I’ve talked about how all the medical authorities are united in the importance of fighting the “silent killer” of blood pressure that’s too high, i.e., hypertension. I’ve described in detail that what doctors call ‘essential hypertension” is NOT a disease. Fighting the non-disease of hypertension is an ongoing bonanza for doctors and the drug companies while leading to serious problems for patients.
In this post I’ll describe my personal experiences that led me to these observations. What happened to me was not unusual, and others have had it worse than I have.
Getting Cancer and Hypertension
Eight years ago I developed a rare form of cancer, desmoid tumor, of which there are about a thousand cases a year. I was treated with drug infusions. The drugs sometimes have bad effects on the heart, so I received tests and a consultation with a NYC cardiologist. She told me I had high blood pressure that must be treated immediately. I was surprised since my reading had always been low, but complied, ending up taking daily doses of Amlodipine and Losartan.
This was unusual for me, because I normally dive in and check for myself everything that’s important to me. I didn’t in this case. I was consumed with my study of my rare cancer and the ineffective early advice I got. I found the one doctor in the country who knew how to treat it. The blood pressure seemed like a bump in the road at the time. My bad.
I kept up with the daily drugs after that, with new prescriptions issued by my primary care doctor with minor adjustments. Not once did any doctor mention anything about side effects. I felt OK and did no research.
About a year ago I started monitoring my blood pressure myself because I began experiencing symptoms it was hard to put a finger on. I knew the drugs I was taking were generics and had discovered the widespread corruption of generic drug makers and the ineffectiveness of the quality monitoring conducted by the FDA. I asked my primary care doctor for prescriptions for the branded versions of the drugs, which I hoped were more carefully monitored. I discussed in detail with my local CVS pharmacist, who ultimately was unable to get the drugs.
Symptoms of Heart Trouble
The symptoms increased. In March 2022 I had a tough time driving with symptoms that included being light-headed and a heart pulse rate that was high for me, as though I were exercising. I went to my primary doctor who gave me some tests including an EKG. With inconclusive results, she referred me to a cardiologist. The cardio guy gave me lots of tests, including an electro-cardiogram, a nuclear stress test, a week-long Holter monitor. This all took a few weeks.
Meanwhile, I did what I should have done eight years ago – dove in and studied heart function and blood pressure. It didn’t take long for me to discover – surprise! – that the symptoms I experienced were the same as side effects of the drugs I was taking, and were widely reported by patients online. I tried to get FDA data on them and discovered the great lengths the FDA goes into order to keep drug adverse reactions as secret as possible – kind of like the way medical offices say you have full access to your medical records, except that they prevent it, as I have described in detail.
I brought up the subject on my next visit with the cardiologist. He immediately dismissed the possibility. He refused to discuss it or take seriously the possibility that my symptoms were due to the drugs that he and all the other members of his profession profusely prescribe.
After that I took matters into my own hands. I stopped taking the drugs after the last test was conducted, in order to avoid confusing the results. I continued daily blood pressure readings, sometimes more often.
I finally got the results of all the tests. Nothing was wrong with me – except of course when you monitor for seven days straight, sometimes your heart beats fast. It’s scary! It’s called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Once or twice a day, for a dozen beats at a time and on the low end of the "fast" scale. Call 911! My valves are fine, no blockages, no Afib, etc. etc. His recommendation? Consult one of his friends to get either a pacemaker or a six hour operation to zap random bits of my heart in hopes that the scary SVT would go from 0.001% to zero. Maybe. NFW, thanks anyway, esteemed board-certified cardiologist.
My first step after stopping the drugs was to start taking a well-reviewed natural heart-health additive based on L-Arginine. After 3 weeks I was better, but not satisfied. So I just stopped messing with my body and its extremely complex mechanisms. After my body cleared out, I was much better.
The blood pressure numbers are interesting:
Average Systolic Diastolic
with drugs 137 64
L-Arg only 157 74
nothing 144 65
Taking no blood pressure or other drugs resulted in Diastolic numbers that were unchanged and Systolic numbers that were 7 points higher, well within a healthy range, though not according to current cardiologist drug-pushing fashion.
Side effects of blood pressure control drugs
There are lots of non-government places to learn about the side effects of the awful blood pressure drugs -- thanks, internet! No thanks at all, cardiologists! -- and even published studies that show 10% of participants in studies dropping out due to the intolerable side effects.
Here are a few samples of problems with Amlodipine from a data-rich site.
fast, irregular, pounding, or racing heartbeat or pulse
Common (1% to 10%): Palpitations, ankle edema
Amlodipine has an average rating of 3.7 out of 10 from a total of 571 ratings for the treatment of High Blood Pressure. 20% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 61% reported a negative experience.
41% gave it 1 star out of 10
Common in reviews below: “feeling lightheaded, heart palpitations and arrhythmia”
After 35 years of taking it, “I took myself off of 2 years ago, but could not get through the withdrawals. It caused my heart to feel like it was beating out of my chest”
After starting “suddenly I felt dizziness I went to ER they admitted me to the heart hospital. I was told I needed a pacemaker. I declined.”
After strong heart beat “I attended a pre-operative assessment where I was given a routine ECG and this confirmed that I had become tachycardic while taking amlodipine. My pulse was racing at over 100 BPM”
After stopping “Five weeks later I still have the tinnitus”
After 6 years, “worse side effects have been; heart pounding/palpitations, fatigue, and increased anxiety…. I stopped taking the Amlodipine Besylate 10 mg. over 3 weeks ago and and have noticed that my energy level has increased, anxiety lessened and heart pounding decreased.”
After 18 months “… anxious. Couldn't sleep, couldn't concentrate. I noticed muscle tics all the time, heart palpitations, more joint pains, memory loss and more. …I had myself convinced I had contracted some fatal condition (ALS, MS, etc...). After every specialist I could find, we decided it was anxiety. Then one day I read someone's account of anxiety and amlodipine. …try a switch. Today I am back to my old self.”
Conclusion
I have re-learned one of life’s most important lessons: if you want to be healthy, take charge of your own health. It’s your health, no one else’s. You own it, you have to live with it. There are experts and authorities all over the place who are lined up to tell you what to do. They want you to pay them, take drugs and undergo invasive procedures. Most of these people are highly trained and well-meaning. They sometimes know things that are worth knowing. They can be of great help. It’s worth listening. But it is not worth mindlessly following their orders, because their profession’s best, standard advice is all too often wrong. WRONG. And not just wrong – actively harmful.
Once I took my health into my own hands eight years ago, I found a truly expert doctor who brought my nasty rare cancer into remission, a place where I hope it’s happy. On the path, I stupidly and without examination followed doctor’s orders about blood pressure, following advice given to nearly half the population of the US. How could it possibly be bad? Easy. The same way the nutrition advice given to ALL the US population was and remains highly destructive, leading to the ongoing obesity epidemic and widespread avoidable suffering. The same way bad science about blood cholesterol has led to the most profitable drug in pharma history, treatment which shortens lives and makes patients less healthy.
The good news is that you’re not alone. There are dedicated people devoted to discovering and putting out the facts so that diligent, self-reliant people can find out what’s best for their health, most importantly for those cases where the medical profession stubbornly clings to destructive error, as it has so often in the past. It’s your health. Own it!
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