There are 196 ratings for the drug: COZAAR in the Askapatient database.

Key to ratings for cozaar: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine.

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Rating	Reason	Side Effects	Comments	Sex	Age	Time Taken		Date Added
				F  M
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2	elevated BP Cardiologist prescribed	diarrhea,gas, anxiety, neck and shoulder pain increased, no libido, cognitive issues, lightheadness	working with my family doctor to get off this drug I just don't feel right but feel better and more like myself when it leaves my system tried taking it at night and couldn't sleep	F	56	1 years		1/30/2010 Email
3	Post Mild Stroke & HBP	Severe vertigo with nausea & sensitivity to light in the morning after getting out of bed. Some back pain.	When started the med two wks ago, bp dropped & was fairly normal. After severe vertigo, bp rose to 182/109. Planning to discuss all of this with my doctor.	M	56	2 weeks		1/29/2010
4	High Blood Pressure	50mg twice a day (am and pm). No noticeable side effects except that which it is designed to do: lower BP.	I'm a non-smoker, and I exercise regularly (treadmill 30 minutes daily), eat wisely and responsibly, and enjoy a single, favorite German beer each evening.	M	60	2 years		1/9/2010
3	hypertension	have been taking for about 2 years, good bp response but the last six months I have had the flu twice and cold twice which is unusal for me, noted that infections were #1 side effect. Some fatique, some joint pain in arms and muscle fatique. Anyone else note frequent colds or flu symptoms?		F	60	2 years		1/7/2010
2	aortic valve replacement	I had swelling of hands, feet and face,that only dissipates after takin a diuretic only. Has anyone experienced these symptons and how did you treat it?		F	64	20 days		1/7/2010
4	Kidney Function - Proteinuria	Initially, coughing and dizziness which subsided after a few months. Now, difficulty getting to sleep if I take too late; possible hair loss (unsure); have had some chest pains (might not be due to meds). Otherwise, pretty good now. Need to wait it out...all have side effects. Only concerned about hair loss now.	In general, has been good med considering that I have tried others which were worse. Need to give it some time. My kidney function has improved tremendously and I know will have to deal with some side effects. QUESTION: Has anyone experienced hair loss as a result of medication???? Please reply to me at my email. Thanks!!	F	44	4 years		1/3/2010 Email
4	Hypertension	Was on lysinopril with the cough side effect that destroyed sleep for 3 months. Dr.never suggested it was the cause, gave me cough medicine,said it was post-nasal drip. I did the research and said I wanted to try cozaar. Started at 50mg, had to up it to 100 mg so for two months BP has been very good. Had diarrhea, headaches the first 2 weeks, have had a few brief bouts of optic migraine with the jagged glass effect. Have muscle pain in arm but attribute it mainly to computer use. Have a bad knee but it's actually feeling better. Have noticed weight gain of a few lbs. which is rare and may not be the cozaar at all.	I'm sleeping very well, mentally alert, feeling good mentally and physcially. The big question is why do patients have to suffer debilitating side effects while trying to fix a health problem. Lysinopril was devastating. Overall, the answer is to lose weight and exercise ad be rid of this toxic drugs once and for all.	F	69	60 days		12/26/2009 Email
2	High BP	Heart flutter, muscle spasms (particularly eye muscle spasms), anxiety, depression, dizziness when standing, insomnia	The side effects are a lot worse when I take the two doses per day that the doctor recommends. When I experience anxiety, I stutter really badly. This does not work well with my job since I work in a call center. I may end up just trying to use fish oil to lower my BP because the side effects of Cozaar are BAD. The only thing that makes them go away is to lower the dose down to half or less, which makes the BP go back up. Its a catch-22. I just need to find something else which can lower my BP and quit relying on drugs.	M	33	15 months		12/9/2009 Email
1	BP	Extreme facial swelling, hives, itching. I have only been on this drug about a month.	This happened when I took Ramapril, too.	M	48	45 days		12/8/2009 Email
5	High blood pressure	The side effects have been positive. The cozaar seems to elevate my mood, and I have a much smaller appetite. I have lost three pounds in a week.		F	50	2 weeks		11/28/2009 Email
1	Prevention of Kidney Disease	Was taking lisinopril for several years and was switched to Cozaar because of the ACE inhibitor cough. Sex drive decreased immensely within two weeks of starting Cozaar. I'm 43 and would much rather have the cough than not wanting to make love to my wife. Will be speaking to MD this week.		M	43	3 weeks		10/27/2009
1	Blood Pressure	Extreme lower back pain	I used Cozaar for 2 days. Experienced extreme lower back pain. Abdominal cramping. Stopped using after 2 days.	F	46	2 days		10/12/2009 Email
2	High BP	I had chest pains, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache and sinus pain, but perhaps the worst was breaking out in tons of pimples	I started this drug twice, about a month apart and had the same reaction both times.	F	53	10 days		10/8/2009
