Is It Safe To Stop Amlodipine Abruptly?

Posted on Sat, 19 Sep 2015

Question: I recently had knee surgery, followed by infection and developed Rhabdomyolosis. I was prescribed amlodipine during my illness. I have been on 10 mg/day for almost a month. My primary care physician first told me that I could stop taking the medication, then told me I need to continue at 5mg. My blood pressure usually tends to the low side and now that I am doing better and seem to be past the challenges the Rhabdomyolisis was putting my heart and kidneys through, I am feeling very dizzy, weak and tired. Every time I have my blood pressure checked it is lower than it should be. Last check 93/71. I want off this medication badly but don't know whether it is safe to stop it cold. I am not asking you to advise me to stop it or not. Just wondering what the repercussions would be if I did and whether or not having only been on it for a short time would make a difference. Just looking for information so I can decide whether to go back and discuss it further with my doctor (i.e., plead to get off) or to shut up and take the medicine!
Would it be better ask a cardiologist about this?

Answered by Dr. Divakara (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Suddenly stopping the drug can cause complications.

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Greetings from Dr.Divakara
Thanks for posting your query.

See Among is a medicine given to bring down the blood pressure. You were given 10mg initially , so it means that your blood pressure was high initially but later your pressure started coming low . This indicates your high blood pressure was a reaction to your illness and yiy don't have a pressure problem.

So now since even blood pressure is coming low you do need to reduce the dosage further and then observe what happens to your pressure. If it still remains low on reduced dose amlong then stopping the medicine has to be considered.

But if you stop the medicine all of a sudden the there is a possibility of a rebound increase in your blood pressure which if at all goes very high can cause serious complications like Heart attack or stroke.

There is no need to consult a cardiologist for this . Just discuss the above said facts with your treating doctor.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarification feel free to ask.

Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj