Might be looking into this as my blood pressure has been a tad high. What, if any, sides have you experienced with telmisartan? I have zero experience with BP medication. What other options would you suggest? I remember you going over some pros amd cons of different BP medications before but can't find the old post.
Sent from my LG-H871 using Tapatalk
Hey man. I typed out a nice detailed answer earlier but my app crashed and lost it lol.
As far as sides I've had from the telmisartan, the only thing I've had is bad lethargy the first 4 days. Was falling asleep all day. After that it went away and I haven't had any at all since.
So you have a few different types of BP meds. ACE inhibitors, which block the creation of angiotensin II. This reduces vasoconstriction and decreases sodium and water retention. Both of which lower blood pressure. The most common is lisinopril, and it usually the first prescribed medication after diuretics don't work. Typically started at 20mg daily. One fairly common side effect of ace inhibitors is a bad dry cough. Had to lookup what causes that, it's the increase in bradykinin levels, which is a vasodilator. It can also cause high blood potassium levels.
ARBs, it angiotensin II receptor blockers, work by blocking the action of AT2 at the receptors. Telmisartan is an ARB that also has selective PPAR-y agonist properties. This has basically the same effect as ACE inhibitors by reducing sodium and water retention and increasing vasodilation. PPAR-y agonists also increase glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as blocking the maturation of new fat cells. These can cause the cough, but at a much lower instance than ACE inhibitors. They have much less adverse effects than ACE inhibitors. They're also a go to. Telmisartan is a more expensive one, but I'll take it for the PPAR action as long as it works.
The next large class of meds are beta blockers. They work by blocking beta adrenergic receptors. This causes lessens the effects of stress hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine) which reduces vasoconstriction and lowers heart rate as well. Most modern ones are selective b1 antagonists, and don't block b2 receptors as much. But a couple sides that are common are lethargy, reduced heart rate, and decreased fat burning. One big problem for me was the decreased heart rate. When I did cardio, I couldn't hardly get my heart rate above 120, reducing the effectiveness of cardiovascular exercise and making it to where it just didn't work my heart enough to make my heart healthier. Kinda defeated the purpose of cardio for everything but fat loss, as I'd prefer to get off meds if I can.
There's a couple other types, alpha adrenergic blockers (flomax, terazosin, prazosin, etc) that are normally used to treat BPH. They don't typically lower my BP, they actually seem to make it higher. Plus I get really stuffy like I'm sick. Calcium channel blockers block the movement of calcium through voltage gated calcium channels, which reduces the contraction of arteries and cardiac muscle. They're also used as anti-arrhythmics to slow heart rate and reduce electrical misfirings. These are typically last line medications and normally used if there are electrical issues in the heart or patients that have gone into AFib.
Short story long, either an ACE inhibitor or an ARB should be the first choice when starting bp meds. I went with telmisartan because of the additional positive effects it has, and ACE inhibitors give me a gnarly cough. Beta blockers should come after these, although some doctors (cough, VA) prefer these as first line. Which they shouldn't.
, but i took 20 mg telmisartan last night with dinner for the first time. I get random headaches, so of course I had a headache all night LOL. Gonna keep after it on 20mg for a week or two then move up if needed.
!! I like this 6 week part. Maybe a 2-3 week sick ass ?,?,?,? Mix of tight, fat burning action w the PED’s !! So badass
!! I like this 6 week part. Maybe a 2-3 week sick ass ?,?,?,? Mix of tight, fat burning action w the PED’s !! So badass