2	High Blood Pressure	After 3 months severe back pain and severe muscle pain especially in knees and thighs.	I also had same side effects with Hyzaar but also insomnia. I have stopped it today, I can't take the pain anymore and the tylenol/advil that I have to take to take the edge off. Its really affecting my ability to do anything.	F	52	3 months		9/8/2009
3	High Blood pressure	After about two weeks on Cozaar 25mg I experienced shortness of breath and difficulty sleeping restfully because of the breathing problem.		M	74	17 days		9/6/2009
2	Hypertension	Light headed & vertigo. Sinus dryness and headaches.	Taking the drug for the first time. Its only been 4 days, so I'll wait and see if side effects subside. The reason I was put on Cozaar was because my hypertension was giving me dizzy spells. I went from feeling dizzy once and awile to feeling vertigo all the time. Not much of a cure so far.	M		4 days		8/31/2009
1	hi b/p from FMD of renal arteries	I took Cozaar for high B/P caused from fibromuscular dysplasia of renal arteries. Kidney function went way down. Needed Procrit to resolve severe anemia caused by kidney failure. Nephrologist took me off Cozaar and kidney function came back to 60%.	Maybe this med is fine for some people, but I wouldn't reccommend it if you have kidney disease.	F	58	2 months		8/20/2009
1	Congestive Heart Failure, Stage II	After several weeks of taking 50 mg of Cozaar, just before bedtime, I began experiencing unusual and severe pain in my back, hips, leg muscles, which began about midnight and continued through till morning. (I had an identical response with Atacand, so my cardiologist decided to try Cozaar because it's supposed to be milder. The only difference for me was that Cozaar took a little longer to produce the same side effects as Atacand.)	When I told the cardiologist about my symptoms, he didn't believe Cozaar was to blame because the muscle aches/joint pain didn't start right away. (Since stopping Cozaar, the pain is gone.) Physician arrogance continues to amaze me. How is it that some doctors won't accept the uniqueness of their patients' personal physiologies, preferring to attribute drug reactions to "imagination" rather than listening to, and validating, what is clearly valuable patient feedback? No one knows the patient's body better than the patient.	F	89	8 weeks		8/8/2009
3	High BP / High TGF-Beta1	Following my first dose of Cozaar, my eyes turned glassy and had a tint of yellow. Urine darker than usual the following morning. Frequent little annoying headaches. Loss of appetite. I have issues gaining weight already so that's the last thing I needed! VERY FORGETFUL. Depression. I quit Cozaar due to the loss of appetite and memory issues. At least until my doctor has a better understanding of what's wrong with me. Doctors think I have Marfan Syndrome, but we're in the early stages of any type of diagnosis.	On the flip side, it took down my BP when other meds wouldn't and I had a lighter feeling in my chest. My arm veins nearly diminished and the red tint to my lower arms/hands went away. It took the red out of my face. My fingernails and toenails started growing! And, I could tell that my skin was healing quicker.	F	26	30 days		7/19/2009
1	Protect Kidneys from diabetes	I begin taking two 500mg Metformin tablets in 2003 to regulate my blood sugar. With excellent functioning of my kidneys and no sign of problems, in 2007 my doctor recommended going on a daily regiment of 25mg cozaar to protect my kidneys over time. For over 20 years, I've been an avid walker. Early into the cozaar regiment I experienced no problems taking the pill. However, after about the 13th month into the regiment I begin to feel numbness in my left foot and loss of feeling in the knee joint of my right leg. In 14th month I begin experiencing extreme difficulty in getting and maintaining an erection. Additionally, when an erection came, it was not firm at all. In about 18th month I could not get an erection at all. Prior to both the numbness and erection problem I had never experienced a problem in these areas. Recognizing that I was doing fine before taking cozaar, I decided to search for an Internet chat room to see what others might be saying about this drug. This lead	While I thought cozaar was just a kidney protection drug when it was recommended by my endocrinologist, the research revealed that its being used for a variety of medical conditions, i.e., high blood pressure, hypertension and a few others. This suggest that the drug is still being tested to see which, if any, of these conditions it is best suited. Cozaar may prove to be very beneficial as a kidney protector for some persons with Type II diabetes, but for now, its not for me. Much more data is needed that provide definitive results on cozaar.	M	61	20 months		7/12/2009
4	high bp and diabeties	Lasinapril like cough showed up after 2 months. Dizzy spells limited driving a car. Reduced dosage to 25 mg did not reduce symptoms. Nausea in warm weather.	Tried both lisinapril and Cozaar, could not tolerate either.	M	57	4 months		7/1/2009 Email
