Lisinopril and Pain: What Users Say

• Sun...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 1, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "47, female, my BP was 145/90 so doc said meds. Chlorthalidone for 5 months, and apart from a mild dry cough, I was okay but felt some weight gain might be a result despite being a diuretic. Doc puts me on lisinopril. Within days, I had a worse cough, joints have started aching, back and hips hurt for no reason, and even worse, I’ve had allergic reactions three times in a month where my eyes and cheeks swell up and hurt and burn (angioedema). I couldn’t figure out what was causing these weird flares but each time I took Benadryl, and it would subside in a day or two. I started researching causes of “rapid, itching, burning face and eye swelling,” and ACE inhibitors like lisinopril were some of the first results that popped up. One study said up to 30% of patients taking it have had reactions! I know others they have no issue. But the high rate of anaphylaxis and allergic reaction should be carefully considered by all as apparently it can develop at any time, days, months, or years in..."

• Car...
• June 28, 2013

For High Blood Pressure "Doc put me on 10mg. I developed what seemed like sciatic nerve pain. Every morning when getting out of bed for the day, I had pain in my left buttocks, thigh, down my calf, and tingling into my foot. After being up for an hour or so, the pain subsided, and I could pretty much do what I wanted. I also noticed I was easily fatigued and felt somewhat depressed. Doc increased the dose to 20mg daily after 6 months. Then the sciatic pain in the morning increased to nearly unbearable. I had no energy. I was ready to see an Orthopedic Dr when I checked online for severe side effects of Lisinopril. I was stunned - joint, nerve, and sciatic pain. Hair loss, weight gain, depression, cough, fatigue, and etc. I stopped the med. and now feeling great."

• Mom...
• March 11, 2013

For High Blood Pressure "Took lisinopril for two days. Woke up after the first day of taking it and my right eye was swollen. After the second day of taking it, woke up again to a swollen eye. I also developed a tingly sensation in my forearms, hands, and feet. Experienced numbness in my fingers and pain in my wrists. Felt as if I had drunk a bunch of caffeine - my heart was racing and I felt very nervous. Called my doctor who said he didn't think it was the lisinopril, but I told him it was the only new thing happening. I've just stopped. Pharmacist said it will take 48 hours for the two pills to be out of my system."

• mar...
• October 15, 2014

For High Blood Pressure "Started taking this medication after giving birth to my baby 7 months ago. It works wonderfully on my blood pressure, from 201/170 to 116/85, but I feel awful. I feel dizzy, lightheaded at times, with aches and pains, left arm pain, and chest pain. I thought I was having a heart attack. Now I have numbness and tingling in my extremities. I'm only on 10 mg, but I need a change as I don't feel good with all these side effects."

• mar...
• October 15, 2014

For High Blood Pressure "Started taking this medication after giving birth to my baby 7 months ago. It works wonderfully on my blood pressure, from 201/170 to 116/85, but I feel awful. I feel dizzy, lightheaded at times, with aches and pains, left arm pain, and chest pain. I thought I was having a heart attack. Now I have numbness and tingling in my extremities. I'm only on 10 mg, but I need a change as I don't feel good with all these side effects."

• Flg...
• March 12, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "Lisinopril is not for me. I began feeling pain in my back and legs on day 3. My BP actually went up, which is what it was supposed to be treating. Had a cough on day 4. Stopped on day 5. Two days later, I felt normal again."

• lit...
• May 18, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "I have been on several BP meds, all giving me side effects. I was on lisinopril 10mg, but my BP was too high. They upped it to 20mg, but it's still high. I am having tons of side effects: nonstop headaches, lightheadedness, limb tingling, aching, swelling, left arm pain, feet pain, constant congestion, chest discomfort, back pain, and anxieties. I need to get them to change it before I have a stroke or heart attack."

• lit...
• May 18, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "I have been on several BP meds, all giving me side effects. I was on lisinopril 10mg, but my BP was too high. They upped it to 20mg, but it's still high. I am having tons of side effects: nonstop headaches, lightheadedness, limb tingling, aching, swelling, left arm pain, feet pain, constant congestion, chest discomfort, back pain, and anxieties. I need to get them to change it before I have a stroke or heart attack."

• Sam...
• May 17, 2018

For High Blood Pressure "I started taking lisinopril 2 months ago. It did lower my BP, but I had to stop immediately due to getting an eye condition called episcleritis. My eyes burned, itched, watered, and became severely red, and I woke up with crusty eyes. The pain became too much to bear. I stopped the medication, and they were all better in 2 days. This is a very rare side effect, but I wanted to share my experience."

