My medication is making me unable to parent r

[Leggyhermit]

I am in my early 30's and have had hypertension since my last pregnancy (I have 3 children) she's almost 2. My blood pressure was never checked after birth aside from the midwife's in the first 2 weeks and it must have been ok because they never followed up on it.

around Easter last year I ended up with cotton wool vision in one eye. I checked my blood pressure and it was horrific like 200/115
so I went to my local urgent care and was sent to a&e where I was told I have hypertensive urgency, beginnings of heart failure and the blood vessels were popping in my eyes causing my vision problems.

well ever since then I've had the medication,
10mg of ramopril and 5mg of amdopoline probably butchering the spellings. But they make me feel horrific, like as in brains being crushed can't open my eyes kind of horrific.

If I miss a day, I know I'll feel that way the next day and so I've been inconsistent with it. I do take it, but the pain is unbelievable when I start again. I'm having one of those days today, me and my other half were watching a movie late last night. I was just laying on the sofa and my head was pounding and I could feel my heart hammering in my chest, so I checked my blood pressure and it was 181/125 I knew I had to take it so I did but I'm paying for it today massively, I've just broke down to my sister I can't be a mum when I feel like this, so I've been starting again after a forgotten pill on a day OH is off because I know the pain renders me useless and I can't be useless when I have 3 small children depending on me. I know people are going to say take it everyday it's not hard but I have ADHD it's actually very hard. I know it dosnt seem like a big thing to most but to me it's a challenge.

I just want to add The doctors don't know why I have this, I have no risk factors, Its not inherited, I'm relatively young, and I'm a UK size 14 I could stand to lose some weight but I'm not massively obese. My doctors been running tests for the last year, I have regular blood tests to try and determine a cause but as yet there dosnt seem to be one,

I guess what I'm looking for is some words of wisdom from someone who's been there. And I accept probably a few telling off too, but I get those from family. I know I need to take it, but untill you experience the side affects yourself it's hard to imagine

This sounds enormously hard.

Breaking it down, it sounds like the two things to pursue at the same time are
1/ go back to the doctors and continue to see if there's an alternative medication to try that doesn't have this set of side effects
2/ do everything you can to build a system whereby you ALWAYS take your tablets. This could include alarms on your phone (multiple alarms), a giant sign on your bathroom mirror, taping the packet to your phone - only you'll know what will work for you.

Trust me I get it, I have multiple medications and it's really hard. But it sounds absolutely debilitating at the moment, and it also sounds like uncontrolled BP is something that would have devastating consequences for you and your family.

You need to speak to your dr and see if there's a different med you can take if you have side effects. The amount you're taking is not a particularly high dose. Do you you know what your BP is if you take it regularly?

Have you tried splitting the dose or taking it at different times to see if makes a difference? I take 10mg amlodipene and 10mg ramipril am and 20 mg ramipril at night as all in the am was making me brain fogged.

Agree with everyone else that you need to fins a different BP medication , there are plenty out there and you need to take them regularly to get the best effect and the best outcome for your health .

The one I had during pregnancy was even worse I forget the name but it made my whole face droop. And body feel like I'd spent the day before lifting weights it was horrific

Get to the doctor, there are lots of different BP medicines.

I'm going to call tommorow, getting a GP appointment is like the hunger games round my way though

The same thing happened to me regarding the unexplained high BP 204/123 and I also suffered heart damage as a result (Left bundle branch block). The consultant initially wanted my to take ramopril however both of my parents reacted similarly to you so I refused. Ramopril is the cheapest and most available BP medication so they will try to keep you on it. I ended up on Bisoprolol, Candesarten and Amlodipine. I am now only on the Bisoprolol and half of the Candesarten. If Ramopril is making you feel shit refused it.

Thankyou that's really helped xx

So the medicine makes you feel shit, so you skip it, but then you feel shit with high blood pressure, have I got this right? You poor love.

You need different medication and alarms set on your phone to remind you to take them. Either that, or tell your partner that he must bring them to you and watch you take them every day. After all, if you have a heart attack and die, it'll be a bigger inconvenience for him.

Can't help you on the exact meds but to remember them you set your phone and don't cancel it until you take it. If they are once a day and timing doesn't matter, work out when it's most convenient eg I take my meds at bedtime because i found it harder in the morning especially at weekends

I'm on ramipril but on a split dose so I take 2.5mg in the morning and 2.5mg at night, otherwise I felt horrendous on it. I was also on a low dose of Amlodipine but it made my lower legs and feet swell horrendously so came back off it.

There are so many different drugs out there, don't struggle on.

I'm glad you're going to ask for a gp appointment as you really need different meds.

As others have said, set an alarm on your phone or whatever so you can't forget.

You cannot mess around with high blood pressure. Strokes can leave you unable to look after yourself let alone kids. So you're doing the sensible thing.

Tell them your blood pressure is high as you need other meds due to side effects and it's urgent.

That sounds so hard OP. Hope you can get an appointment soon.

Ask your GP if you can have sumatriptan and codeine these are the best things for headaches

Hey OP sorry you are going through this it sounds horrible. I second gong back to the GP ASAP and asking for a different BP medication that doesn't give you these side effects.

I have ADHD and have to take a lot of medication for different physical health conditions. The only way I can remember to take them and refill them on time etc etc , is to:

1. I take them as I get up, and then as I go to bed. I need "trigger" times so getting up and going to bed are my triggers. You could use something else if that works better for you, eg cleaning teeth, and have the meds in the cupboard next to your toothbrush, or by the kids cereal, or whatever, something you know you already do that can act as your trigger, then have the medication, or a big prominent sign next to it reminding you with the medication nearby (do not create a barrier to the medication if you use a sign (eg don't have the sign downstairs and the meds upstairs, have them in a drawer next to the sign.or whatever, it needs to be super super easy or it won't happen).

1. I also use a pill box. You might not need this but I take a lot of medication so it's really difficult to keep track of not just taking it but also managing the refills etc. so I have a monthly pill box that I fill up once a month as the previous one runs out, I then check I have enough pills for the following month, if not I reorder and I do this all at the same time. So I know if I've taken my meds (so I don't miss a day or do the opposite and take too much as I can't remember if I've taken them or not) and I also so I can keep track of the reordering etc.

One other thing, there is a blood pressure medication that also helps with ADHD symptoms called Guanfacine. It's one of the back up options prescribed to ADHDers who can't tolerate stimulant meds, or have high blood pressure and so can't take stimulants.

www.additudemag.com/medication/guanfacine/

Not sure how easy this is to get as a BP med but might be worth asking the GP about or your ADHD service if you have one.

Got in to see doctor today BP sitting at 138/102

upped the ramopril to 7.5mg and amdolpiline is 10mg

blood test in 2 weeks

got to keep a headache journal

@BackOfAsda the maximum dose of ramipril is 10mg a day, are you sure you’re taking 30mg a day?