4	moderately high BP	Dry throat and mild cough. Mild issue with erections.	Helped lower my BP and increased my exercise tolerance.	M	45	1 years		6/24/2009
2		ED, unable to achieve an erection sufficient for intercourse. Was fine until I started the Cozaar.	Many people complain about psychological depression while on Losartan Potassium. I was depressed but it was an odd kind of feeling - I would call it agrivated depression. I felt like someone was shouting in my ear all day. Nasty. I'm getting off Cozaar.	M	62	120 days		6/17/2009
1	hypertension	Itching was unbearable. I could not sleep due to the intense itching of the tops of my feet, ankles, calves, arms, & chest. I still have blisters under the skin on my chest looking like cottage cheese & still itching after 5 days off this drug. It did lower my BP to the point all I want to do was sit in my chair & scratch.	I will not take this again. Doc gave me Norvasc as an alternative but the comments about it look worse than the Cozaar. Like many others guess I will have to handle this holistically.	F	58	5 days		6/12/2009
2	High Blood Pressure	Extreme Lower Back Pain, I"ve only taken this drug for 3 days and I could barely get up out the bed or even roll over in the bed. I know something was wrong or out of place. And I remembered these same symtoms when I to Hyzaar which was the lower back pain and I developed brusitis in my left shoulder. I was off work for 3 weeks and had to recieve therapy for my joints. This drugs lowers your blood pressure but with the side affects are too much to bear. I am very active and it interfers with my daily activities. These drug side affects force you to eat right!		F	52	3 days		6/11/2009
2	BP	none	I'm taking cozaar, metoprolol and maxide - and my systolic blood pressure still varies from 140 to 107. I don't know what helps, or why it goes that high.	M	78	2 years		5/9/2009
3	high blood pressure	lightheadness,dizziness,anxiety,depression,tingling in my arms and legs,fatigue	I went to see my doctor because I was feeling depressed and not at all my normal self. He told me that depression was rare with Cozaar and to keep taking it for a few more weeks to see if the side effects disappeared. I was glad to find this site as I was thinking that my symptoms were perhaps due to menopause. I can't wait to get off this medication, but I don't want my blood pressure to creep back up. I will definitely give the diet and exercise a good try!	F	50	2 days		5/3/2009
4	4	Occasional light-headedness, dry-mouth. Better than lisinopril which made me cough all night. I do seem to also have water retention in my legs - which my cardiologist cannot see, but I can. Helped to reduce my heart palpitations. Glad to see this site because I've been worried about the water retention. Also, migraines with flashing lights - sometimes two or three episodes in a row for several days in a row. Helped libido and I'm not as tired as when I was on the lisinopril. It lowered blood pressure, but that seems to be creeping back up. I'm trying to lose weight, but I have about a 5 pound water weight gain that goes up and down. Don't know what on earth to do - lisinopril was horrible. Will really try to lose weight now to get off this stuff - esp after reading all these comments. May God help us all!		F	50	1 years		5/1/2009 Email
1	HBP	Arm/bicep pain; right knee pain radiating up and down leg causing a restless leg-type situation; agitation. (Pharmacist and doctor assured me that the Cozaar didn't/shouldn't cause this problem. My leg was hurting so badly that I went to an orthopod, had an MRI, and was diagnosed with a miniscus tear. The surgery to repair was performed within a few days.)	I took the medicine for 5 days, decided on my own to come off. It took 48 hrs. to totally exit my system.	F	58	5 days		4/16/2009 Email
3	High Blood Pressure	Fluttering in my chest (heart) wakes me up at night. Mild dizziness, though nothing like I had on Hyzaar, which I switched from. Some fatigue	Not sure abotu this drug. I was prescribed it at 50 mg as an alternative to Hyzaar, which just about did me in (talk about side effects!) I've only been taking it two or three weeks, but I'm considering stopping it.	F	47	3 weeks		4/14/2009 Email
1	High Blood Pressure	Side affects took a few weeks to manifest to the extreme. Extreme muscle weakness and pain, joint pain, nausea, dizziness, weakness/fatigue, pain in left kidney, heart flutters/spasms, headache. I got to the point where I could barely walk up the hill!	The side affects of this drug are very scary. I figure if it affects your body's muscles in a negative way, it must affect the heart muscle also! I haven't been able to find any blood pressure medication that doesn't have horrible side affects so far!!!	F		3 weeks		4/6/2009
3	mild hypertension	dizzinees/vertigo, dry mouth and back pain.At first it control my BP. Right now I have a feeling of fatigue at all times.	I wish I could take something else, I will see my doctor in a couple of days and I need something with less side effects.	F	53	5 months		3/28/2009
3	High BP	Stuffy nose, tired and headache		M	51	1 days		2/11/2009
4	High blood pressure	None	Had what I thought were a lot of side effects which went away after losing 25 lbs of weight	M		90 days		2/9/2009 Email
