no sleep nightmares from cal channel blocker med

[EFT56]

iv been on a cal channel blocker for over 8 years now - the past 8 to 12 months iv been getting symptoms of No sleep or when I sleep ,I tend to get nightmares or vivid stressed dreams ! thus wake suddenly with super high b.p readings and a internal like jittering or shakeing threwout my body.  this happens every single time I laydown -sitting or standing im fine.. when awake.. b.p is normal levels.   the dirty drug is verpamail at 180mg a day. ok.. the cardio doctor switched me last week to Diltiazem 24hr Cd  pills - and also Maxzide dieuretic pill.. so far after 6days of taking it - lots of crapy side effects and still no fricken sleep ! and when I do sleep if at all -its Nightmare city or vivid stupid stressed out dreams , thus wakeing up again with jittering and b.p around 179 over 104  pulse at 89 to 90 bpm .   oh yeah we tryed verapamil 40mg at night along with clonidine small dose only.   it interacts and dose not help at all.   but now im only on 3 meds  diltiazem and maxzide and bystolic 2.5 mg daily .  same old thing !!
no change at all....plus Im getting a few not normal heart beats.. that the cardio said will stop soon as it adjusts to my body .. I say B/S !!  
I just did research about this new medication and found its another ccb cal channel blocker !  so how in the world can it change things / it cant !!  im back where I started ,only with more problems than before .. so what to do now ?
I also looked up sleep apena  symptoms .. it does not match up with what iv got.. ??  

what is the best thing to do here ? stop all the medications - go back to the orginial ones ? iv been to now 6 diffrent cardio doctors .. all are the same and do the same things.. for some reason they keep giving me ,the same type of medications with diffrent names and mfg companys..  yet the problem is not gone !! and keeps getting worse !  
im totaly stumpped here..   and lost ...

[EFT56]

After suffering for six months worth of pain and putting up with 3 dr's b/s and lies .. and still not being changed from cal channel blocker to something diffrent !  out of world of beta blockers and cal channel blockers.  I am slowly weening off this verapamil drug !  I am getting intence belly aches and bloating -also get attacks of muscular spasums in my back and sides and shoulders and lower chest area !  these all release when resting not moving around much. and with the use of vicodin - or any muscular relaxor pill ..
iv been trying to listen to my doctors, but they dont seem to know the cause or problem.
and wont take me off ,what is causing the harm to me - I feel im allergic to the medication and its all allergic reactions happening - I have had meny tests done on me for the heart and artires.  from ekg to ultra sound to echo to cat scan and nuke xrays
stress tests.  nothing found wrong ,other than h.b.p .   since iv been on this medication its caused me nothing but problems !  and pain  and suffering , I can no longer tollerate it  or the lies im told by doctors ,who dont care or want to help !   its like one man told me a few years back.. if cancer dont get you - the Medications will !!  he died of heart attack 3months later , and was on a ccb daily.  so its not a joke !  
and beta blockers are just as harsh and bad.  

its just sometimes better to clear the air - and try and walk away happy and try something natural - or take my chances without this crap .
and to be honest I wish I never got on it.    its taken at least 1/2 of my life away as I suffered from this stuff.   the pharm companys should be sued and forced to come out with a user friendly medication for blood pressure.  they know how to do it . but wont !
as its money for more ban aid pills to cover up side effects .. its a Nasty game doctors and pharm companys play on us all.    

im at the end of my rope !   this is it !    

[EFT56]

Bad Doctor !  I went back for check up to the cardio doctor -he switched medications well long to short - he put me on the same class of drugs I was on before -only under a diffrent name and mfg company. said it was totaly diffrent drug ? what did I know ?  then gave me a dieuertic pill - that again was one im allergic to, but under a diffrent name ???
I tryed them both for 5days - omg !! chest pains - cramping and stomach aches and throwing up and no sleep and just awfull feelings from them ! I stopped and went online and looked up the drugs - well no change same meds diffrent names.  but I got sicker from these than the others iv been taking ?  I went back to the Dr, he refused to help me ! simple as that and said I wasnt trying hard enough, I said to him No its you that isnt trying hard enough , your free to take my money $$  and you just Guess at drugs ! and play the switch and bait game on me../ he then said im not going the extra step to find out whats wrong with you ?  I dont have the time !  and walked away -  this is very typical of doctors in los angeles area.     he was the 6th doctor I had for cardio help.
Im now back on the old meds -  its hard to get back on them and adjust down to them - after having so meny problems with the new ones !   I wish I could sue that s.o.b.  for malpractice and hang by the short hairs !!    as im been damaged and hurt and abused by is stupidness  and carelessness !    I have no respect for Doctors in los angeles !  none !!   they are low lifes and useless !!!!!    iv had 24 primary doctors since 1985  and 6 cardio doctors - been on over 21 diffrent medications - and after reading the names of them all they are all the same class of medications !   so you can figure from there what has happened ... its not help .. its hurt !    

