I am 4 years on from mastectomy, chemo , rads and am currently taking Letrozole after trying Arimidex and examesthasone, During a recent holiday, I had cause to visit a Doctor in the USA where taking blood pressure readings is something thats done routinely every visit, I was told my BP was extremely high and to visit my GP when I got home. I did this and my blood pressure was 190/120, because in the past Ive had embolisms, my GP immediately started me on Olmetec 10mg , within an hour of taking them, I started to feel really jittery and my heart was racing, continuing to take them, I was having like full blown panic attacks, I stopped them and all the side effects went away, My GP then put me on Amlodipine 10mg, within a couple of hours I was in bed and slept for 18 hours, Im ashamed to say I didnt even wake up to go the loo, I dont remember much about that time, Ive stopped them and my BP is sky high again, obviously I’ll have to go to the GP again on Monday, but is there going to be any BP medication that I can actually live with? I know I have always been highly sensitive to the side effects of any medication, but this is horrendous, especially as my GP said it might be caused by the Letrozole.
Has anyone who is sensitive to medicines been able to find anything that gives them only side effects they can live with? I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, I know it is important to treat my high blood pressure, but I cant live with the side effects of the medication, thank you for reading
SS
Hi Xinte
My blood pressure had been borderline high for years, but shot up when I got the BC diagnosis last July! My GP put me on Losartan as she said my blood pressure would have to be normal to get me through the surgery. I have been on them ever since and feel fine - maybe I was a bit tired to start with.
As blood pressure medication tends to help lessen fluid retention, so I have wondered whether the Losartan has helped to keep my weight stable whilst on Tamoxifen. I was warned by the Oncologist that I would probably put on weight, and definitely wouldn’t be able to lose any, yet I have managed to lose more than a stone whilst taking Tamoxifen.
Here is a link to the Blood Pressure Association, which details the side effects of the many different drugs that can control blood pressure:
Plus you could have a chat with your Oncologist to see if indeed the Letrozole is making your blood pressure high. There are other aromatase inhibitors that they can give you.
Good luck - I hope you find blood pressure medication to suit you soon.
Hello Xinte
I’m also on letrozole and am a long-term BP patient, since being very ill at the birth of my daughter 20 years ago. Both of my parents were on BP medication - my father live to be 87 and my mother is till alive and well at 84. So don’t be afraid of it and of the meds
If you have had very high BP for a while and your put on meds, it is very likely to make you feel very odd until your body adjusts to the new levels. It might be worth seeing if your GP can start you on a lower dose and gradually take it up.
I have two drugs in combination - my GP believes that combining two different ones at a low level is as effective as one at a higher does, but minimises the side effects. And there are LOADS of different things out there. All of them have SEs but your body does adjust in time. By the way, I’m very prone to reacting to meds as well!
I do hope you find something soon.
I have to take blood pressure medication for a chronic kidney condition, and like you had loads of awful side effects from many of them. In the end I decided to try a smaller dose of one of them and found that taking half the minimum dose worked for me. I tested it out by stopping taking it and by taking the minimum dose and what worked for me was half the minimum dose - in theory this is meant to not work but I proved it does and doctors reluctantly agreed with me - I did this by monitoring my BP twice a day for a month and still monitor myself at home at least once a week.
Maybe you could try this? I was put on Letrozole so hope it does not increase my BP, will need to check more often now. Can you try taking Letrozole at night rarther than mornings?
I was found to have high bp when I was in hospital for op.They were a bit concerned and I had to see gp urgently because I was due another op.I am not surprised i have high bp as both my parents had it.My gp gave me a slow release pill (Tensaid XL) and I did feel a bit woozy for the first few days but this soon settled down.At the time I was taking diclofenac for my pain and gp stopped that as it can cause bp to raise.I also used to drink several cups of green tea a day which I found out also causes bp problems so now only drink herbal teas.
I also am on letrozole and have always taken this at night because when I first started it it made me drowsy. Maybe a different drug will help,hope you find something that will help.
L xx
Hi
Sorry to hear you have now got high BP, it is a side effect of the hormone treatment that doesn’t seem to be as well known about as it should. When I started tamoxifen after my primary dx my BP had always been normal. After a few months, and me feeling groggy I went to the doctors and it was skyhigh, like yours. I was put immediately on diurectics and blood pressure medication and eventually it came down after some tweaking. at this point I was on 3 types of tablets but eventually came off the diuretics. After my secondary BC was diagnosed I came off tamoxifen, as it clearly hadn’t worked, whilst going through various tests and eventually chemo, during which time my BP returned to normal. However, back onto hormonals afterwards, this time Aromatase Inhibitors, and back up it went and has stayed. From your post you suffer from side effects of drugs but there does seem to be many different ones available for high BP so I hope, by discussing this with your GP, you find one that suits you. I am now on a different one (amlodipine) to the ones I had originally, one of which was ramipiril but I can’t remember the other one.
Good luck
Nicky x
Hi all,
I’ve been taking Atenolol for about 10 years now and find the only side effect is cold hands and feet. Have tried others but they’ve been much worse(racing heart etc). Atenolol is a beta- blocker.
What I actually wanted to tell you all ,and sorry if you already know, is that I read in the Icon magazine that studies have been done that show that with women on the beta-blocker type of BP medication “There was a considerable reduction in both cancer mets and new tumours within the breast The study was however small scale and needs to be repeated before formal conclusions can be drawn” Interesting I thought (although it didn’t stop me getting it in the first place!) So maybe xinte ,go for a beta-blocker if you can find one to suit you.