2	border line high blood pressure	Dry mouth, hip pain,foot pain,chills,frequent urination in night,heart feels like fluttering,always tired,ringing in ears,heart races,pulse drops.	Was previously on Linisapril in which I had also side effects, my Dr. switched me to cozaar which helped but now having these side affects with this drug. I am on 50 mg and am 49 years old. Bp was 139/89. Now with cozaar it is 128/84. I do not think drugs are tested enough to show any dangerous effects from them. The drug companies seem to be only interested in the huge profits these products produce for them in the short term. disregarding the affects it has on people.	M	49			2/4/2009
4	For Blood Pressure	I have been taking 100 mg of Cozaar for over five years and have not had any side effects. Or maybe, since I have been taking 100 mg for so long that I do not realize that I may have any side effects. However, in order to reduce my Protein, my nephrologist read about a study where increasing Cozaar actually reduces Protein. The game plan was to increase the 100 mg to 200 mg for two weeks and then do a 24 hour urine. The doctor said that there would be no side effects. After the 7th day of 200 mg all of a sudden my urine turned brown and a tea color. I was immediately taken off of the Cozaar and my BP was about 108/50. My BP is back up to normal after two days but the jury is still out on what happened. There was no blood in the urine and all blood work, urine and EKG were normal. The M.D. is now researching this as to what may have happened. I just hope that I did not lose any kidney function. The creatine level did not go up		M	67	7 days		1/31/2009
2	high blood pressure	extreme fatigue, drowsiness	I'd complained to my doctor over the last couple of years about being extremely sleepy during the day. We never connected this with the Cozaar, but instead kept changing my antidepressant-- with no effect. I switched from Cozaar to Norvasc about 5 months ago to save money (Norvasc is much less expensive) and am no longer drowsy during the day and have much more energy/motivation in general. I have noticed the extreme difference as have my friends and coworkers.	F	45	5 years		1/27/2009
1	High Blood Pressure	Joint paint, bone paint, aches and pains.	Have been taking this for about 2 months. My joints, and bones have been aching. General fatigue. Possible depressive symptoms.	F	38	2 months		1/26/2009
4	High Blood Pressure	Weight gain.	It worked well to reduce my high blood pressure, but I could not keep up with the weight gain. Although I exercised regularly and ate a healthy diet, the weight kept piling up. I gained 15 pounds in two months.	F		60 days		1/14/2009
2	High Blood Pressure	Gradual weight gain, headaches, depression, mental confusion/dullness/not being able to concentrate, fatique, sleeping 12 hours at a time, general malaise feeling, leg pain/swelling, blurred vsion, dizziness, trouble sleeping at night and shortness of breath.	It does seem to control my blood pressure but at what cost? I can't stand the side effects. My doctor says it is not caused by Cozaar, but what else could it be? It's the only med I am taking! I am going to try the natural route, exercise, eating right, vitamens, herbs etc... and see what happens! :)	F	56	10 months		1/6/2009
1	hbp	extreme dry mouth, upper respiratory infection, confusion, constant need to go to the bathroom	have only been on the meds for a month and had to stop taking them, will be going to the doctor today so prob will start something new	F	37	1 months		1/5/2009
1	HBP	I am on COZAAr again :-( I have failed to do the much needed exercise I had started back in junly, this due to too much work and my BP was somewhat very high. Doctor says I have to take or other med. I decided to give it a another chance, but I am back to the old side effects: cough, not sleeping well at night, dizzyness, very tired, forget things, get often more upseth with the kids and family, etc. I take it in the mornings right I stay up, 06:30/07:30 the doctor says is the best time, I have tried it at different times of the days, if I take it around noon (12) then I will have a hell of a day, complaining and upseth the whole family and or coleagues, I will have no fellings for no one, comments are though sincere which does not work in the real world now. Although sexual activity is the same or more actualy, and it is the same as last time, but off course I won't get much from the wife, while going around making lives difficult here at home :-( I try to controle it but can't get to	This is an update to early statements: Not satisfied with the drugg COZAAR, I have been on it since 2006 with a pause between july until 10/1/2008, doctor syas I have to take it or other stuff, since i had already I starte it on it again to give it another shot. Side effects are the same like last time, and again feel depressed and pain in the chest and stomach, dizzy and forget things. I explained to doctor all my side effects and doctor just laughed, It fels like she was happy I had to crawl back to the drug, since i failed to the planned training activity, but private work matters, makes the situation impossibel to train at he moment. Doctor doesn't believe my side effects are due to the drug, even i tried to shoe the results on this webpage, she just laughed at my face and said that off course there is always people outthere complaining about COZAAR, but it doesn't help me much complaining back. :- I had a BP unit recording for 24 hours, and it came with a few high results (60%) s	M	41	3 years		12/31/2008