[cindy707]

Yayyyyy.........that is wonderful news!!!  See i told you it worked for me too...one of the primary ingredients w. Nightrest is melatonin and its just crazy how it lulls you into a good sleep pattern......funny how a single night of sleep can change everything around us...its great and now you don't have to worry about going to bed at night and going thru the same issues.....such a little bottle such a huge difference....happy holidays to you this week and looks like Christmas came early for you.....................................again congrats

[EFT56]

12-20-010  Im a happy camper have to say !  
I bought Melatonin 3mg   and also Sominex max 50mg pills -per pharmasist advice.
Last night before bed I took melatonin 1 pill  only   and by 9-pm  I was sleeping sound
no nightmares - no vivid dreams - no jitters or internal shakeing at all -  no spikes in b.p
or sudden wake ups with rapid heart beats -  everything was calm relaxed like.. normal
again feeling.  its a good feeling to be able to sleep again !     only problems were some harsh cramping in shoulders and sides off and on - but by moving around and or sitting up for a few mins it stopped and could go back to sleep again fine.  no headaches yet..
feel pretty rested and calm  b.p is normal readings for 131 over 84  pulse 79    
thank you all for the advice and information .. it helped  and sleep came to me  ZZZZZZZ
im now a happy camper !    

[EFT56]

first Ed34 : thanks for you post - I first had stubborn high blood pressure  was on beta blockers first -then over the years moved to ccbs - procardia xl  and a stupid intern gave me too high dose of procardia xl  and it caused palpations to happen thus wrecking what a cardio doctor said was my heart respector to the brain from the heart ,it gets the signals backwords and instead of going slow it goes fast or rapid beats.  the ccb he used was verapamil and have been on it for years upon years.. it works to stop the palps good and lowers b.p down -but my ankles swell like crazy ! I was just switched by cardio doctor last monday to diltiazem 24hr cp.  and maxzide dieuretic pills.  so far dont like them because no change in problems.   infact its worse !  
Cindy707: thanks for the info - you nailed it good on track - so you do know what is happening !   I talked to pharmasist today and he told me to try somonex sleeping aid - as it would clam me down and also help with sleep problems and jittering internal.. he said  25mg is normal - or 50mg if its bad..  so might try it .. as its for one night..
as far as stopping drugs cold turkey ! I did what the doctor told me to do ...got off one and start another the next day - he never said anything about weening off them ?
but then none ever do ?
I will look into Nightrest  natural sounds better than chemical .  I already called my cardio doctors office today and left a message he wont like..  but I know he will call me tomorrow and do something to help me .. he has to !    thanks for the info and help.
Ireno :  good talking with you again .. and hope your doing well  its been a long time !!
your right about the calming drug .. I did take Diazepam 10mg twice a day as needed for about 4 months.. then stopped for a month - and took it again twice last week.  
so that could be the jitters iv got .. as according to my cardio doctor it takes 28 days for the stuff to get out your system.. even if you take it one time !   so im screwed !!  
but im hopeing takeing a sleeping pill and or natural one .. will calm me down and help
bring on sleep and calm dreams..  4nights now  and im really bouceing off walls now..
got about 4.5 hours sleep is all - and feel beat to the ground ..  In one way im happy im off verapamil  as was on it way way to long .. and the stinky side effects really took me apart.. and beat me down !!   I dont like ccbs though at all.. being they effect the go power we have and cause breathing problems at times.. plus all this other stuff.    
but guess its what they want me to take ..ccbs.    thank you again for your time and help and info .. it means alot to me..   Eft56

[ed34]

So what are your original problems? why do you require a calcium channel blocker? do you have rhythm problems or vasospasm etc?

[ireneo]

I tried Verapamil for about a week back in 2000. Ended up in ER with severe shortness of breath, chest pain, pain and weakness in my legs. So much for that stuff. More recently I had to take Diltiazem to stabilize my heart before a surgery. Other than a wicked headache for a couple of weeks and some fatigue, it was nothing like the Verapamil. So there must be some difference.

As for dreams, I have such a vivid dream life that my family thinks they could be made into movies. LOL

Another thing (and you don't have to answer this) if you're on an anti-depressant, they can cause intense dreams/nightmares and cause weird electrical jitters and anxiety in the middle of the night. Just in case. . . .

[cindy707]

Its super common for anyone on a blocker to have super vivid dreams while taking them...been there done that one for sure.  In most cases it takes up to thirty days for meds to completely saturate your tissues and system however the main thing to definately not do is to suddenly stop taking the meds without weaning off of them or you could be in for a world of hurt.  People experience something called rebound when blockers are suddenly stopped without the weaning and that means that your prior episodes before meds can come back X3 and can put you into a world of hurt.  You have to be supervised to stop taking the blockers.  The other thing is that my heart doc when i was going thru your same issues told me to take something called NightRest made by Source Natural and said its an over the counter almost type of vitamin that helps us get a restful sleep and we wake up totally alert and energetic but don't do this unless you run it across your heart doc first to be sure it is safe for you.  All i know is that my dreams were absolutely horrible and i kept waking up 2-3 times during the middle of the night w. these nighrmares and the NightRest definately did the trick...i am on a low dose beta blocker and haven't had a rough nite since again you have to clear it w. the doc to be sure it doesn't counteract his/her treatment plan for you.  The nightmares are coming from the reduced melatonin levels that occur when the blockers do its job among other things....good luck w. this but it worked for me for sure...just a thought and i know exactly how you feel......or i did......