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Are Anxiety And Stress Side Effects Of Blood Pressure Medication?
Question: Hi, my husband has been taking a blood pressure medicine (Amlodipine Besylate 10 mg) for about 6 months. It seems that since he as been taking it he has not been himself. He is now suffering from anxiety. He wakes up anxious, full of stress, unable to cope. Could this be a side effect?
Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that anxiety is not a known adverse effect of amlodipine.
This drug can cause headache or palpitations, but not anxiety.
Coming to this point, I would recommend consulting with his attending physician and performing some tests to investigate for the possible causes underlying his symptoms:
- complete blood count for anemia
- a resting ECG
- thyroid hormone levels for possible thyroid gland dysfunction
- blood electrolytes.
It is also necessary measuring his blood pressure values.
If all the above tests result normal, I would recommend discussing with his doctor on the possibility of switching from amlodipine to another antihypertensive drug. In this regard, I would recommend an ARB (valsartan, telmisartan, etc.) instead of amlodipine, which may be tolerated better.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome on HCM!
I understand your concern and would explain that anxiety is not a known adverse effect of amlodipine.
This drug can cause headache or palpitations, but not anxiety.
Coming to this point, I would recommend consulting with his attending physician and performing some tests to investigate for the possible causes underlying his symptoms:
- complete blood count for anemia
- a resting ECG
- thyroid hormone levels for possible thyroid gland dysfunction
- blood electrolytes.
It is also necessary measuring his blood pressure values.
If all the above tests result normal, I would recommend discussing with his doctor on the possibility of switching from amlodipine to another antihypertensive drug. In this regard, I would recommend an ARB (valsartan, telmisartan, etc.) instead of amlodipine, which may be tolerated better.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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