BP meds side effects are getting out of hand!

[KICKSTART]

I have always had problems with bp meds side effects and can only tolerate the smallest doses , which does not help my high blood pressure. One of the things they all do is make me cough! but its getting to the stage where im coughing 24/7. I cant talk for coughing and if i go out its embarrasing because people make comments about it , like if im in the waiting room at clinic , strangers will say something about how well im coughing. Now its got to the stage its making my chest/neck sore with it all. I have told my doctor several times , who just says ..well you have to take them. I HAVE tried loads of different ones , but there must be something in them all that makes me cough. How do i know its my BP meds ?, well one day i decided to find out and didnt take it for 2 days and straight away my cough went , as soon as i started taking it again it started .Even my next door neighbour is asking if im ok because he can hear me coughing all the time! 

[peleroja]

How odd, never heard of anything like that!  I was taking 240 mg Verapamil in the morning and 120 at night, and within a week of going on the PD cycler I went off my BP medication completely.  It's as if the cycler is doing the perfect job of controlling my BP.  I haven't had any medication in 3 months! 

[Deanne]

I'm sorry! I had a cough from by bp meds for a while, but it didn't last long for me. I remember how much I hated it though. It isn't like the kind of cough you get with a cold. It's like a constant tickle in your throat. At least that's the way I remember it. 

[Ginger]

ACE bp meds are known to cause a dry hacking cough.

[Sunny]

I had coughs with many of the BP meds I tried. For me, it was unacceptable and I kept trying others till I luckily found two that worked. Not only that, the cough was usually the least of the side effects. After going through aprox twenty different BP meds over 7 yrs I am now on: Benicar 40 mg in the AM and Verapamil 240 mg in the PM. I have been on these for 6 months now and my BP average is very good and the side effects are minimal. I still get a slightly puffy face, but that may just be from my lousy kidney function. Only problem is my co-pay is higher for the Benicar because of some crazy insurance issues. Get your doctor to prescribe yet another medication. You never know what will work for you till you try. Don't let your doctor write you off regarding this issue. Get better soon.

[Trikkechickk]

Lisenipril (SP) is notorious for the dry cough.  I was switched to Capeton and only coughed after extreme exercise.  Then my Neph put on Cozaar which eliminates the cough, and buys some time for the kidneys.

Get off that med, tell you doc that this is a quality of life issue!

Good luck!

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Usually any BP drug which ends in 'pril' are known as ACE inhibitor drugs and they are all capable of producing dry cough side effects. Kickstart there are lots of them with different names but all ending in 'pril'. When you say you've tried lots of BP meds, maybe your doc has only been prescribing lots of  different ace inhibiters which in the end of the day will always give you that side effect.

 If you've tried others which are not ace inhibiters then I don't know what the answer is because as far as I know it's only ace inhibiters that give you a cough. But then again from your other posts you say some bp drugs have made you puke and and produce various other side effects so you porbably have tried other BP meds besides ace inhibiters.

[KICKSTART]

Yeah Ken , ive tried them all !"! Every time i go to clinic they throw a name at me and i say ok i will give it a go ! I love how the people on here KNOW that you get a dry cough from some b.p. meds , because my doctor DOESNT ! They make me feel like a freak every time i go through the side effects , which range from ..total lethargy,' the cough,' to cant get my breath. Yet my doctor looks amazed when i list these !!!