• Nan...
• May 28, 2014

For High Blood Pressure "Before taking lisinopril, I was 100 lbs overweight, constantly tired, constantly in pain over body and joints with some arthritis in back and hands. This medication has accentuated weakness, tiredness and pain which was reported to physician two months into treatment. At Dr urging, I have continued to take this medication but will discontinue use when this prescription runs out. I have developed frequent nosebleeds which I have not seen mentioned as a side effect of the medication, but will note whether this improves when off medication."

• Anonymous
• February 6, 2010

For High Blood Pressure "I took 10 mg of lisinopril for a month and could not handle the side effects anymore. It worked great at getting my blood pressure down but with that came heart pounding and fluttering, headaches, leg pains, weakness, dry mouth, diarrhea, dizziness, trouble sleeping, waking in the middle of a deep sleep very confused and alarmed, and taste change. Within 2 days of changing medicines all of these problems disappeared even though the doctor assured me it was not all from lisinopril."

• Dan...
• March 29, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "Was told I had high blood pressure (BP) at the start of 2019. No news there, as I know I don't live the healthiest lifestyle, and I was told my BP was slightly elevated about a year prior to this. I reluctantly started 20 mg of Lisinopril. At first, everything seemed OK, I had random pains in my arms, lower back, neck, jaw, etc., but I attributed that to my body just getting used to the meds. Two months later, my BP has only slightly been lower, but at what cost? I'm now starting to feel nauseous and have lost my appetite for about two days now. The pains are still here, with now pains starting to be pinpointed towards where my heart is. I don't know if I had a silent heart attack, if it's a side effect of Lisinopril, or acid reflux. I'm losing hair, my nails and big toenails have blackish-red lines running across them, and my scalp and cheek/nose are flushed and pink. I've never experienced pains like this before until I had started taking this medication. I recommend trying a healthier lifestyle before trying meds."

• Mah...
• November 16, 2009

For High Blood Pressure "My doctor prescribed this to 'protect my kidneys' and lower my BP (132/100, was never that high before). Within a week, I had severe muscle spasms and pain in my legs, headaches, dizziness, and itchy hands. She cut my dose to 5 mg, which stopped most of the spasms but did not relieve other symptoms. My BP was 100/68. I am now dealing with mild edema in my eyelids and blurred vision."

• Mr ...
• October 17, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "Here's my experience with lisinopril. Took it for about a month and had a pain going from the side of my head down to my left fingertips. BP would be good sometimes but shoot up when I went to the doctor (possible white coat syndrome but it wouldn't go down much) and heart rate would be elevated 90's to low 100's resting. Switched to Coreg 12.5 mg a day with Lexapro 5 mg to lower anxiety. Pain went away and lowered heart rate but stopped the Lexapro after the third night because I felt hot and had trouble sleeping but maybe should have stuck with it. Coreg would work somewhat but BP could go up if I felt the slightest bit anxious or angry. Dumped my doctor and switched to a new one. New doc prescribed 50 mg of metoprolol and back to the 5 mg Lexapro to help the shakes and anxiety. Start the metoprolol tomorrow and Lexapro a couple of days later so hopefully this works. Lisinopril may work for you but definitely not for me."

• Imm...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 4, 2021

For High Blood Pressure "Started two weeks ago on 10 mg. First time on any BP medication. About a week later, had serious problems with my neck. Debilitating pain, including weakness/pain in shoulders. Driving was difficult. Occasional sharp stabbing pain under the right shoulder blade. Charlie horse in lower calves in the middle of the night. I am dedicated to exercise and have been unable to participate in activities. Two weeks after starting (3 days ago), saw the doctor for a follow-up visit. She actually laughed when hearing of my neck and shoulder pain, 'I've never heard of this.' She actually asked if I'm sure I didn't do something to cause it. I also mentioned that I just don't feel good...my head feels funny. (It did lower my BP.) I haven't taken anything for 3 days and my neck pain is almost gone...I can turn my head now. Shoulder blade pain is subsiding. Thinking of getting a new doctor."

• soc...
• September 14, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "Took it for 3 days and thought I was dying. My left leg was killing me in pain, I had a headache all 3 days, I started a dry cough, and my chest was tight, and my heart rate was up to 105. I felt overall lousy and didn't even want to get dressed. I know it takes a minute for the body to get used to meds, but this is not something I wanted to go through for one more day."

