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Losartan Efficacy
Hi there. First timer with a question about Losaran for hypertension. My BP runs about 140/90 without medication. I am not overweight (BMI of 22, age 57). My GP put me on Lisinopril last year but switched me to Losartan after the Lisinopril failed to help. The Losartan brought my BP down a lot with a 50 mg daily dose. I was down to 110/70 and even 100/65 at times. I even got light-headed when I stood up quickly. The GP said this was normal and good. He likes my BP to be well below 120/80.
So far so good. I was getting the Losartan from Walgreens as a 30 day supply. My insurance wanted me to go to a 90 day 'Express Scripts' route since this was a long-term maintenance drug and so I did. Gradually, I notice my BP creeping up and up until now it is back to the 135/85 range. I am using an Omron 785 cuff meter which I have proven to myself is fairly accurate. I even took it to my GP's office and compared it to his reading with a sphygmo. Right on the mark.
I notice that the Express Script drug I now use is made by Apotex whereas the original Walgreen brand was Cozaar. I went back to Walgreens and asked the pharmacist if there was any chance that the Apotex was inferior/impotent to the Cozaar for some reason. She assured me that could not be the case and that there could be no difference. Losartan is Losartan is Losartan.
As an experiment(with GP consensus), I doubled my dose of Apotex Losartan from 50 to 100 mg a day for one week. No change in BP. I am baffled. GP does not have a clue either. I want to try going back to Cozaar. Sound reasonable?
So far so good. I was getting the Losartan from Walgreens as a 30 day supply. My insurance wanted me to go to a 90 day 'Express Scripts' route since this was a long-term maintenance drug and so I did. Gradually, I notice my BP creeping up and up until now it is back to the 135/85 range. I am using an Omron 785 cuff meter which I have proven to myself is fairly accurate. I even took it to my GP's office and compared it to his reading with a sphygmo. Right on the mark.
I notice that the Express Script drug I now use is made by Apotex whereas the original Walgreen brand was Cozaar. I went back to Walgreens and asked the pharmacist if there was any chance that the Apotex was inferior/impotent to the Cozaar for some reason. She assured me that could not be the case and that there could be no difference. Losartan is Losartan is Losartan.
As an experiment(with GP consensus), I doubled my dose of Apotex Losartan from 50 to 100 mg a day for one week. No change in BP. I am baffled. GP does not have a clue either. I want to try going back to Cozaar. Sound reasonable?
Sorry, the Walgreen brand is not Cozaar (that is the alias for Losartan). It might be Merck. In any case, I have canceled my Apotex order and going to order from Walgreens again as an experiment.
I am on bystolic,imdur er and losarton.. I had a six to eight week spell where my BP went up quite a bit..I noticed I had put on about 10 pounds and new I was under more stress than usual.. Lost the weight and got life under control and every thing BP wise went back to normal.. Personally I would go back to the pill that you were taking but understand many things can effect your BP even when you are on meds
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