captopril blood pressure tablets

[beaufoy]

thirty years ago in england I was overweight heavy drinker and smoker and this caused high blood pressure

I was prescribed captopril tablets and did not have bad side effects and they reduced my blood pressure a lot

twenty years ago i gave up smoking and drinking and lost weight and the medication was cancelled

I am now 67 and my blood pressure has gone up again ....I live in chiang mai and asked the hospital to give me captopril but they do not stock it and no drug stores stock it

i was given Loranta instead....this gives me side effects and does very little to reduce my blood pressure 

Does anyone know where I can get Captopril tablets

[retarius]

Captopril is from the early 80s, it was the first ACE inhibitor and a major innovation back then. It is not really known as low side effects, but you doctor was comparing, at the time, to beta blockers which were the main form of hypertension medicine. Beta blockers make, you tired, give you erection problems etc.

A product from the same line as captopril is called enalapril and is widely available in Thailand. 

 

Loranta is a later type of compound, an ACE II inhibitor. Generally with very mild efficacy and mild side-effects. 

 

Finding a good regimen for your hypertension can involve a bit of trial and error. I tend to use the smallest doses of combinations of different classes of agents, that way the efficacy is often addition (from different mechanisms) but the side effects are minimised by the small does. 

 

You should get some medical help to get you on a dose that brings your HT to normal levels and has acceptable side effects. As I say, in my case this involves using the tiniest doses of the more than one drug. Most of the drugs are very cheap as almost all are generic so cost is not an issue. 

[Sheryl]

As aboce -- enalapril (available everywhere) is widrly used drug in same class/same mode of action as captopril.

 

 

[SpaceKadet]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

As aboce -- enalapril (available everywhere) is widrly used drug in same class/same mode of action as captopril.

 

 

Well advice Sheryl, but IMO the OP should definitely seek a cardiologist advice on the drug and dosage. Self medicating heart drugs can be dangerous, as you know.

[beaufoy]

2 hours ago, retarius said:

Captopril is from the early 80s, it was the first ACE inhibitor and a major innovation back then. It is not really known as low side effects, but you doctor was comparing, at the time, to beta blockers which were the main form of hypertension medicine. Beta blockers make, you tired, give you erection problems etc.

A product from the same line as captopril is called enalapril and is widely available in Thailand. 

 

Loranta is a later type of compound, an ACE II inhibitor. Generally with very mild efficacy and mild side-effects. 

 

Finding a good regimen for your hypertension can involve a bit of trial and error. I tend to use the smallest doses of combinations of different classes of agents, that way the efficacy is often addition (from different mechanisms) but the side effects are minimised by the small does. 

 

You should get some medical help to get you on a dose that brings your HT to normal levels and has acceptable side effects. As I say, in my case this involves using the tiniest doses of the more than one drug. Most of the drugs are very cheap as almost all are generic so cost is not an issue. 

 

Does mild Efficacy mean it is not very effective at doing its job.....if it is no good why do doctors prescribe the drug

Are Catropil and enalapril copies of each other ....for me to be willing to take enalopril it has toi be an exact copy

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, beaufoy said:

 

Does mild Efficacy mean it is not very effective at doing its job.....if it is no good why do doctors prescribe the drug

Are Catropil and enalapril copies of each other ....for me to be willing to take enalopril it has toi be an exact copy

Not exact copies but chemically related. Same class of drug, same action. Enslaptil is newer (comparatively -- there are even newer drugs in this class) and longer acting with fewer side effects hence captopril is virtually never used any more. 

 

Nothing mild about enalapril efficacy.  That said, people vary in their response. 

 

How you responded to a drug in slmany years ago is not necessarily an indicat8on of how you would respond now. As one ages the blood vessels become stiffer and hypertension harder to control. Not unusual to need more than one medication. 

 

The Loranta not working could be dose related; typ8cally they start one on a lower dose then raise it as needed. You really should return to the doctor who prescribed it and discuss the side effects etc with him rather than trying to self prescribe an obsolete medication based on experience nany years back.