# Adalat for high blood pressure- how long post birth? plus side effects.



## roze (Mar 20, 2004)

Hi,  I would appreciate your advice on this.


I had normal BP until week 33 of my twin pregnancy when it started to creep up but only around the 140/90 level. I was frequently monitored and every time I had to stay in hospital it always went down and I was allowed home. However in the last 10 days it went up a bit more so they delivered my twins at week 37 instead of week 38. It was never sky high, but they were keen to control it especially as I had mild GD and also raised liver enzymes of 200.


Post birth it remained around 145/95 with occasional fluctuations either side but mostly it was 145/95. I was advised to stay on adalat with monthly reviews. At my last review a month ago my Dr said my BP was down to 120/70 on one tablet a day. I had no side effects so we agreed that i would stay on it one more month as I was starting work part time and it was again a change in routine and potential stress etc. I have about three weeks to go before a further review and have noticed some potential side effects ( I can't think what else would cause them) of feeling a little dizzy and my head is spinning like I am going to faint. Its not all the time but when it does happen it takes me by surprise. In addition I seem to have dry eyes and a dry mouth. I used to feel like this when younger as I always had low BP and used to nearly faint when if I got out of bed too quickly etc. I am otherwise fine so am putting this down to the adalat.


My question is therefore whether this could be the adalat but if so , why would I only now start to notice side effects- I have been on it for 6 months. I am also feeling some medium term memory loss ie I can't remember what I did a few days ago! Do you think that as BP naturally falls post partum, then the adalat may be lowering my BP further?  I definitely have white coat so when my BP is taken it usually rises anyway, so I am wondering whether the last Dr's reading of 120/70 is in fact slightly more raised than it is normally?


I would be keen to know more from a pharmacological point of view.  If I were to give up Adalat now how long would it be for the effects to fall away and for my BP to start to rise again?


Many thanks for any advice on this,


roze


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## mazv (Jul 31, 2006)

Hi roze,

Side effects certainly do sound as if they could be linked to lower blood pressure (termed postural hypotension when you get dizzy on changing position, lying to sitting, sitting to standing etc, even just bending slightly can set it off) However can't obviously say for sure as I'm not your clinican nor do I know your full history  definitely worth letting GP know though and making appoitnment to see them if it is starting to cause you problems. 

The dry mouth can be a side effect of the drug but it is uncommon (less than 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000) Usually speaking you expect side effects to show fairly soon after starting a drug but they can happen sometime after so you can't rule it out. Memory loss not something associated with this and I'd be more inclined to think this is just a reflection of the major changes in your life over the past year. The brain can really only recall so much and the juggling of home, children & work does pretty much overload you so it's to be expected that you may not retain/process all the volume of info that you feel you were once able to.

If you are known to experience 'white coat' syndrome then it is also possible that your true BP reading is a bit lower than the last recording so that would indicate you being more likely to suffer the hypotension episodes that you are describing. In terms of stopping the drug then any hypertension treatement shouldn't be stopped without discussing with prescriber first. The drug itself doesn't last in the body for very long, if you are taking the long acting version then you would expect to have cleared it all within two days and for blood pressure to start creeping up after that. It still takes a few days for the body to readjust its own inbuilt blood pressure sensors so any rise should be gradual and not an inital sharp rebound.

Hope this helps?
Best wishes
Maz x


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## roze (Mar 20, 2004)

Hi, Maz,., it certainly does, thanks for that.


I haven't taken it yesterday or today- I am monitoring my BP at home until I get a Drs appt- ( so far fairly normal ie just below 140/90) as I felt I was too unsafe to drive feeling the way I did.  I feel much better today with no dry mouth and no dizziness, and actually, feel less depressed than I have been.  I will try and see a Dr later this week but think that I need to come off it but keep on top of my BP readings.


best wishes and thanks again




roze x


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