What is it in Losartan (for neuropathy) that makes me crazy?

Strange. I’m on it for blood pressure (not neuropathy) and it’s never given me trouble. Sorry.

No…wait. you’re right. It is for high blood pressure and I have no problem. But she SAID it was for neuropathy. Let me check with the nurse

Well if a doctor orders it you HAVE to take it.

You have the right not to take anything you don’t want to as long as you’re conscious and can refuse.

I know that.

^^ I figured you did…you don’t take s**t from anyone from what I can tell. I wanted to put that out there just in case. ;)

Why did the doctor change your blood pressure medication?

You have to insist on a different drug. Demand to see the patient advocate if the nurse is not cooperating. Or, have your husband or daughter help advocate for you.

I 100% believe you are having a reaction to the drug. A lot of medical professionals seem to hate dealing with or believing drug side effects and allergies.I don’t understand it, but I have plenty of stories to support my statement.

Losartin damaged my kidneys. My kidneys never completely bounced back.

In what way were you feeling crazy?

All medicines cause side effects and losartan can cause dizziness, headaches and feelings of sickness in more than 1 in 100 people. Side effects don’t normally last long. This is something you should discuss with your doctor on a personal basis taking into account the pros and cons of taking the drug based on your individual reaction to it.

@flutherother Sounds like it’s a hospital doctor. I empathize with the situation the OP is in. Nurses in hospitals tend to push whatever is ordered and usually refuse to page a doctor. They make you wait until rounds in the morning and then you are either not medicated or taking a drug that is bad for you.

I can’t understand why this doctor changed her BP drugs that she takes already. Plus, I wonder if Losartan is on her allergy list.

“Sounds like it’s a hospital doctor”
That’s sounding vaguely like an insult. I’m a hospital doctor. We tend to follow what a patient is taking as an outpatient if they can take it.

“Nurses in hospitals tend to push whatever is ordered”
They legally have to.

“usually refuse to page a doctor”
That’s just not true. They page us all. the. fucking. time.

“They make you wait until rounds in the morning”
Not true. There is always a physician in the hospital (usually multiple) who are cross covering. If it is a non-urgent issue they tend to defer to the primary team, but if it’s an urgent issue they will deal with it.

Gapapenton makes me fraca caca!

ThanksCaravanvan
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@Caravanfan Your hospital is probably run well. I have no doubt you care well for your patients and that the nurses there respond to patients needs well too.

I could tell stories of great and terrible experiences at hospitals.

In this instance I can’t imagine why the doctor ordered Losartin, she has a bad history with it and she takes a different drug or drugs for BP, but maybe he had a good reason. I guess she’ll find out.

I did not mean hospital doctors are bad doctors, I don’t think that at all. I meant only that the OP probably can’t easily get in touch with the doctor, I don’t think it was “her doctor” who prescribed it. Pts at hospitals are rarely given the doctor’s contact number, we are dependent on the nurses.

Everything that you said is not true are things that have happened to me, or I had to beg a nurse to do something, so it is true sometimes. Medical mistakes are up there near the top ways that people die.

Pts at hospitals are rarely given the doctor’s contact number, we are dependent on the nurses.

Not being contrary, but I just had to throw out there that my ortho surgeon gave me his cell phone number for all 4 of my surgeries with him. <sigh> He’s wonderful :) dreamy, too lol

@smudges That’s great! I don’t feel you are being contrary. There are good and bad stories throughout the health system.

My dad just had amazing care in the hospital, but his current surgeon found that the previous surgeon didn’t repair everything that was supposed to be done and my dad was not told! The previous surgeon left minimal surgical notes and no explanation for why he skipped doing one of the repairs he was scheduled to do.

When my husband was having a bad reaction to cipro the hospital nurse kept saying no one has bad reactions. I had to insist she call the doctor with me standing in front of her demanding it “now” to get her to do it. The doctor changed the meds, I don’t think the doctor minded changing it. The next morning they sent in a nurse to redo my husband’s IV line and she was shaking so bad it seemed like she had Parkinson’s. Waving that needle near his arm. My husband finally said stop your not doing this. I think it was a joke or punishment they were delivering.

In Atlanta they never cleaned my wounds in the ER after my accident. They sent me up to the cardiac floor with pieces of road in my cuts. A very deep wound kept oosing and the nurse didn’t take it seriously even though my husband pointed it out twice, she said the ER should have taken care of it. Doctors did nothing. Finally three days later at an urgent care a different doctor said it should have been stitched but too late now.

That same hospital stay they left me alone without the sides up on my bed and they didn’t know I had SEVERE vertigo and when I moved I was extremely unstable. They also unnecessarily CT’d my body multiple times and they estimated I had 20 years of background radiation plus or minus 50% in that one minute.

I had a very lucky great experience with a gastro problem. The ER staff and the gastroenterologist were amazing and I was so thankful because I was really afraid about what was going to be done.

One doctor I saw wanted to cut off part of my clitoris from a possible cancer scare. That surgery usually leaves women in chronic pain. When I told the checkout person I’m not scheduling that surgery her response was “the doctor says you need it.” Long story short I went to two more GUN’s and then an oncologist specialist who told me in two minutes I definitely do not have cancer. That other doctor was going to butcher me.

I could go on and on with good experiences and bad.

I am damaged by the bad experiences, a lot of people have bad experiences in medical care and I think doctors and nurses need to understand.

I went to a rheumatologist years ago and his receptionist gave me a hard time because the referral hadn’t been sent. I told her I would pay and go to my primary afterwards or fight with insurance afterwards she still gave me a hard time. The doctor walked out to the lobby and said to let me cone into the exam room. Later on he told me when his dad was very sick in the hospital he came up to the room while he was being treated badly by a doctor and he swore in that moment he would never do that. Once the hospital staff found out the son of the patient was a doctor they treated him differently.

Jeez! I’m so sorry you’ve been through so much!

I’ve been extremely lucky, I guess. I’ve had over 20 surgeries and numerous hospital stays in different states and with different docs and can honestly say that 80% of the stays were uneventful, and all the surgeries went well. The one that was the worst was after a knee replacement the pain meds weren’t working so I asked for something different. The nurse told me there were several options the doc wrote in my chart, but that he didn’t mean trying each one until I found something I liked. I argued and they called in the head nurse to “deal with” me, I suppose. Finally they called the doc (the ortho one mentioned above), and he actually came to my room to discuss it. Result was that I was tried on a different pain med. He was so kind and I was so upset that I just cried out of gratitude.

I really feel badly for you. I’ve heard of nightmare situations like yours, but because of my good experiences I guess I thought maybe the patient was exaggerating or difficult. I won’t think that anymore! SMH

I have a few stories and know personally of a few stories, things that have happened to me by doctors and things I’ve seen in hospitals, mistakes done to friends and things like that. I don’t want to pile on and derail the thread but it’s definitely not unheard of, people getting substandard care in hospitals and by the medical profession. Even good hospitals can have bad doctors, and lesser hospitals can have good doctors.

I agree with @jca2 about good and bad doctors (and medical personnel). All I will add is that when I had some fairly severe medical issues back around Christmas – when I was out of town – I had top-notch and conscientious doctors, nurses, and others, both where my problems occurred and when I returned here to Georgia.

So maybe I’m lucky, but I had really good care. (Thanks Medicare for paying almost all of it).

@Dutchess_III Did the nurse tell the doctor you can’t take Losartan? Did the doctor change your medication?