Catapres (clonidine hydrochloride) Side Effects, Uses Dosages
Side Effects for Catapres (clonidine hydrochloride)
sleepy, but thats why i take it. take it about 30 min to hour before i want to be asleep.
this drug is saving my life! i havent slept more that 3 hours at a time in 3 years. and when i do sleep i have very vivid dreams/nightmares that i act out so i end up waking up punching kicking and yelling. from the very first night ive been sleeping a solid 6 to 8 hours without all the craziness! so glad i found a sleep specialist who knew what the hell she was doing. ive been suffering from this for over 30 years! rx: clonazepam and a good trauma therapist(not as easy to come by)
Horrific side effects. Zombie like with weakness and tiredness. Heart pounding with any exertion. Sleepless nights with leg pain and burning. Chest and stomach discomfort. Bowel issues and total anxiety. I seriously feel that every night is my last one on this drug. I just keep laying down all the time to get the pressure down with the horrific spikes in my bp. The patch almost killed me so back on the pills again.
Going to try to wean off and replace with something different. My anxiety is through the roof!
Dramatically elevated blood pressure, severe panic attacks, tachycardia, insomnia, inability to concentrate and focus
I took clonidine for approximately 3 weeks on a continual basis. My normal blood pressure (outside of medication) is about 135/85. The clonidine sent my blood pressure up to about 175/115 on multiple occasions throughout the course of the three-week period I took it. I also had several severe anxiety attacks, all of which occurred after sleeping for about 20 minutes. The end result was that I had to make about 7-8 visits to the ER, about 4 of those were for observation only as my BP declined to a less-dangerous level of about 140/100. The panic attacks were so intense that I had to call the paramedics, which I don't think I've ever done before. Finally, I had an ER doctor who told me to just discontinue the clonidine without fear of rebound hypertension. I took my final dose last Friday, and within 12 hours my blood pressure was back down to 140/90, and after 18 hours, 122/88. Advice: do NOT take clonidine!! It is a very dangerous - and perhaps - deadly medication. There are other alternative hypertension medications (benazepril, propranolol) which are far more effective and have minimal side effects compared to the clonidine.
Anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, increased BP, joint pain, cold extremities,I suffer from horrible anxiety. My pain Dr prescribed this starting it would work for nerve pain and help with my elevated BP. I have extreme anxiety when I know my BP will be taken at the Dr office. ITS always high then would come down after anxiety had gone down. The 1st month of taking this, it actually helped with anxiety even tho I felt like a zombie. Then it started making me have insomnia. Could sleep at night for 2 hrs or so then couldn't sleep again through the night. Was up and down trying to urinate but only got a teaspoon or less. Felt like kidney or bladder pain. Begged Dr to pls take me off of this crap but he refuses. He doubled it to 02mg!. No way! Started cutting in half so could stay on .01mg but bad idea. More anxiety and palpitations! I'm out of my mind with these side effects!!! Btwn the severe anxiety and this awful poison, I'm scared. Anyone else have the palpitations and anxiety? At 1st I thought was just me having anxiety but now I know it's a side effect of this crap as well.
Shaking, dizzy, tremors, muscle jerks, worse anxiety.
This drug hit me hard and in a bad way. I have life long anxiety but doc is taking everyone off anti-anxiety meds to please the govt. This medicine is supposed to be safer????
Bad dry mouthConfusionVery low blood pressure
Not worth taking, could kill you if not careful caused my heart to stop, do not take unless blood pressure is extremely high never when it's normal
reduced blood pressure initially, then it seemed not to reduce blood pressure as much, until it just seemed like it was creating a rebound affect and shooting the blood pressure up in the 200/100 range, decided to taper off and wean off completely. this drug is scary.
in addition to extreme dry mouth, lethargy, and confused, disoriented, in the process of weaning off and stopping med even if I end up in the hospital will not take this medication, very scary and should not be prescribed.
Extreme fatigue, arrythmia, palpitations, shortness of breath, depression, worsening anxiety, disorientation, general malaise
At first this medication worked wonderfully for anxiety. Slowly I began developing the above side effects and had to go to the emergency room with a resting heart rate of 120 and constant palpitations. I didn't realize it was the clonodine for a long time. I was taking more and more of the medicine that was making me sick.
