I got such wonderful responses about another issue here, it is so good to have other diabetics to talk things over with. So I decided to raise this issue here too.
The past year has been very difficult, juggling blood sugar with blood pressure meds. I had been on Hyzaar for bp and doing well, but when the insurance made me change to a cheaper similar med, it (diovan and then avapro) seemed to send my bg high. We spent the year trying different things, leading to roller coasters of side effects, not to mention depression, which then had to also be treated, and finally this summer I said please…I’m not so critical that I can’t take a breather and only use things that I know don’t affect me for a few months, so I am on the metformin I have taken for years, a little amount of glyburide I went on to try to control the bg through all this, the diltiazem I have been on for a long time, and hydrochlorothyzide.
My sugars have finally seemed to stablize after a few months of this, but I see my doc next week, and while my lower bp number is excellent, the upper one is still high.
So my question is…does anyone else find that those meds (hyzaar, diovan, avopro) mess with their bg, or do you think it was just coincidental that my bg went up when I went on the different med and I should just bite the bullet and take the med and treat the bg with whatever it takes if it goes up again? (I can’t take other bp meds as one type gives me that dry cough and the other makes me depressed.) I realize this “question” got kind of complex. The whole thing has been complex for me this past year–you should see the chart I’ve been making for a year now of all this and more. But I would appreciate any input, especially if you have tried those meds and if they have raised bg.
I haven’t found a relationship between different bp meds and bg, but then, when I had issues with bp meds, I was still getting bg under control. I have had no bg issues with either Cozaar (what I’m on now) or atenolol (Tenormin, which I’ve also been on). My issues have been side effects and iatrogenic effects of bp meds. I can’t take lisinopril (Prinovin) or Norvasc or ANY diuretic (not limited to hydrochlorothiazides/HCTZ).
Systolic hypertension (the higher number) can often be addressed by lowering dietary sodium intake; lowering sodium can also have the benefit of improving glycemic control and lipid (cholesterol) profiles. If everything else is stable on your current medication profile, and you have not been placed on a low-sodium diet, I’d advise logging your daily sodium consumption. If it’s over 2500 mg/day average, consider lowering it to 2500 mg/day – or better yet, under 2000 mg/day. (These are not considered “low sodium diet” levels.) If you are not extremely active, you should be able to safely lower your daily sodium consumption to 1000-1500 mg – though if you are not already on moderate- to low-sodium, it will probably take significant dietary changes to meet those goals.
If you are already on a low-sodium diet, and your kidney function is good, you might want to consider raising your potassium intake (though if you are on diuretics, you are probably already doing this).
Thanks Tmana. This is good to think about. I haven’t actually counted sodium levels, but I certainly don’t eat a high-sodium diet as a rule. Worth considering, and I will. I also have that “lisinopril cough” so can’t take that.
Lisinopril didn’t cause a cough… what happened was that it made me so dizzy that my head would spin even when I was lying down… I discontinued it IMMEDIATELY. Norvasc caused my calves to swell and cramp up so that I couldn’t even walk without pain. And the diuretics… took down ankle swelling but replaced it with swollen calves which only respond (even then, only somewhat) to compression hose.
Lisinopril made me really dizzy until I cut back to a tiny dose. It seems to do the trick, though the upper number is still a bit high when I get close to the time to take my next pill. Splitting the dose into 2 helps also, but I stopped taking the second dose when i was seeing better numbers. I just take 2.5 mg.
I take 2 different bp meds. I take lisnilopril which also helps protect my kidneys from the diabetes and hctz which is also a water pill. I take that for bp and also to make sure fluid doesn’t build up around my heart because I have heart problems as well as a major family history of chf. We have had a few scares with me retaining fluid and problems breathing, but normally an extra dose of hctz will take care of it. I haven 't noticed blood sugars running high with my bp meds.
