Question: Hello. My husband has had
high blood pressure for many years. He's 43. The first medicine they had him on years ago was
Lisinopril. He had several 'spells' from it which would involve
severe dizziness, vomiting, complete
disorientation and then he would basically pass out. Of course we stopped the med. Some time went by and we were able to control the BP with herbal medicine. Then one day that seemed to not be effective any more and they put him on just a diuretic (due to his previous history of reaction to Lisinopril). so then he was taking Hydrochlorothyazide for years and that was enough. Just recently he has been struggling with anxiety attacks and
depression. So they are trying to treat that with Lexapro. At the same time they started the Lexapro they also started him on
amlodipine besylate since his BP was too high and the doc was concerned. Since then, although he is starting to feel better in himself from the Lexapro, he is having spells about 3 times a week where he is totally disoriented, dizzy and very anxious and frustrated. the only solution at this point is to get him to lay down and immediately he falls asleep. Until he is asleep we never know what he will say or do. I am so worried. Just tonight I was racking my brains to try to think of what might be causing this. the worrying thing is that after a spell once he wakes up (these spells are always at night when he's tired, but he takes the BP med in the morning, not sure if that has any relevance or not). he doesn't remember what happened, what he said or did. It's awfully scary and like taking care of a very old man with
dementia. Since we are treating 2 different conditions at the same time (the anxiety/depression and the blood pressure) and he's had several new meds introduced recently, its hard to know what is causing this but it seems to be more than just an anxiety attack. I am too close to this to get an objective view but from what you have read, my question is - do you think there is any drug relation between the LIsinopril and the new BP med he's taking? Could these spells be a reaction to this new med? The doc is aware of his previous reaction to Lisinopril and felt that this new med would be safe for him, but I cant help but wonder if it is causing these spells. I should also mention that this med is in addition to the Hydrochlorothyazide 25mg that he was taking before, that one hasn't been stopped. Please give me some advice, I am at my wits end. I can call the doc and leave a message but sometimes it takes days to hear back and I am concerned. Email YYYY@YYYY . Thanks, and bless you for your service.
XXXX