again have the severe insomnia and anxiety, tho I had periodic muscle pain, headache, and dry cough, all minor. Two weeks ago I inadvertantly missed two consecutive doses of Benicar. A few days later I again had severe insomnia and anxiety. I have now stopped the Benicar for good. It's a great drug for controlling my BP, but the side effects are intolerable.

Did anyone experience head, facial and arm hand tingling while taking benicar?

[Jim]

barbara wrote:

<quoted text>
Did anyone experience head, facial and arm hand tingling while taking benicar?

I have been on Benicar for three months and have developed both facial tingling and joint pain in right hip -- my prescription ran out and after two days off Benicar, the hip pain is starting to recede

[kathy]

pat-FL wrote:

I HAVE BEEN TAKING BENICAR FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND I HAVE SEVERE JOINT PAIN..HAS ANYONE HAD ANY OF THESE SYMTOMS..I HAVE TRIED TO TELL MY DOCTOR THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WHEN I STARTED THE BENICAR..BUT SHE DOES NOT THINK THIS IS FROM MY MEDICINE....PLEASE SEND COMMENTS..THANKS...

I am also having joint pain since I started this drug. It started about 2 months after I started taking the drug. My doctor also doesn't think it is the drug. I think I am going to insist that he change it just to see if the pain subsides. I also experience this kind of pain with statin (cholesterol) drugs and took myself off of them, only to have the pain stop about 2 weeks later.

[John]

Hi Gary, I too have had these symptoms on the first use of Benicar. I switched from Zestril for the same reason, although for both drugs this is supposed to be an uncommon reaction. For me, either drug corrects my BP to normal with the first dose (within about 6hrs). This too contradicts most of the descriptios which say it can take several weeks to be effective. It is dramatically effective in my case and I can very precisely predict it. The anxiety and depression are also associated with some life events producing a sort of post trauma syndrome. i suspect the ACE blockers somehow trigger a predisposition by enhancing the brain's imagination (very unclinical here, just my speculation). It is known for producing vivid dreams. It was hard to associate the symptoms at first, as they showed up after a long use of Zestril (although tiredness showed up on the first use, then not later). But after severl "drug hollidays" it was clear there was a correlation. First night after taking Benicar I awoke at 2AM to a waking nightmare. Don't want to repeat that.
So..... have you found any alternatives? I'm planning to just focus on heavy exercise.

Gary wrote:

I started taking Benicar two yrs ago. In the first week I had severe insomnia accompanied by anxiety. Two different Drs told me that it was unlikely that Benicar could cause these symptoms, tho the symptoms stopped when I stopped the Benicar. I was convinced by my Dr to try Benicar again, so I did and did not again have the severe insomnia and anxiety, tho I had periodic muscle pain, headache, and dry cough, all minor. Two weeks ago I inadvertantly missed two consecutive doses of Benicar. A few days later I again had severe insomnia and anxiety. I have now stopped the Benicar for good. It's a great drug for controlling my BP, but the side effects are intolerable.

[barbara]

John wrote:

Hi Gary, I too have had these symptoms on the first use of Benicar. I switched from Zestril for the same reason, although for both drugs this is supposed to be an uncommon reaction. For me, either drug corrects my BP to normal with the first dose (within about 6hrs). This too contradicts most of the descriptios which say it can take several weeks to be effective. It is dramatically effective in my case and I can very precisely predict it. The anxiety and depression are also associated with some life events producing a sort of post trauma syndrome. i suspect the ACE blockers somehow trigger a predisposition by enhancing the brain's imagination (very unclinical here, just my speculation). It is known for producing vivid dreams. It was hard to associate the symptoms at first, as they showed up after a long use of Zestril (although tiredness showed up on the first use, then not later). But after severl "drug hollidays" it was clear there was a correlation. First night after taking Benicar I awoke at 2AM to a waking nightmare. Don't want to repeat that.
So..... have you found any alternatives? I'm planning to just focus on heavy exercise.
<quoted text>

