Vanessa,

Thank you for the reply.

:eek: OMG! I am so sorry :(.

I am definitely going back my old BP med, Benicar. I have to discuss this with my primary and pulmonary drs.

I have been on the 25 mg dose for almost a month. Do I still have to wean off the lowest dose? (I am not sure when I will get an appointment with my primary dr--either this week or next week so I wanted to ask.)

You are definitely in my prayers. :angel:

Thanks again.

John319,

I would definitely recommend weaning off - just cut them in half and take 12.5 for about 7 days and then you should be able to stop - since its only been a month.

I hope that Benicar works well for your HBP control.

Thanks for the prayers - you will be in mine too!!!:)


Mountainreader,

Do you notice any side effects for the CCB Norvasc? My Doc is thinking of trying that one next. I tried Verapamil and got bad upper chest tightness - he said that may not happen with Norvasc even though they are both CCB's.

Thanks!

Vanessa

Thanks, Vanessa.

I don't know about the bp yet. I switched back to my previous med, Benicar. I will be going to my general dr soon. Thanks for asking.

How are you feeling?

Vanessa,

My pulmonary dr last night believes my chest tightness and recent asthma outbreaks are due to my GERD which, by the way, is in the larynx. He is referring me to a gastrointerologist who, according him, is great for GERD patients. He may be onto something because the chest tightness started around the time the GERD started, late 2006.

[QUOTE]so it is hard for me to distinguish between the two - and it does make me panicky at times. I worry that if I ignore it and relate it to GERD - that it will actually be the asthma and I will end up in the ER.... Believe me, I know the feeling :rolleyes:. I would err on the side of caution and treat it like it is asthma even if it isn't.

Re: the Xanax, I have .25 mg tabs that I use to help with the chest tightness.

Last month when I was on the Metoprolol I also did notice increased chest tightness occurrences.

Stay strong with the tapering off of the Prednisone.

Interestingly and thankfully my pressue was 120/80 last night, which is the 5th day back on the Benicar. Good luck with the BP med. :cool: