Coreg and Lisenopril alternatives

[Drew1702]

First a little about me. I'm 33 years old. 6'2"- 200-205 and 14% body fat and very fit. I workout reguarly, have been doing martial arts and crossfit for 15 years and am  teacher.  I ran an half marathon, 10 months ago.  I've now been diagonosed with idiopathic cariodmyopathy. I' have no chest pain, occasional  shortness of breath(with extreme or long effort). Not even when I'm exercising or training do I have any pain. My main symptoms are swelling in ankles, and a resting heart rate of 90.  I've had two stress test, on stress echo, and one cardiolite stress.  Both were normal and showed no blockage.My ejection Fracture was 38-40%  
I currently am on Coreg 3mg twice daily. and 2mg of lisinopril. I only take a few supplements, mostly, a multi-vitamin and joint supplement, Mirracle greens, fish oil, CLA and Protien shakes after workouts. The main problem is I have every side-effect from the Coreg. (dizziness,headache,nausea,light headed ness and worst of all I have developed ED because of the meds.)  My Cardiologist wants to double my Coreg dosage to 6mg twice daily.
I barely function now as it is, I've been on them for a month. I feel HORRIBLE!!  My cardiologist say to dump all the supplements and only take the Meds. She doesent want to change the current treatment of meds.  I'm now seeking a second opinion.
My question is are there alternative treatments combined with traditional therapies, that can help me?

[gmachris518]

I'm not a doctor, but I think you are looking at the wrong med for most of your problems.

About 3 years ago my husband was on lisinopril and hydrochlorothiazide.  After taking it for approx. 6 months, he crashed and had to be rushed to the ER with extremely low potassium levels.  The doctor who had prescribed the lisinopril had told him to stay away from high potassium foods, or supplements, which he did, and when he went down he was extremely weak, was power vomiting all over the place, and lost the better part of his vision.  It took him about a year to recover from taking the lisinopril, and 3 years later it still comes back to haunt him.  He also has an ongoing irregular heartbeat, which was a new development after his crash.

Another person I know, took lisinopril for approx. 6 months and it caused his BP to bottom out everytime he did any kind of work, taking him to his knees.  His doctor took him off of the med, but it was too late, he has never recovered and will spend the rest of his life with the aftermath of what we all consider a BAD drug.

However, I do know some people who are taking the drug, and doing fine, or perhaps blaming the side effects on old age, as it certainly can make an old person out of you quick.

[SaylorRose]

I,m 31 and I was placed on both of those meds in Feb 09. Soon after that I stopped the lisinopril on my own. I had tons of side effects from it. It was also lowering my heart rate into the 30s and 40s and dropping my BP to nearly nothing. My cardio told me that was ok but stay on the Coreg because it actually rebuilds the heart.
I was also very active and they told me that doing arobic exercise was  the cause of many young seemingly healthy adults cardiomyopathy because the wall thicken due to something called LVH in short hypertrophy.
So no I just take Coreg, Lasix and a few vitamins and I feel ok except for being sleepy. So ask about stopping the lisinopril, it may help you feel better.

[stridej]

Hi - I'm new.  I have the same story.  I have a similar EF and very active.  Doc's do not know why either.  I run 3 times per week and 2 miles each time (6-8 miles total).  I play active tennis on the weekend and do my pushups pullups and other exercises.  I'm on the same meds as you.  Actually just started 3 days ago.  I had a heart cath last august and no dammage was found and size of the heart is fine...just the LV is 39-40%  I do not have any side efects.  I'm a little tired from time to time.  Nothing major.

Let me know if someone gives you any advice on new drugs.  Also, what did your doc give you as the chance to improve back to normal?

Thanks,
Eric.