5	Upper reading was always above 160	headache, throbbing sensation in top of my head.	I have been taking cozaar only 5 days now at a strength of 50 mg. od. This to be increased to 100 mg after two continuous weeks on medication.	M	60	5 days		12/28/2008 Email
1	High BP	I have a BP of 135/100 give or take 10 points at times. I was taking avalide and had dramatic increases to my heart rate, my normal was around 65 went up to 100. Also caused fatigue. Dr. gave me Cozaar, 50mg dose to try. It got my BP down to a normal range, no High pulse rate, BUT headaches every day. I woke this AM and the knee pain was extreme. Only painful in the right knee. This was after a restfull Saturday without any exercise or work that could cause the hobbling. I've got to go off of this, am going to try something else.		M	58	21 days		12/14/2008
1	High Blood Pressure	My doctor (cardiologist) wants me to take 100 mg of Cozaar each day. My blood pressure is 135/90.	Thank you so very much for your comments and experiences with Cozaar. I will NOT take it. I have decided to greatly reduce my caffeine and alcohol consumption, excercise regularly and lose some weight!	M	56	0 days		12/4/2008
5	Hypertension	Works wonderfully for me. Was looking for something with no/low sexual side effects- my brother recommended Cozaar as he takes it with no negative side effects. Had taken several meds before this with icky side effects- Lisinopril- cough, Beta blockers- zonked, tired, out of it... etc. This has been great for me. Only question I have is does it effect memory- but my (mild) issues may be unrelated to this med, who knows!		F	52	2 years		11/30/2008
3	moderately high BP	First few days I had a dizzy/lightheaded feeling which went away. I now feel tired/fatigued and a bit depressed. The tired feeling is somewhat less if I take it before bed. The medicine almost acts like a 12 hour sleeping pill.	It lowers blood pressure, but the old benezapril/HCTZ symptoms may actually be worse. I've traded a cough and having to goto the bathroom too frequently with a general feeling of tiredness. I can't say that cozaar is better than the benazipril/HCT it replaced.	M	40	1 months		11/30/2008
3	hypertension	headache,bellyache,leg pain, and mood changes		F	5	5 days		11/18/2008 Email
3	High blood pressure	I have been taking Cozaar 50mg for 5 years now. And at first I did not notice any side effects, my blood pressure was good. But lately in the past year, I have noticed my blood pressure goes up. And then it goes way down, I have been feeling very fatigued, I'm experiencing chest pain, and I get out of breath easily. I don't sleep well at night and I used to fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I get very sensitive, I have a hard time concentrating. I was at my wits end wondering what was going on with me and at least after reading everyone else's symptoms which are like mine, I am relieved I'm not going crazy. I thank all of you for sharing your symptoms.	I know I need to change my eating habits. And as of today that is what I am going to do. I want to somehow get off of this medicine. God has given me wisdom to listen to my body and I don't always do it. But now I am going to take charge of that.	M	59	5 years		11/14/2008
1	high blood pressure	extreme depression and anxiety, severe headaches particularly behind eyes, occasional mild dizziness/vertigo, dry mouth and eyes, concenration/memory lapses	I, too, am glad to have discovered this site. Cozaar, the latest of several medications that have not been effective in treating my bp problems, actually seemed to cause the pressure to elevate (tonight, 204/124!) over the 2 weeks I have taken it. As others noted, several side effects seem to be directly connected to this medication. In addition to problems cited, it appeared to make me quite irritable and anxious with the feeling that I just wanted to scream or burst into tears as well as avoid interactions with anyone. This only occurred after I began taking Cozaar.	F	60	2 weeks		11/8/2008
5	high blood pressure	none	I have been taking this med for a few years. No side effects. It has helped me to lower my BP. I take 25 mg every morning and evening (50 mg total)>	M	67	5 years		11/5/2008
3	High Blood Pressure 140/90	Anxiety(don't know what to expect),gas, above average RHR at night and once a day for 3-4 hours I experience a strange fluttering feeling in my chest, but no pain or discomfort	Do these sound normal to the long term users?	M	39	4 days		11/3/2008
3	hypertension	dizzy spells		M		3 days		10/26/2008
