CATAPRES Reviews (CLONIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 2.2 (77 Ratings)

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 CENTRAL AGONISTS ANTIHYPERTENSIVES

 Type: Rx Drug

  

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)

  

Results are sorted by Gender with females listed first (reviews with no gender reported listed before females).

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

Page: 1 2 3 4


More on CATAPRES: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR CATAPRESCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  
1X day
2/1/2013
 5  Tourettes Tiredness I love this med. After twenty years of facial twitches (etc) this is the ONLY med. that ever helped. Tourette's symptoms are about 95% gone! More people with Tourette's should try this med. The side effects are nothing compared to the anti-psychcotics you usually have prescribed for this. Helped me quit smoking to, in fact I quit with no effort due to this med. F 32 2 years
0.2 2X day
5/7/2010
 5  Blood Pressure Surges/High BP I first took clonidine/catapres for uncontrolled blood pressure surges, and it worked fantastically, very fast control. They also used it on me in the ER. Extreme tiredness is a side effect---this caused me to take 1/4 to 1/2 tab of .1mg on a regular basis, and it still works perfectly. BUT, YOU MUST NOT CONSUME ANY ALCOHOL WITH CLONIDINE. Alcohol, even one drink, reverses the effect of clonidine. Moderate alcohol (a few glasses of wine for several days) will completely stop clonidine from working for 24 hours--you will need ER and a different drug to bring down BP. Once I realized this, I found many research papers on the alcohol effect in animals. I now have no side effects from clonidine, because I quit drinking. YOU MUST NOT CONSUME ANY ALCOHOL WITH CLONIDINE. If you need to drink, find a different medication. The "Avoid Alcohol" warning is a joke--you can't drink at all without diminishing the effectiveness of this drug. F 49 3 months
6/5/2006
 5  PTSD nightmares 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. F 56 1 days
.1mg
4/4/2015
 5  sleep/anxiety Drowsiness.., dry mouth. F 32 5 weeks
.03
4/23/2015
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 5  REM sleep behavior disorder 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) F 50 6 months
.5 mg 1X day
12/13/2019
 4  stress Stopped taking cold turkey. Started having stabbing pain in bback of my left eye. F 59 1 years
3mg x2day
11/19/2014
 4  Orthostatic intolerance & tourettes Weight gain. I've used the patch for several years with no skin problems. I take this to raise my blood pressure, not lower it, and it works great for that. It seems to help ticks some but not great. I am searching for causes of insomnia which brought me to this site. They say the % is low. F 42 5 years
5/24/2006
 4  high blood pressure lowers bp for 16 hrs F 52 7 days
2/10/2005
 4  blood pressure when taking a patch, the adhesive caused skin irritation. the drug works adequately. I have to make sure I take doses on time, as it clears the system quickly. It keeps my menopausal hot flashes at a minimum. F 54 3 years
2/20/2005
 4  My 7 yr old son takes it for So far I havent noticed any side effects he takes the tablet before bed. The doctor said to try half a tablet in the morning and half at night but that turned him into a zombie and he fell asleep at school! I then decided he could stick to one at night only. Catapres has definatley helped my son with the tics he was experiencing and his concentration at school is now amazing! Every 2-3 months he experiences bad stomach cramps that are unexplained - they are bad for about 1 hour and then disappear. I sometimes wonder if this is a possible side effect of the drug but nothing I read about it says anything about stomach pain???? F 7 18 months
100 mcg 1X day
1/8/2011
 3  HOT FLASHES I HAVEN'T TAKEN THE DRUG YET AND WANTED TO READ ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS ON THIS SITE. F 55 0 days
1X day
11/4/2010
 3  Hypertension Drowsy. Dizzy. Confusion. Lethargic. Very slow heart rate. Nausea. No appetite. No desire to drink which contributed to dehydration. Hospitalized with heart and kidney failure. I have severe hypertension without medication to levels over 200/150, so this drug was combined with three other anti-hypertensive drugs and a diuretic. [Verapamil, Bystolic,Amlodipine, Triam/HCTZ]. I took Catapres on a as needed basis when my BP was severely high. It took about 24 hours for my BP to get to a normal level, but shortly got dangerously low. Twice I was hospitalized when it got really bad and the last time almost killed me. F 45 3 months
.10 1X AN
1/1/2012
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 3  Migraine Preventitive now im starting to get the side effects, hair thinning (getting scary) extreme fatigue, at times my legs feel so weak and sore that i feel like they are going to give way while im holding the carry basket at the supermarket, arms are weak, weight gain, seem to have no emotions, no sex drive, Im disapointed and now a little scared, i have now been taking this for 6 months, hope its not as hard to get off as you all say.. F 33 6 months
0.1mg 2X day
1/31/2012
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Patient History
 3  Hypertensive bursts Depression, Anxiety, Hair thinning, Exhaustion and leg pain The first few months the medication worked great in lowering my BP. However... the past few months I am experiencing spikes a couple times a day and THANK GOD I found this blog because I was starting to feel crazy, like something was wrong with me. I have had a very hard time with depression, anxiety and severe exhaustion. I am so glad I found this site and can see that its not just me. F 5 months
.5 2X day
4/10/2012
 3  High blood pressure At first the patch was wonderful because of the lack of side effects and the excellent control of very high blood pressure. After a couple of months on the patch, the itching and skin rash were/are almost intolerable. The other side effect that began thereafter three is anxiety and depression. I wish there were another drug that could control my BP without all the side effects. I wrote to the manufacturer in Germany without any response. That is disappointing. F 66 6 months
3/30/2006
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 3  HBP First month using TTS-1 patch, very good. Next few months, successively redder site rash and tons of itching, also skin peeled after each patch was removed. It took me five months before I could say my hot sweats and hot flashes were at a minimum, or gone. So don't despair - if you can tolerate thepatch, stay with it - it will eventually be VERY GOOD for menopausal symptoms. But in my particular case, the allergic reaction to the adhesive on the TTS-1 patch was so bad, very red, itching, etc. my MD took me off it, and I just started on the Catapres Oral 0.1 to replace it. F 57 6 months
10/6/2008
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 3  Severe Hypertension Exreme fatigue and dry mouth, dry skin, hair, eyes. Is working better than anything else I've tried in lowering BP from 160/106 to 129/89 or so, but that fluctuates due to the short life of the drug. Don't know if I can continue to take at least during the day-I am falling asleep at my desk, meetings, etc. Cannot shake the pure lethargy and fatigue F 46 6 days
5/3/2006
 3  Hypertension Severe leg cramps, fatigue, lack of focus, dry eyes, depression, dry itchy skin, loss of sex drive, crave for next dosage,dizziness Oh it lowered my blood pressure, but wrecked what life I had left after changing my eating habits and such. I am currently weaning off, and it is horrible. I am hot and cold, the top of my head feels like it is going to fly off, the fatigue is horrible. Stay away from this drug, it is horrible. The hospital put me on it because my bp was 240/102, it has lowered the bp, but the cons outway the pros. My family doctor describes this drug as old and outdated and didn't hesitate to pull me off of it. F 42 3 months
11/12/2008
 3  high blood pressure F 52 5 days
2/4/2005
  

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)

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