Difficulty getting going in the morning, lethargy, brain fog
Stay away from this drug! It worsened my Blood Pressure over time, and has too many horrible side effects to mention!Creates insane anxiety!
It is a killer drug! All doctors that prescribe this medication, as well as the maKershaw of this drug should have criminal charges brought to bear against them. I know they knew about side effects!
Discontinuation syndrome/ withdrawal
Developed high blood pressure since being on this. Doesnt even help with my fast heart rate anymore. I have to take it to avoid withdrawing from it and having a stroke. Last time i tried weaning i was in the hospital with A-FIB and sinus tachycardia. I think I will forever be STUCK in this drug. Stay away from it unless you want to be in ICU. This is by far THE hardest pill to come off of and I really don't think it's possible without killing you. If you just started taking it, talk to your doc about stopping before its too late. How is there not a class action lawsuit for this drug??
Lethargy, foggy brain, unable to focus, palpitations, extremely dry mouth, nosebleeds, loss of appetite, low pulse/bradycardia (<50 bpm), headache, tremors.
I have resistant hypertension and it also fluctuates a great deal. So in the morning I can be 120/80, at lunch be 173/108 and by bedtime 114/79. My doc has me on 3 different meds, metoprolol (beta blocker), trandolopril (ACE inhibitor) and then D/C'd Cardura and replaced it with Clonidine. I only took this devil of a medication for 5 days and spent a lot of time researching the side effects during those 5 days. I would NEVER recommend Clonidine to anyone. The side effects started on day 1 within 45 minutes of taking the medication. My mouth was dry I was drinking 2 gallons of water every day and still was thirsty, and of course because my mouth was so dry, food had no taste to me what-so-ever. I was lethargic and felt like I could fall asleep at any given time during the day which is NOT a good thing when you work. I was unable to focus on anything and forgot my computer passwords and was even on the phone several times and forgot who I was talking to and why I was talking to them. By day 4 I started having palpitations and my blood pressure was still elevated but my pulse was really low, borderline bradycardia. I had a headache from day one and also had some tremors. I stopped taking it and contacted my physician to let him know why. There was no way I could function day to day feeling like that.
This had been a life altering God send. I've suffered from scream out loud nightmares for years. Brought neighbors to my door with my screams. Since being on Catapres I have no nightmares. I sleep without fear.
very dry mouth, very tired, arms won't work, hands hurt, legs hurt, cough, constipation, weight gain of about 15lbs, hair loss, headaches, and loss of sex drive. (Hate this)!
I was put on .03 x 2 a day, felt bad, tired, dizzy, drugged like so I cut tabs in 1/4 x 2 a day, then after a week increase it to 1/2 x 2 a day. Bp good and felt better for about a week. I hate this med! Have to wein off slowly .
Stopped taking cold turkey. Started having stabbing pain in bback of my left eye.
Extremely dry mouth. My mouth and tongue feel like sandpaper since 1 hour after taking first pill without stopping. Terrible sour taste in mouth, food doesn't taste the same, beverages don't taste right - not even water. Feel like I'm in a fog all the time, can't concentrate. Don't sleep well - keep waking up with bad dreams.
I've taken Adderall at work for ADD for 15 years. This medication totally cancels the effect of the Adderall! Might as well not even take Adderall - I just sit and stare at the computer, forgetting what I meant to do! I'm telling my doc this week this has got to stop - I can't function like this! Besides it has NO EFFECT on my blood pressure!
To say I'm not on, taking any prescribe RX for my htn; then it just seems I shouldn't had experience slurred speech! I'm not on anybody prescribe medication period, besides this one! Why such extreme side effects as slurred speech?
CATAPRES (CLONIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE): This medication is used alone or with other medications to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). Lowering high blood pressure helps prevent strokes, heart attacks, and kidney problems. Clonidine belongs to a class of drugs (central alpha agonists) that act in the brain to lower blood pressure. It works by relaxing blood vessels so blood can flow more easily. (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA) Download our Free Resource Guide:
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