2	High BP	*** This is an update to an early comment!*** *** M 41 2 years 7/31/2008 *** Diahhrea sometimes,neck and occasional headaches, very irritable and sometimes with pain in my joints,lightheadedness & some dizzyness.Strange feelings and pain in my body. I have been depressed for the first time in my life. can't sleep well at night, lots of swet, Insomnia, coughing and difficut to concentrate. Extreme fatigue, dry mouth, anxiety, rapid heartbeat sometimes - yes, LOTS of depression, LOTS of sweats, LOTS of disorientation and drowsiness too.	M 41 2 years 7/31/2008 I went to my doctor and told her of my feelings, after that I have quited the drug and since then life has been much better, and even my HBP is normal!!! amazing, even the doctor is amazed with it :-) I am not training more than before, actually less, but I do eat less salt food and sweets. I don't believe people is writing just for fun or to give the drug a bad name. But for me it worked onle sometimes and after a while i was depressed and all that negative stuff.	M	41			10/25/2008
1	High Blood Pressure	My side effects include headaches, dizziness and vertigo as I've never experienced before. I was dizzy on hydroclorothiazide, but that wasn't one tenth as bad as Cozaar. Also I feel like crying all the time and seem to be having concentration and memory problems. I cannot function normally. I can't even lie down because the dizziness gets even worse when I do. I'm frankly scared.	I have taken myself off Cozaar and wonder how long the symptoms will take to disappear. I will not take any blood pressure medication again. I've struck out badly three times already.I'll lose weight, cut salt out of my diet, and hope for the best. The life I'm living on Cozaar is not a life worth living.	F	61	2 months		10/22/2008 Email
5	high blood pressure	none	It works perfect . I suspect some comments were not from real patients !they want you to buy other....		50	12 years		10/20/2008
5	High Blood Pressure	Slight dizziness and cough that went away. Substantially increased libido and have not needed ED medication since.		M	55	2 years		10/17/2008 Email
2	HBP	After switching from Procardia becasue it was ineffective in reducing my Bp, I took the Cozaar for about 2 months without issues. Bp went down from 150/100 - 120/80. Then the daily headaches started. They were debilitating mucle tension type headaches in the back of the head and behind my eyes. Nothing would help these. Went to a different Dr. who put me on Benecar(sp)for a month. After 1.5 weeks headaches went away. After my Benecar ran out I went back on my Cozaar to see if the headaches would return, they did in 2 weeks. Now Dr. is trying Diovan 320 mg. I looked at the side effects for that - holy crap! I will give it a go, but it looks terrible!		M	48	2.5 months		10/17/2008
5	high blood pressure	none - it worked great.	I'd been on cozaar for over 5 years to control my wild bp (too high sometimes and too low others; averaged out too high), and it worked great - controled the bp as well as I can ever expect, and no side effects. A recent change in job brought a change in health insurance and of course the new insurer won't cover cozaar, so Dr. is trying others (currently diovan, which has caused insomnia and 5 lb weight gain in 2 weeks). I'm debating just paying for the cozaar out of pocket, despite the high cost. But I'll call the Dr. today and will probably try another drug (atacand?) before giving up and paying it out of pocket. If he'll try hard enough, my Dr. should be able to convince the health insurance company to cover cozaar for me, but I'm not holding my breath - I've been dealing with the medical industry for a rare and little understood condition for over 20 years, and know they don't like to listen to patients.	F	50	5 years		9/22/2008
2	high bp	extreme joint, tendon pain (knees, calves, shoulders); allergic reaction in the throat -- coughing	taking cozaar and lopressor for five years. i hate them both, but they lower my bp.	M	59	5 years		9/9/2008 Email
5	hp	none but if all the people have so many problems thats what there doctors gets paid for. talk to him or her.it took me a long time to find a drug that works. been taking it 4 years		M	58			9/7/2008 Email
4	high bp	The only real side effect has been diarrhea that started a few days after first starting on cozaar. BP down from 171 over 94, to 123 over 77 at its lowest. Average bp around 133\80. Cozaar has helped, just hate the diarrhea!		M	38	2 weeks		8/25/2008 Email
1	High BP	SEVERE depression. Fatigue. Feelings of hopelessness. Feeling like I still had to go to the bathroom after going to the bathroom (incomplete emptying of bladder).	Be really careful about taking this if you are on any anti-depressants or ADD medications!!!!	M	38	19 days		8/22/2008
2	High blood pressure	Back pain, leg pain, mental "fogginess", increased depression. I attributed side effects to fibromyalgia. I've been feeling TERRIBLE. I'm SO excited I found this website!		F	45	2 months		8/16/2008
3	HBP	The first 3 years or so, was okay, now, I suffer from sleeplessness at night and horribly tired and sleepy during the day. I had to cut my work hours to half time because I am extremely tired during the day. High anxiety, dizziness. I had never suffered from depression and anxiety before, now, it is unbelievable. I have been taking 25mg for 6 years now. Since my father died of a stroke, I know I have to take BP med, but let’s see what happens if I take it every other day for a month and start getting serious about exercise. I have already cut at least 75 percent of sodium intake in the last couple of years.		F	54	6 years		8/5/2008
