CATAPRES Reviews (CLONIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.2 (77 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare CATAPRES with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken longest to shortest. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on CATAPRES: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR CATAPRES | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | DO NOT TAK ETHIS DRUG UNLESS YOU ARE STUCK ON IT ALREADY! Its so addictive that if you go without it for about 2 days after youre on it for a while, you will literally die of a stroke. My doctors agree with me on that. I went from 240 pounds to 160 pounds and quit smoking, exervised, changed my diet, etc. My blood pressure went up though and now Im on 0.3 MG three times a day when I started on only 0.1 MG three times a day. Ive had midney failute that nearly killed me while on this drug. My doctor even said that it can not be substituted as far as abruptly discontinuing the drug. Last year an issue with the drug left me with a blood pressure of 260 over 160! I dont know how Im even alive now! It made me sleep all day, made me confused and fogrget things, and I even passed out a lot. Another starange thing, when I started the drug I was only 24 and was in great shape. This drug is lterally killing me. If you want to stop taking it, keep close contact with your doctors, monitor your bloo | M | 37 | 13 years 0.3 MG 3X day | 5/1/2010 | 1 | hypertension | terrible lethergy, weakness | I haev been taking this for 10 years along with Cardura for hypertension. As I have gotten older, the side effects have gotten worse. I'm suppose to take this 2xday, but I cannot take the first dose until about 2pm because of the sedation side effects. It is now about ruining my life, and I'm a very active person and tennis player. Trying to get off it is hell, as you cannot just stop it due to rebound hypertension. I now wish I had never started on this medication and I'm working with my MD to get the hell off it. I can't imagine anyone being able to take this med at greater than .1 mg. per day due to the side effects, unless all they do is sleep all day. Just terrible. | F | 50 | 10 years | 7/16/2007 | 1 | Hypertension | 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! | F | 79 | 10 years 0.2 mg | 10/28/2019 | 2 | menopausal flushing | dry eyes, dry mouth,dry stuffy nose, constipation. | I have been on this drug for seven years. It worked initially for two years but now I want to come off the drug because of dry skin and a severely dry mouth..Straight away my blood pressure shot up even though i have been weaning myself off of them.I have been feeling truly awful but determined to stop taking them. | F | 51 | 7 years | 2/2/2010 | 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 | 1 | high blood pressure | We each sound like we are putting our last entries into a nightmare journal, and we have. First, the side effects are serious dry mouth, severe constipation, weight gain, muscle aches and incredible lethargy. I finally realized that this medication is also responsible for my severe hair loss, hair dryness, and hair thinning. Finally, the withdrawal symtoms are worser than any withdrawal sypmtoms that I can imagine. I spent a night in the hospital due to rebound high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia, and terrible anxiety (due to trying to get off this medication). Yes, you do have nightmares . There are other combinations of high blood pressure medications that you can get on, but this is not one of them. | I started taking it about 4 years ago. I wished my primary doctor(at the time) would have never put me on it. I have been to several doctors and nephrologists to help me get off of it. I also have finally found a good nephrologist that feels the same as I do about it. Currently, I am down from taking 6mg a day to about 1 or 2mg a day. I know that one day I will be completely off of this drug. It really does take time (weeks/months) to get off of it, and I'm still trying to. | F | 31 | 4 years | 12/23/2007 | 1 | High pulse | 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?? | F | 31 | 4 years 2.4 mgs | 10/8/2015 | 1 | high blood pressure | extreme constipation and immediate/extreme weight gain-difficulty getting off this medication due to high blood pressure spiking-I wish there was a cure for this drug. | Severe and extreme side effects this is not the end all cure all medication. It never should have been approved by the FDA. | F | 31 | 4 years | 7/15/2007 | 4 | Anxiety | M | 51 | 3 years .1mg 1X day | 1/1/2023 | 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 | 1 | High BP | I LOVED the idea of a once a week patch! Less to remember, steady dosage of drug. And it worked great for the first two years! But now I have developed severe itching and pustules at site of patch. I have to keep switching the