Vitamin D & drug interactions
 

Well, I just found this out, that I should not be taking Vit D because I am on hydrochlorothiazide.

I did sooo much research on Vit D and finally decided to start taking it and never saw that disclaimer until accidentally stumbling upon it today.

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed...with-vitamin-d

Thiazide -- Diuretics in this class (such as hydrochlorothiazide) increase the activity of vitamin D and can lead to inappropriately high calcium levels in the blood.

Sooo...I guess I need to stop taking it and I have 2 jars of it. :(

I really think you should discuss with your doctor, changing to another medication (not a diuretic) if you really need one.

Gone are the days, when diuretics were considered first line in mild hypertension.

This family of drugs is highly problematic, for long term use and may be causing some of your difficulties. They cause gout, depletion of magnesium and potassium, drug induced lupus.
Also because of the disulfide bonds, it has allergic potential.
Some people cannot handle disulfide containing drugs. They cause itching/rash which can be serious in some.

In fact a movement now in medicine is to not treat mild hypertension at all:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/...lood-pressure/
This is only one site with this content. I read similar claims in a recent Smithsonian magazine edition.

There is more detail here in this article:
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/1/6.full
Most of the data collected was on D2 50,000 (1250micrograms) units (the typical RX version).
1000IU D is 25micrograms-- which is a very small amount.

Hmm...something else to think about and worry about. :confused:

This was not a first choice medication. I tried about 5 different kinds. I remember one was called Micardis. I was on it for months until side effects were awful, again, I got one of the "rare" horrid side effects. It affected my muscles something awful, I remember the muscles in my thighs hurt so bad it got debilitating.

When this diuretic helped it was the one with the least side effects. It did not control my BP completely but kept it low enough both dr and I were satisfied. After losing weight this past year my BP is great. I tried to stop taking it, I think I may have posted here about it, but after 10 days I went back on it.

I did just talk to my dr at my last appointment, maybe 2 months ago. I asked him if he thought I could ever get off it since I can go every other day on it and I am on a low dose. He just said lose more weight and maybe so.

Im not sure what other drug would be beneficial with less side effects. When I stopped taking it for 10 days, the amount of weight I gained was astronomical in my mind...I dont remember the amount off my head but I remember being scared about the fact that maybe this medication has ruined my bodies ability to regulate water retention.

I do have fears about that but didn't know what to do and of course the dr was like no big deal.

:confused:

Thank you for your opinion...now I am just not sure what to do though. It has been a concern in the back of my head for a long time now.

I guess I need to figure out what the excess calcium in blood serum would do by rising due to vitD. I am reading the link you posted but it's a little difficult, lol. But helpful,thank you

It is possible that you are living now in a state of dehydration while using this drug.
(loss of sodium and potassium and magnesium).
When I say first line.... that is a medical term. Drugs are often rated on their efficacy. Medicine is never static, it is always changing. Diagnoses change, treatments change etc. The AllHat studies done over a decade ago were applied to hypertension treatments and suggested using diuretics as a first choice primary intervention. But that has changed and today this is less likely.

Today the same thing is happening with diabetes, based one one study from Europe suggesting very low A1Cs. (5 and below as a target). New studies are now showing that A1Cs do go up with age and may not necessarily reflect only glucose control and may even be a part of natural aging, and it varies by race as well. So we will see similar fluctuations in the interpretation of A1C and treatment protocols there too. There will be much argument about it, and many people may end up over treated based on A1C values.

Diuretics dramatically change kidney functions. Going off of them would be difficult for a while, but I do think your body would adjust in time. You will have to ask yourself and discuss with your doctor whether you need a drug at all anymore.

Read the article I linked to above. It states that 250mcg or less a day of Vit D is safe. (that is 10,000IUs)

You can have blood tests to measure calcium. That is commonly done. If you do not take calcium supplements, that would help too. Not everyone who takes Vit D gets hypercalcemia. In fact it is not common.

Well I need something. After 10 days off it my BP steadily went up and up. I have had concerns about this for awhile now but simply don't know what to do. I am sure if I asked him to switch meds he would however, I went through hell before landing on this one.

I accept that every drug has side effects. This one seemed to be the one with the least of the 5 or 6 I tried.

I tried to research getting off this drug but found nothing and I asked him and he said lose more weight.

I dunno. If I switch, I will just get a new set of side effects.

I did not start back up after 10 days because I gained weight, although that in itself was quite alarming. It was very scary. Like my body could not handle being off the pill.

I dunno.

Thanks for the link, I did read that.

When you went off the last time....were you using the magnesium lotion every day? It has to be every day.

I went from 3 drugs a day to a very small dose of beta blocker (atenolol 25mg) + magnesium this winter. My doctor was stunned that the magnesium worked that well! The lotion works better for me than oral supplements too.

Magnesium relaxes the muscles in the blood vessels, that is how the hypertension goes away.

If you do NOT show hypercalcemia in your blood work, while using some D3... I wouldn't worry about the HCTZ yet.

Hmmm...I am not sure about the lotion. I can't remember if I had it then. Where all do you use the lotion?? I only use the lotion on my feet. I still take oral mag but went from 400 mg down to 200 mg since I was using the lotion but I am not sure I use the lotion everyday. I wanna say yes I do since it seems like I use it on my feet at least one time daily.

I am going to try weening myself off again. Do you think weening is the best way???

Last time I went to taking it every other day but then one week just stopped cold turkey. Should I go to every 3 days ??? Would that help my body adjust instead of cold turkey???

Where all do you put the lotion and does it matter from day to day what time I do it? I have never tried to be consistant.

I apply to both wrists and inner arms where the skin is the
thinnest. It helps my carpal tunnel too that way. (where the veins show)

Skin on other body parts, is thicker, so I don't expect as much absorption as I get on the arms. I also use on the feet sometimes and my back if I need it there too.

Start weening off the HCTZ every other day, every 3rd day, then once a week.
I'd do it over a month or so.

I don't want to be on medication if I don't have to so I will try this again. I will try the weening method and monitor my BP.

Do you mean the bend/inside of elbow area???

You think it matters morning or night???

thanks for your opinion.

Oh, can I still use it on my feet? It seems to help during a flare and when I use my chi I put it on since its circulating my feet I thought it might help, lol So can I use it on my feet plus arem? Can i get too much?

MrsD, I use Himalayan sea salt for many reasons but after our discussion here about my diuretic I went back and read again.

Short list of benefits of using sole

Stimulates metabolism and digestion
Flushes out heavy metal toxins
Reduces addictive cravings
Balances acid-alkaline imbalance in your body
Normalizes blood pressure
Cleans your intestines (may temporarily give you slightly loose stools until the plaque has been cleaned out)
Helps heal skin dis-eases

http://products.mercola.com/himalayan-salt/

That is one place I read and another:

http://www.alohabay.com/products/sal..._info_faq.html

The second link is the brand of salt I use so I read their site to make sure their way of processing.

Anyway, I had read about doing the soul water for many benefits one of which is how it will regulate the water weight, electrolytes, etc. I had been told I should do this for my thyroid but never did it, but I am thinking about doing it while I try to ween off this medication.

Are you familiar with this or do you have an opinion?