Did you know that the most common reason I have patients stop Lisinopril
is from developing an annoying dry hacking cough. For some it may be a constant life interrupting
thing while others may be so subtle only those around you notice and are getting annoyed by
it. If this is happening to you there may be some things that you can do about it.
But that s not the only side effect you need to be aware of, so keep watching to find out more.
Hi, I m Dr. Erik Richardson a board certified Family Practice physician. I d like to welcome
you to FamilyMed, a channel that focuses giving you practical and accurate medical information to
help you and your family. In today s video we are going to do an update on the medication lisinopril
and focus on some of the most common side effects and some things that you can do to avoid them.
If you are looking for a more in depth discussion on lisinopril you can click here
where we give a more full discussion. Today though we are going to keep it concise and get to the
information that you are most interested in. Lisinopril overall is a great medication for
most people. It s tends to work well, it s simple to take since it s only once a day,
it s cheap, overall its really safe and ultimately it does well to prevent the problems of high blood
pressure including strokes and heart attacks. But none of that matters if you are having a
lot of side effects when you take it. So let s go over what those most common ones are.
AS I mentioned at the beginning, the most common reason for somebody to stop this medication
is that it can cause a dry tickle in the throat which leads to a dry cough. This is not common
but classic for this medication or any of the other medications called ACE-inhibitors.
There isn t really anything dangerous about the cough, it s just annoying.
The most simple fix for this is you just stop the medication and we switch you to a different one.
There is a lesser known treatment however that may help this go away and still be able to stay
on it. There have been a few studies showing that taking an iron supplement of around 250mg a day
has been shown to lessen or even stop the cough. So talk to your doctor about either
switching medications or taking an iron supplement if this is happening to you.
Another common side effect is feeling faint or dizzy. This is usually a sign that the medication
is working too well and the dose may be too high. If you stand and start to feel lightheaded,
then it s a sign that your brain isn t getting enough blood to it. If it is happening a lot, then
talk to your doctor to discuss possibly changing the dose. If it happens within the first few days
of starting the medicine, then sometimes it s just takes a little time for your body to get used to
it. Make a conscious effort to stand up slower and it should go away on its own but if it doesn t,
it means that your blood pressure is probably too low, and it may be a time for a change.
Other side effects that can affect you are some headaches, fatigue, impotence and light
sensitivity. These can be issues that may go away on their own, but if they are persistent, it may
be a good time to talk to your doctor about other options to treat your blood pressure.
So those are some side effects that although bothersome, aren t necessarily dangerous.
There are some things though that you need to be aware of that can be more harmful.
The first is that this medication works on your kidney s and because of that
you do need to keep an eye on your kidney function. You usually don t have any symptoms
with this so it s something that with your doctor you need to be checking blood work.
Usually, you should check it about a month or so after starting the medication and then
periodically after that. The most common issue we have with your kidneys is when people combine it
with anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or Aleve. You really should avoid taking these together
as it can increase your risk of kidney damage. One of the the other things that your doctor should be
checking is your potassium levels. In some people you can see an increase in your potassium levels
putting you at risk for heart rhythm problems, so make sure you are keeping on top of that.
Allergic reactions are always possible with any medications but there is a type of reaction that
can occur with these kinds of medications called angioedema. This is most commonly seen as swelling
of the tongue, lips or face but can involve the airway as well which can get dangerous.
If you are noticing these symptoms, stop your medication and contact your
doctor or seek care if you are having difficulty breathing.
In rare cases it can affect your liver causing elevations in your enzymes as well as it can
affect your pancreas causing a dangerous condition called pancreatitis. This is where the pancreas
in your abdomen gets inflamed and can make you really sick. If you start having any symptoms of
severe abdominal pain or nausea and vomiting while taking it s a good time to seek care and make sure
everything is ok. This isn t an exhaustive list of everything that can be known about lisinopril
but it s a good overview of the most common issues that you should be looking for. If you are having
a different experience with this medication and something seems off then talk to your doctor about
it. There are different options out there so don t be afraid to ask to change to something else. It
is important though to have the right perspective as we talk about these possible effects though.
The more serious ones are very rare so it should not be something that should keep you from taking
it if your doctor thinks it is right for you. We really appreciate you watching today and hope that
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