site of the patch. I took a break of several months from the patch, then returned to it two months ago. Now, in addition to the pustules and itchiness under the patch, I have also developed itchy scalp and unbearable itching on my earlobes, esp. the left one (I wear the patch on my left arm). I am off it, permanently. I will not use it again. | I have read that switching to Clonidine pills after developing an allergy to the patch could trigger a whole body allergic reaction. | F | 59 | 3 years | 7/5/2006 | 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 | 4 | hypertension | Rebound with missed dose | M | 68 | 2 years .2 mg 4X day | 4/24/2022 | 3 | Rosacea/flushing | Though it did help stop the flushing, I experienced insomnia, hair thinning/loss, heart palpitations, fatigue, blurred vision. | M | 42 | 2 years | 11/10/2008 | 2 | high blood pressure | I've been on catapres patch1,patch2,then patch3 till the Doc finally got results wanted. However, I am fatigued and depressed.Can hardly do anything.Also constipated,bloated,and LOTS of hair loss.Anytime I try to decrease,rebound effect hits. | I finally told my Doc to help me wean off this and find something else.Only thing is, everything else sounds bad too. | F | 47 | 2 years | 9/25/2007 | 2 | Sweating/Blood Pressure/Anxiety | Dizziness, Noticable Hair Loss, Severe Constipation, Occasional Palpitations, Tiredness, Malaise, Weight Gain, Extreme Dry Skin, Uncontrollable Dandruff, to name a few. | I started taking Clonidine (Catapres) about 2 years ago initially at one 0.1 mg tablet per day for sweating due to Methadone Maintenance Therapy's notorious sweating problems. At first, I didn't like the drug because of the dizziness I experienced and chose to stop taking it briefly. I started on it again to give it another shot and still had the dizziness although it went away about a month into taking the drug. For awhile, it was a wonder drug. My sweating episodes decreased and it helped with my unrelenting anxiety. My doctor put me on a sedative drug for a week in the beginning of treatment for the anxiety but discontinued it after the first and only prescription because I guess he didn't want me to form another addiction. So, I stayed on the Clonidine, and he increased the dosage to 0.1 mg tablets three times a day. I was on that dose for a good portion of my treatment,, I did notice that I was taking more naps than usual and was so tired I could barely get through a 6 hour day at school without falling asleep at my desk. After about 6 months of that my anxiety increased and my doctor in turn increased my dose again to two 0.1 mg tablets, three time a day. So by this time I was sleeping all the time, no energy. Then about 1 1/2 years into taking Clonidine, I started noticing more than usual hair loss in my brush. I wasn't worried at first, but then it started to fall out more and more. So with having the one last good feature of myself that I thought I still had st | F | 23 | 2 years .2 mg 3X day | 6/21/2011 | 4 | High Blood Pressure | Light dizziness. With the patch severe itching after a year and had to discontinue and use the tablets. | I was put on the 1 mg patch at first, then moved to the 2mg patch shortly thereafter which I tolerated for a year and 2 months. I say tolerated because it was hell living with the itching but the benefits were worth it to me. I felt 100% better until one evening I had to go to the ER room because my BP had gone up suddenly (210/110). I was put on the 3mg patch then and only tolerated it for 4 days. I had to get off the patch because I just couldn't tolerate the itching any more. I am now on tablets and so far (1 week) I've had only minor side effects (light dizzeness, etc.). Overall this drug has worked for me in keeping my BP lowered. | M | 63 | 1 years | 8/7/2006 | 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 | 2 | Hypertension | I use to love it...it caused a little dizziness, sleepiness, memory loss, fuzzy eyes, headaches but all slight, went away as the months progressed but now I have severe Withdraw symptoms like a junkie, Im addicted to this med, short lasting meds, I feel I have to take it sooner every day.it feels like ur dying when ur dose overlaps, I hate it and wish I could wing myself off from it. was on 1mg a year ago, now up to 4 to 6 mg | do not take...........do not take | M | 38 | 1 years | 6/13/2008 | 1 | Hypertension | Lethargic and could not stay awake. Would nod off in the middle of a sentence. Was not getting any exercise because I was too drowsy. Sugar level got dangerously low (even to passing out) several times because I could not WAKE UP to eat the next meal. | In the hospital they gave me this drug in a patch. When I got out of the hospital I changed doctors and refused to take it in pill or patch form. There are alternatives. | F | 82 | 1 years | 11/11/2009 |
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)