Valsartan and losartan
Common Questions and Answers about Valsartan and losartan
diovan
My new VA doctor wants to change one of my blood pressure medications from 160 mg of Valsartan 2 times per day to an equivalent dose of 100 mg of Losartan but only once per day. My blood pressure has been controlled for years with typical readings around 118/70 using the Valsartan, Amlodipine 5mg, and a diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide 25mg). I have not made the change yet.
1. Why should I agree to experiment with reducing my primary blood pressure medication and what are the risks?
It is thought that losartan is not as good a choice as other ARBs like valsartan and telmisartan because losartan penetrates tissue less than those drugs and because losartan is a surmountable antagonist that could, theoretically, lose effectiveness over time. This isn't a proven fact to my knowledge and Dr. Dietz for various reasons may or may not agree.
I have COPD and something was aggravating my breathing problems. I went to the doctor yesterday and he took me off the Metoprolol and put me on 100 mg of Losartan. He told me to just stop taking the Metoprolol.
I questioned starting off with such a high dose of Losartan. I seem to be very sensitive to these medications and felt starting right off with 100 mg was a bit high. Everything I've read online suggests people are usually started off with 50 mg.
Actually, is Diovan belongs to a class of blood pressure medications called angiotensin II receptor antagonist. It is a combination of Valsartan and the same diuretic as Hyzaar. It is essentially the same as Hyzaar which contains a combination of hydrochlorothiazide and losartan. Hydrochlorothiazide is a thiazide diuretic (water pill) that helps prevent your body from absorbing too much salt, which can cause fluid retention.
I'm a 42 male with BAV. My first echo in 2008 noted a 3.6 aortic root, 2009 3.8. An October 19, 20011 came in at 4.4. A MRI was ordered two days later and the root was 4.1x3.7. I also had a wisdom tooth pulled on 10/14/11 and I began to think maybe it was just inflammation due to the pulled tooth. My Doc immediately dismissed that theory. Also the MRI rated my regurgitation as mild and not the mild/moderate I had been told previously.
I am so confused because I have too many issues that can cause the same symptoms. Recently, my doctor switched me from Valsartan HCTZ to Hydrochlorothiazide plus regular Valsartan for my blood pressure. When I first started it, right away I was having rapid heart beat and shortness of breath so he told me take potassium supplements. That did help but now I am wondering if I am taking too much potassium.
THIS is the problem with most cardiologists today. They routinely prescribe beta blockers for patients with aortic root dilatation, even though the most recent studies have shown that they DO NOT HELP YOU. Beta blockers are prescribed because they make sense on paper, but in practice, they are absolutely useless.
These doctors are also grossly behind the times. I don't know whether they are ignorant of the latest, big-news breakthroughs or just unwilling to try them.
Connective tissue weakness appears to be at play in severe myopia in Marfan patients. As you may be aware, there has been enormous excitement in the Marfan community lately based on research originating at Johns Hopkins using ARBs (and in some studies, ACEi's) like losartan to reduce TGF-b signalling and thus arresting or even reversing aortic dilatation.
-( 3 days on valsartan and I was having horrible side effects of dizziness, rapid heart rate, general feeling of crappiness, even slight shortness of breath with the slightest exertion None of which I experienced with the benazepril. Called the dr, he told me to stop the valsartan, don't take anything for 2 days and then back on the benazepril and see him next week.
Losartan also may cause a persistent cough, increase serum potassium, impotence, and angioedema. Losartan may reduce kidney function in some patients and should not be used by patients who have bilateral renal artery stenosis (narrowing of both arteries going to the kidneys). Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown) have been reported.
I've taken Valsartan since 2010 successfully. It controls my BP well.
s, kidney scans and urine samples, so I was put on 50 mg of Losartan- atid a day, got a machine for the upper arm and everything has been normal since then (I measure everyday). My mother has had hypertension for about 10 years now, but her measurements weren't as high and she gets it from being obese.
I have experienced excessive anxiety, agitation and sound sensitivity when (accidentally) double dosing Losartan. Long story, but I (for possibly weeks) was taking 200mg per day instead of my prescribed 100mg per day. ---I basically went NUTS!! I am doing better at my prescribed dose but am getting more and more suspicious of all meds in general. For instance-time released bupropion ruined my life for a while but changing to immediate release bupropion did not have the negative side-effects.
I went back to Walgreens and asked the pharmacist if there was any chance that the Apotex was inferior/impotent to the Cozaar for some reason. She assured me that could not be the case and that there could be no difference. Losartan is Losartan is Losartan.
As an experiment(with GP consensus), I doubled my dose of Apotex Losartan from 50 to 100 mg a day for one week. No change in BP. I am baffled. GP does not have a clue either. I want to try going back to Cozaar. Sound reasonable?
Hi I'm 22 yrs old, active about 225lbs 6'3 and I was wondering I've had high Bp ranging from upper 130's to 140's or sometimes 150's systolic my diastolic ranges from 70's to 85...I was wondering if heart ratehas anything to do with my high Bp..my rest hr is around 60's or 50's...does this have anything to do with higher blood pressure? Am I at risk more with a lower heart rate I'm on Bp meds losartan 50 mg...
I agree with you, I was put on losartan and didn't have high blood pressure and felt faint, tired, dizzy. my head went numb in the back and I started to feel faint on 25-50mg a day. maybe it's better to not take it.
what happens in hypotension is that the oxygen flow to the heart and brain is actually reduced so you become faint which is terrible because then your cells start to die.
I have been on Losartan for approximately eight months come here recently I have found it very difficult to swallow my food and seems like he gets caught in my esophagus, yesterday at two different Meals I began to choke on my food I had to drink several glasses of water in order to get my food to go down with no issues. Could this be a side effect of Losartan?
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