2	High Blood Pressure	Diahhrea sometimes,neck and occasional headaches, very irritable and sometimes with pain in my joints,lightheadedness & some dizzyness.Strange feelings and pain in my body. I have been depressed for the first time in my life. can't sleep well at night, lots of swet, Insomnia, coughing and difficut to concentrate. Extreme fatigue, dry mouth, anxiety, rapid heartbeat sometimes - yes, LOTS of depression, LOTS of sweats, LOTS of disorientation and drowsiness too.	It's so amazing, I'm so glad I found this website too. I have been on Cozaar for 2 years, but didn't make the connection with Cozaar. I have talked to my doctor since the first week, but she told me this had nothin to do with the this drug. I could actually almost writ the most on this page om my side effects. Since I have been taking it for so long, I guess I have been through all of them :-). While I am writing this my left arm/elbow is hurting, I have been felling very strange all day before I came across this site, I will print this out and show my doctor, she can't just say this isn't true.	M	41	2 years		7/31/2008 Email
2	High Blood Pressure	Severe edema, which even HCT wouldn't resolve, and even higher blood pressure.	If you have insulin resistance and a problem with edema already, you should be taking Atacand, but, of course, my new doctor, wanted to try something new.	F	43	3 weeks		7/26/2008
2	Hypertension / atrial fibrillation	Initial dose of 25mg taken for 18 months was fine but when it was increased to 50mgs by cardiologist, I lost 40% of my kidney function in 3 weeks		F	59	2 years		7/21/2008
2	Hypertension	At 100mg dosage for hypertension: initial flushing, rapid onset of insomnia, shortness of breath (asthamtic), chest pain, angina pain and acid reflux. I should add that it did lower bp signficantly.	Losartan is probably one of the better monotherapies for hypertension available, especially if adequate bp control can be achieved at 50mg. At higher doses side effects appear more pronounced. My negative experience could relate to mild angiodema (which can occur with both ACE Inhibitors and ARB's). I reverted back to Perindopril 4mg for bp control.	M	30	1 months		7/13/2008
2	Hypertension	Chest pain; anxiety	previously on Toprol XL, but changed due to joint pain and muscle fatigue. Had allergic reaction to Altace, then switched to Cozaar and am up to 100mg now. Have Developed chest pain after nearly any level of physical activity. Resting pulse varies greatly - from 50bpm to 150bpm, accompanied by anxiety above 100bpm. Obviously need to switch again, but what's next?	M	51	21 days		7/7/2008
3	hypertension	Lower back pain which I didn't think anything of at first because I always have lower back pain but this is differnet. Diahhrea, loose bowels at best, GI bloating and lots of gas, neck and headaches, irritable and run down all of the time with achey joints.	I am getting tired of side effects. It seems like everything I take for my BP I end up having side effects eventually. Sometimes they develop quickly. Sometimes they take a long time. I've been on Cozaar for about 9 weeks now and these effects came on rather suddenly about 4 days ago. I was on Lotrel for 2 years before I had any effects. I guess my wife is right. The only solution is to lose weight, walk everday and won't need the meds. Unmedicated my BP can go as high as 170/110. With minimal doses of anything it goes down to around 130/80 or less. I am on 50mg of Cozaar per day	M	49	9 weeks		6/30/2008
3	High Blood Pressure	Increased Urination,	I am taking it along with Coreg (6.25 mg 2x) My BP is ok but I feel drowsy and somnolent many times	F	73	6 months		6/26/2008
4	Mild heart attack, high bp	lower back pain, upper back pain near neck, sinus infection/sore throat	Blood pressure averages around 110/70, taking it along with Verapamil 480mg. BP was about 140/90 before adding Cozaar although I stopped smoking when I started taking Cozaar. Would like to hear from any others who are experiencing similar side effects.	M	55	3 months		6/14/2008 Email
2	hypertensiooon	extra bleeding on my arms when touched or scrapped, immediately could tell i was gonna have edema of my ankles. suffering for a month now with severe edema. i take extra potassium which it says not to do	dr says i am crazy and i am not having a reaction to this medication i say i am the edema is making me crazy i have never had this problem but it grew gradually worse over the winter time and now with summer it is full blown goes down at night semi sorta but by noon my legs are huge and ankles	F	58	365 days		6/12/2008
3	Protect Kidneys from diabetes	At first I was on 50mg and verything was going fine. The micro protein levels were being reduced as we wanted. They were high because I was diabetic for about a year and didn't know it and wasn't getting treatment whatsoever. I sent 3 days without taking it one time and was having horrible dizzy spells and palputations. The DR later increased it to 100mg. After about 3 months, I find my erections are not what they use to be and I have had trouble maintainig one recently. I only takle cozaar and metphormine. The mephormine has not changed in 2 years and I didn't notice any problems until 6 months ago. This is really concerning me	I'm thinking that 100mg may be too much for me. I've researched it on line and find there are some people that have reported similar effects on their erections while on the drug. But, there is a guy on here that says his got stronger. I don't know what to think. Any thoughts? I see my DR tomorrow and will probably ask him to drop the dosage.	M	37	2 years		6/2/2008
