BP Medication and Erectile Dysfunction

Posted By Jack on September 06, 1998 at 14:25:21:







Dear Doctor,
I have been taking BP medication for over 5 years. They tried me on several
different medications but all had unacceptable side effects: headaches,
flushing, etc. Finally they settled on Norvasc 5 mg and Tenoretic 50 mg once
daily. BUT, this combination caused almost total lack of ability to get and
maintain an erection.
In the course of all of this, I managed to lose 25 lbs, start living a more
stress free life, and getting a little more exercise. I am an WM 53 yr, 6'3",
195# in general good health.
I live part time in Mexico and when I told the doctor here about the problem
with erection, he prescribed Posicar T. But in June, that medication was
taken off the market worldwide. So I went back on just Tenoretic 50 mg once
daily. It maintains my BP around 135/90, with it bouncing up and down from
there. However, I am able to get an erection at times and usually have one
upon waking in the morning.
The doctor now wants me to add one more 50 mg tablet at night to see if that
will bring BP down below diastolic reading of 90.
From what I have learned from my research, Tenoretic is a beta-blocker with
a diuretic. It seems to me that erectile dysfunction is a common side effect
of the beta-blocker class of drugs. Is there any class of BP medication which
seems to have less incidence of the side effect of erectile dysfunction?
Thanks for your information and assistance.