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Is Starting Bystolic Without Weaning Off Lisinopril Safe?
I am a 64 year old woman of normal size. I have been on 20 mgs of Lisinopril for BP for many years. My BP still runs around 140-170 over 85/90. The Doctor did an EKG Sunday and other tests which were negative. He changed my Med 3 days ago to 5 mg of Bystolic. I do not believe you should abruptly go off a med without weening off. He did not mention if I had to ween off Lisinopril and add the Bystolic but he did mention if 5Mg of Bystolic does not help after monitoring, I should increase dosage to 10 mgs. I checked this morning after 3 days and I am 156/84. What should I do, increase it now or keep adding 5-10 mgs of Lisinopril with the 5 mgs of Bystolic? What are the side effects I should get worried about while taking a new med like Bystolic? Thanks. Very concerned
Tue, 12 Jan 2016
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
It is understandable to be concerning but not all medications require a weaning off period.
Weaning medications is normally done if there is associated physical dependence or a possibility of withdrawal symptoms when the medication is discontinued.
Lisinopril is not associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms so there is no weaning when it is stopped.
Since an increase in bystolic to 10mg was suggested if the blood pressure was too high, you may want to do this then recheck later to see if there is improvement.
Bystolic is in the family of drugs called beta blockers and can be associated with possible side effects such as headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, sleep disturbance.
These effects occur in the minority of persons , most have no or only minimal issues.
I hope this helps
It is understandable to be concerning but not all medications require a weaning off period.
Weaning medications is normally done if there is associated physical dependence or a possibility of withdrawal symptoms when the medication is discontinued.
Lisinopril is not associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms so there is no weaning when it is stopped.
Since an increase in bystolic to 10mg was suggested if the blood pressure was too high, you may want to do this then recheck later to see if there is improvement.
Bystolic is in the family of drugs called beta blockers and can be associated with possible side effects such as headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, sleep disturbance.
These effects occur in the minority of persons , most have no or only minimal issues.
I hope this helps
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