Questions and Answers
I hope you can help. My mother, age 79, has always been somewhat hypertensive she has felt fatiqued and has headaches with activity, flushing and is on tenormin 50 mg once a day , adalat 30 mg once a day, diovan 80 mg three times a day, Lasiux 40 mg and K dur 10 and synthroid 75mcg daily.
She has become exhausted to the point of not being able to function, and her nerves are becoming increasingly sensivitive to the point of panic attacks. This is a woman who for 78 years was very independent . She is now losing weight because of lack of appetite, and has depression because she has no energy.
Her doctor put her on Prozac 10 mg about 10 days ago. She was worked up for renal stenosis and it was corrected with angioplasty last year. She is about to jump out of her skin sometimes and can hardly take care of herself. Help Help Help, andy ideas? Are all thes drugs making things worse. Her BP fluctuates daily. The once a day drugs are taken in the morning.
Hi Nancy ... sorry to hear about your mother.
There seems a good chance that her drug cocktail is producing at least some of her problems.
Tenormin (atenolol) at this dosage (the usual) may produce
tiredness, fatigue and depression, especially if continued for any length of
time -
Adalat (nifedipine) may produce flushing, heat sensation and
weakness ... the usual dosage is 10 - 20 mg. thrice daily ( perhaps your
mother's 30 mg. once each morning might be too high a 'stat' dose,
particularly since at that time of day she would be most aware of any
untoward effect -
Diovan (valsartan) ... not much in the way of the side-effects
concerning your mother, however her dosage is on the high side of that
usually recommended, 80 - 320 mg. total daily.
Lasix (furosamide) can produce anorexia, dizziness and headache ...
the dose is about the middle of that recommended, 20 - 80 mg. daily-
Synthroid (levothyroxine) dosage must be individualised for each
patient according to response and laboratory findings ... too high or too
low would resulth in the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction ... older patients
may require less than 1 mcg./ kg./ day. Check your mother's weight.
Treatment with Prozac (fluoexetine), itself bedevilled with side-effects, for a condition which may be induced by the effects of her antihypertensive and thyroid therapy, seems quite a step. The facts as you describe them would suggest an early consult with a cardiologist for a possible modification in her therapy to a prescription she can tolerate better and be, at least, just as effective.
Fluexetine requires several weeks before its antidepressant effects are felt.
Best wishes to you and your mother.