Can Losartan Cause Blurred Vision?

Posted on Tue, 15 Sep 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 Answered on

Sat, 3 Oct 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic. My blood sugar isn't perfect but it's not horrible. Only 30 of my last 240 readings have been technically hypers (a significent number only just over the line). Yet, I have been plagued by blurred vision for the past couple of years. But I've just discovered that blurred vision is also a known side-effect of the Losarten (100mg) daily tablet I take for high blood pressure. What would you suggest as a course of action?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
An ophthalmologist should check for common causes of blurring

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

you should first visit an ophthalmologist to check for more common causes of your problem. Diabetes could be related to them (diabetic retinopathy for example). Other causes which also apply to people without diabetes like refractive errors are more common. Cataract is another cause and is also related to diabetes.

Losartan should be blamed only after all (more) common causes have been excluded. If losartan is the cause after all, then you should substitute it with another drug. An angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor like ramipril would be a good choice.

I hope you find my comments helpful!
You can contact me again, if you'd like any clarification or further information.

Kind Regards!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar