PC seems to wear on you-- also BP question

...at least with a climbing PSA!

I realized the other day that it has been 3 years and 2+ months since my dx.

In the last few months, I have really felt the stress. (Before that time, I had my moments but was handling it well). Of course, that is due not to the PC by itself, but due to a worsening situation whereby I will have to move on to HT (starting first week in March). But I have also developed a problem with BP. It has been quite high the last few months and changes quite a bit in a short amount of time. I have always had very good BP readings until recently.

I will be seeing my family doctor on Wednesday. I might end up on BP medication. Currently, I am on NO MEDICATIONS. In a month, I am likely to be on quite a few. I hate this.

Anyway, this is not meant to be another rant/whine, but just a question.

Are any of you on BP medications. What type? Any SE? Any comments?

I guess a related question: do you find PC stressful (ie: the elephent in the room)?

Mel

PC is stressful - the elephant doesn't go away.

Currently I'm on cozar. In the past I've been on atenol, lisinopril and a few others. There are basically three types: vascular dilators, alpha blockers and diuretics. For mild hypertension they generally start with something like a mild diuretic or a vascular dilator. Lisinopril seems to be the go to drug these days.

But the problem is that everyone react slightly differently to each drug so your doctor will likely start you on something, see if it works and what the side effects are. Then they shift as needed. There are tons of BP meds so you've got lots of choices.

Side effects are mostly mild - light headiness (especially when getting up from lying down), peeing more often, dry cough and with some meds, like the beta blocker atenol can make ED worse. Sometimes they do make you feel more tired during the day.

You'll likely want to take your own BP once a day for a couple of weeks after starting a new med to make sure it's working and not lowering your BP too much.

and stress induced high BP is real so dealing with the stress can help.

Andrew

Tony -- time and remission are great stress relievers.  i really feel great these days but lately i have been thinking alot about the next PSA test which is in less than a month.

ed

I was on lisinopril also, no problem with it. My BP went down after I lost weight.
I take Hytrin now to try to relax bladder and a side effect of Hytrin is it lowers BP.

Mel,  I have used a low dose diuretic for many years.  It works well and I have not had any SEs from it.  It is a very low cost generic.  Consumers Reports has an overview of the 5 different classes of BP meds and when they are used.  Here is the link: http://www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/high-blood-pressure.htm.  Scroll down near the bottom of the page for a table of the different types, their uses, and SEs.

Carlos

I get lisinopril/hctz 20/12.5.

After surgery, I changed from ingesting at 5am to 5pm. Helps with incontinence at work. Now, I
just have to remember to take on time, take all liquids soon after, then let things settle down before bedtime. The diuretic really pushes the water from body. The john is my best bud from 5pm-9pm.

Only wet bed once--because I was late getting home and didn't follow my routine well enough.

Yeah, PCa can be stressful. Super-stressful. It means tests and the anxiety of waiting for results and if they're not good more treatment(s).

10 mg lisinopril, no se's, BP normal. I forget meds a lot ceptin viagra. Minimum stress from psa test cept, the min. it takes nurse to get back on the phone looking for it. Now thats an example of relativity. 39 mos post/ op, clean does make life get easier. I may switch to once a year… Lets face it it has to be more stressful for those under treatment HT and such. No, most of my stress is self induced and it is usually a small mouse in the room or some other silly nonsense.
,

Can't comment on the BP issues, but stress levels is something I can relate to.

Sometimes, it becomes all consuming whether we wont it to or not. Insurance, Aflac, employer, and all of the other things you HAVE to deal with.

I do find that music helps me the most.

Hang in there...

My hubby needs 5mg Amlodipine after beginning Xtandi. Before this drug his BP was very normal, sometimes low but NEVER high, even with all the other cancer treatments.

I have been getting annual physicals for a little over 10 years.   My prostate cancer diagnosis was about 4 years ago. As an engineer working in operations management, I frequently monitor and track performance trends.   I have tracked (graphed) all my key measurements which come from my physicals for 10+ years, including blood pressure and other metrics which relate to heart disease.   What I have found over this long term is that the key metrics have been most closely responsive to my own personal exercise patterns, and did not unfavorably change due to my PC diagnosis/treatment. My exercise patterns have not been consistent year-over-year for the last 10 years, and what has been noticeable is that in those years where I have been exercising a lot (moreso in the recent years), the measurements results are the very best . Like many men, my diagnosis of prostate cancer helped serve as a wake-up call to make important lifestyle and dietary changes.   Change is difficult, but as a cancer survivor who wanted to remain a survivor, I had no problem making real, tangible changes in my life.   My BP and other measurements have been excellent the last few years since this wake-up call…but that’s largely because I have worked at it. My blood pressure measurement in the doctor’s office 2 weeks ago was 120/72.

Paul,
Thank you, sir. I mixed up my blockers. Still there was a study out for men on HT and Norvasc. Here is my post from many moons ago...

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=994167

Funny, after all these years I personally have met the study doctors. I guess I need to ask them what became of this...

Tony