These comments are quite interesting. After five months on Benicar HCT, I am now waking up at night with irregular heartbeats. Whether or not it is related to the Benicar, I don't know but since I have a normal echo and carotid screeen, I am highly suspect that either the Benicar or HCT is causing this symptom. I too suffer from panic disorder so that may also be the case. I am tired of these high blood pressure meds and their side effects. You are correct, the doctors will tell you that these effects are not drug related but after you stop taking them, the side effects go away. I am going to insist that my doctor order the CYP 450 drug screen. My belief is that since the side effects show up after a long period of time that I am not metabolizing the drug properly and it is building up in my ststem. This lab test will identify if I am a slow metabolizer and if yes, then the meds will need to be adjusted to lower dosages. Has anyone done any research on this?

[Ann]

I have experienced several problems while on Benicar - increased shortness of breath, tachycardia, weakness or lethargy, increased muscle & joint pain. About an hour after taking the medicine, I feel worse. I have stopped taking Benicar ( a week ago) and have noticed quite an improvement. I called the Sankyo people & was told there was about a 5% incidence of having these symptoms. Perhaps more people should report their problems.

[barbara]

Ann wrote:

I have experienced several problems while on Benicar - increased shortness of breath, tachycardia, weakness or lethargy, increased muscle & joint pain. About an hour after taking the medicine, I feel worse. I have stopped taking Benicar ( a week ago) and have noticed quite an improvement. I called the Sankyo people & was told there was about a 5% incidence of having these symptoms. Perhaps more people should report their problems.

I was unable to locate Sanyko's adverse drug line. Would you pass the number along to me. Did they tell you that the drug should be discontinued? I am so tired of changing medications. What are you on now? Thanks

[Ann]

barbara wrote:

<quoted text>I was unable to locate Sanyko's adverse drug line. Would you pass the number along to me. Did they tell you that the drug should be discontinued? I am so tired of changing medications. What are you on now? Thanks

Another note on Benicar---I was also given Benicar 40mg with HCT with really threw me for a loop. Had a lot of weakness, etc. with that. So was then given just the Benicar which worked on the BP but I was still having the other symptoms - but not as bad. I, too, have had a complete cardiac work-up with no negative findings. So must be the medicine!

[barbara]

Ann wrote:

<quoted text>
Another note on Benicar---I was also given Benicar 40mg with HCT with really threw me for a loop. Had a lot of weakness, etc. with that. So was then given just the Benicar which worked on the BP but I was still having the other symptoms - but not as bad. I, too, have had a complete cardiac work-up with no negative findings. So must be the medicine!

What are you on now???? I am only taking half (20mgs) and my blood pressure is averaging around 120/60. 40mgs. and it is really low and giving me postural hypotension. I just don't know what to do. I am tired of this. Maybe it's the HCT producing the side effects? What side effects are you having now being just on the Benicar?

[bill]

barbara wrote:

<quoted text>
Did anyone experience head, facial and arm hand tingling while taking benicar?

I had plenty of tingling with benicar

[bill]

has anyone experienced 'EXTREME' vertigo from Benicar? About a month into taking it, my inner ear had a terrible reaction to the drug which made me extremely ill. My MD suggested that it may be a viral infection of the inner ear but i have my doubts about that.

[barbara]

bill wrote:

has anyone experienced 'EXTREME' vertigo from Benicar? About a month into taking it, my inner ear had a terrible reaction to the drug which made me extremely ill. My MD suggested that it may be a viral infection of the inner ear but i have my doubts about that.

Yes but mine is more lightheadedness. Also have tingling, irregular heartbeats. Has anyone else had irregular heartbeats?

[barbara]

bill wrote:

<quoted text>
I had plenty of tingling with benicar

Where was the tingling located? Face, arms, legs????? This is really weird

[bill]

barbara wrote:

<quoted text> Where was the tingling located? Face, arms, legs????? This is really weird

B, My tingling was/is mostly in my face,head and neck. To a lesser degree in my arms. Benicar has certainly reduced my BP but main complaint is the Vertigo that I experienced. I was incapacitated for two whole days and didn't really come around for a week or more.