• Anonymous
• March 11, 2009

For High Blood Pressure "Developed very low back, pelvic, and hip pain that affected my mobility. I had difficulty sitting and bending without severe pain. I took this medicine for 6 days before realizing that it was the cause of my symptoms. I have now been off of it for 3 days, and almost all of the discomfort is gone."

• Anonymous
• March 11, 2009

For High Blood Pressure "Developed very low back, pelvic, and hip pain that affected my mobility. I had difficulty sitting and bending without severe pain. I took this medicine for 6 days before realizing that it was the cause of my symptoms. I have now been off of it for 3 days, and almost all of the discomfort is gone."

• Mar...
• September 6, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "I used lisinopril for two months. It worked fine the first 4 months. Then my teeth were hurting. I thought it was nothing. Then, a week later, my jaw was hurting. I thought it was sinuses. So I let it go. I went to my dentist, and they took X-rays and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth. My family doctor put me on 3000 mg antibiotics for a week, she thought it was a bad sinus infection. In the meantime, I googled the side effects. Believe it or not, lisinopril was causing all that pain. My doctor took me off the medication right away and placed me on another BP. So everyone that's taking the pill, please be careful and pay attention to your body. My teeth pain went away that same day, and my jaw doesn't hurt."

• Dup...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 20, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "My doctor prescribed medication for me 3 weeks ago. First, chlorthalidone, and it turned my stool into a solid brick. Finally, passed stool but with incredible pain. Doctor then changed med to lisinopril. After 1 week, I saw the doctor and said the same condition of severe constipation existed. Doctor said that lisinopril was not the cause of constipation and said to use Miralax for a week. After 5 days, Miralax did nothing. I called the doctor and told of this experience. The doctor still thinks the bowel problem is unrelated to the medication. But said to stop for a week, track blood pressure, and see if bowel trouble continues. I get the impression that the doc and nurse think I am crazy and should not question anything. I am not crazy."

• Non...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 12, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "I started 10 mg once a day 2 weeks ago for HBP of 160/90. From day one, I had severe headaches. Then I started getting aches and pains, kind of flu-like feelings. Then the muscle cramps started. Now for 4 days, I have been vomiting and have almost zero urine output, even though I am making myself drink 120 oz of water a day. I never thought of this medicine causing these side effects until my husband asked me if it could be what's causing me to feel bad. So, as of today, I emailed my Dr, and I am stopping Lisinopril after looking up all the side effects. I'll deal with the HBP!"

• Dan...
• March 21, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "Early this year, my blood pressure just went up and stayed there: 199 over 96. Some days lower but still 148 over 90. Been on low-dose Lisinopril for a month. Now blood pressure is never more than 126 over 80 or under 96 over 60. Left arm still hurts like a Charlie horse. Never had a migraine before or after. I'm 49, white male. Eating about 1860 calories and averaging 3 miles a day, not including gym time."

• Han...
• January 11, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "I have been taking this for about 6 weeks now. I had headaches for about a week initially, but they have since gone away. However, I have had what I thought was bad allergies or a cold for about a month now. After reading some of these reviews and the side effects, I believe it is from this medication. Of course, my doctor, which I visited Friday, did not tell me this could be from the medication. It is controlling my BP, but I don't like the aches, pains, sneezing, and coughing that have accompanied it."

• sev...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 12, 2017

For High Blood Pressure "Severe intestinal angioedema began within 2 weeks of taking this drug. Caused an anal fissure, which is extremely painful and had to be cauterized. All symptoms disappeared within a week of discontinuing this drug. Not sure if it matters, but my blood type is AB-."

• hon...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 21, 2015

For High Blood Pressure "Oh my goodness. I am 34, was 20 weeks pregnant, and developed high blood pressure. Delivered my stillborn at 24 weeks, was on metoprolol and Norvasc to maintain. Once delivered, blood pressure seemed to level out some. Doctor released. Blood pressure went crazy with no meds. Went to family doctor. He prescribed lisinopril. Blood pressure still high and increasing. He increased medication and added metoprolol back. Headache, hurt all over, hard to speak without thinking how to speak first. Hurt in upper back, stomach aching, slept a lot, numbness, tingling in arms and hands, gained weight, anxiety. Took Norvasc and skipped lisinopril, headache got lots better, not completely gone with the first dose, aching elsewhere gone. Numbness got lots better. No confusion when speaking, no anxiety."