Another losartin question...

Losartan treats both hypertension AND heart failure

by Gemita - 2024-01-23 05:14:22

Janene, Losartan is a medicine called an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB).   Like other ARBs, losartan relaxes and widens your blood vessels. This lowers your blood pressure and makes it easier for your heart to pump blood around your body.

It's widely used to treat both high blood pressure and heart failure.   It's also used to protect your kidneys if you have kidney disease. There are many different ARBs that can be tried if Losartan is unsuitable. 

Losartan can also help to prevent strokes and heart attacks, and is used to improve survival if you're taking it for heart failure or after a heart attack.

Your posts suggest that trust and confidence in your medical team is not good.  With heart failure it is important that we have confidence in those responsible for our care.  We cannot do this on our own.  We need some help.  If you are not happy with the care you are receiving, I would ask to speak to another doctor in the practice or even to get a second opinion elsewhere.  It sounds as though there are too many questions that remain unanswered.  As has been said previously, you need to talk about this at length, you need to be confident that the management of your condition is absolutely right for you.  With doubt and distrust, it will be difficult to move forward and your stressed heart needs all the help it can get. 

Losartan is not well tolerated by everyone.  Since you experience nausea, it is worth speaking to your doctor about Losartan and whether it might be possible to switch to another ARB or a different medication, to see if you get some relief from your symptoms?   I keep saying this, but it is often the case, that with all meds it can be trial and error until we find something that suits and there will be something that suits each one of us.

Also while on Losartan please get electrolytes checked to make sure they remain within normal range. If you feel weak, have an irregular heartbeat, pins and needles and muscle cramps – these can be signs of changes in potassium levels in your blood.  Losartan can increase potassium in the blood. I see you are also taking Lasix.

So to answer your main question:  "So... if I have never had issues with high blood pressure, why am I taking something for it?"  My answer would be:  Many meds treat a number of conditions.  Losartan treats BOTH high blood pressure AND heart failure and improves the survival of patients with heart failure.

Losartan

by piglet22 - 2024-01-23 07:10:06

I was on Ramipril for years specifically for treating high blood pressure.

Ramipril is an ACE inhibitor (Angiotensin CoEnzyme) and is the "A" in my "ABCD" hypertension medication checklist (Angiotensin, Beta Blocker, Calcium channel and Diuretic).

Ramipril can give rise to a low level non-productive cough, which it did.

The GP swapped me to Losartan to eliminate the cough.

Needless to say, I still have the cough.

...sartan

by atiras - 2024-01-23 15:54:33

I'm on Candesartan (same drug family) because it not only reduces blood pressure but it also helps my kidneys and my heart. They had to titrate me all the way up to the maximum dose for it to have effect, but that's not unusual - low doses of almost all drugs are sub-therapeutic for me and i frequently need more than one drug. For BP I'm currently on candesartan, amlodopine and doxazosin - maximum doses of all of them.  

I was on Carvedilol for a while which did nothing until i got to max dose at which point it worked but my kidney consultant wasn't keen and stopped it because i was close to needing dialysis. Amlodopine is replacing it. 

I also drink beetroot juice every day (mixed with a little apple juice for taste).