1	high blood pressure	intense pain throughout my feet, intense lower back (kidney area) pain, joint pain/ stiffness, headache	these side effects were within 14 hours after ONE pill. my doctor is trying to find a medication that i can tolerate, but out of all of the HBP medications i've tried in the last 3 months, this one is by far the worst. side effects listed were intense and practically immediate. i will not take this drug anymore.	M	37	1 days		5/24/2008
5	Hypertension/autoimmune disease	occasional headaches	I take this because of an underlying kidney condition. Not only has it kept my renal function stable, but it has also gotten me down to a healthy 110/70. A good alternative to a diuretic.	F	17	5 years		5/10/2008
4	hypertension	Anxiety, body aches.	I noticed that my erections are firming now and seem to make my wife happy. My doctor said that there is bye product that comes out of cozaar that makes penis harder.	M	52	20 days		4/24/2008
5	elevated BP	I have experienced no side effects. Works great for me.		F	54	2 years		4/14/2008
4	High BP			M	52	6 days		4/12/2008
3	hbp	lightheadedness & some dizzyness		M	63	2 years		4/7/2008
5	High Blood Pressure. Hypertension	No negative side effects after 4 months use. Feel more relaxed, less agitated. Sleep good. BP is now typically around 124/75 . New Doc recently increased dosage to 50mg 2x/day vs. 1x day 'to provide added protection for kidneys"...????		M	58	4 months		3/31/2008 Email
1	mild hypertension	Strange feelings and pain in my body. My heart was hurting and I got depressed first time in my life. Insomnia, coughing and difficut to concentrate. After quitting I got a terrible bloodpressure in my head when i was at the gym. Ambulance took me to emergency. It took me three monthes to get rid of the side effects but now I dont take anything but I changed my eating habbits and take a long brisk walk everyday! I am completely well now and BP is 78 under 123	A doctor told me Cozaar is made from a South American snake's poison (synthetic now) "so it is possible that people who are sensitive can get same reaction as a snake bitten person". Then I understood why I had felt so sick and I stopped taking Cozaar and consequently I almost died three days later of a brain attac. I was hospitalised for a day and night.	F	55	3 months		3/29/2008 Email
2	High Blood Pressure	Slight insomina, and elbow joint pain.	I'm glad I found this website, I couldn't figure out what I did to my elbow.	F	43	6 weeks		3/12/2008 Email
1	HBP	For the past six weeks, I've been experiencing extreme fatigue, agonizing pain in my neck and knees, muscular weakness, palpitations, dizziness and general malaise, but didn't make the connection with Cozaar. I'm so glad I found this website.		F	57	2 months		3/6/2008
1	HTN	dry mouth, anxiety, rapid heartbeat/pvcs, depression, sweats, disorientation, drowsiness, difficulty controlling sugar level	My sistolic blood pressure still fluctuates between 160 to 180 and I can't see how it can go down with the level of anxiety and palpitation created by the medicine. With Lisinopril my blood pressure went down relaxation but I had to discontinue it since it affected control of my blood sugar. Now I find the same happening with Cozaar. I am going to try a Naturepathic doctor and see how it works for me. I feel we are being used as test tubes for the drug companies. People are very different and are therefore affected differently and drugs don't take that into consideration.	F	57	3 months		2/29/2008
1	Hypertension	Fatigue, Muscle weakness, Extremely winded after 15 minutes of cardio exercise, sore joints in arms, slight insomnia, nasal congestion-not as bad as Benicar gave me,	was taking 25mg, product not working for me, less side effects than Benicar, was on Calan for 12 years, switched to ARBII products for 6 months, but now going back on CCB product Norvasc.	M	42	3 months		2/29/2008
1	blood pressure	I took cozaar for three days and the back pain was so severe. As a matter of fact, my back continues to hurt and I no longer take this prescription drug. I also felt sluggish and my sinus were swollen while taking this medicine, and it affected my eyes. I have not been able to get back into my routine sleep pattern after taking this medicine. On the plus side it did lower my blood pressure.	I would not recommend this medicine.	F	42	3 days		2/11/2008
3	High BP	I am not sure if it is caused by Cozaar but have started a ringing in the ears which I have had checked and nothing wrong. I have read some of the comments and am wondering if the pain i get in my knees and hip are because of it. I am also experiencing hair loss and doctor took me off 1/2 tablet atenolol. Weight does not seem to go down even though i am exercising and keeping a watch on my diet! I was on Diovan first but when I switched insurance companies, they would not prescribe it to me. I did not experience any of this on Diovan. With Cozaar my libido is almost non-existent!		F	56	3 years		2/7/2008 Email
4	hbp	back/hip pain possibly----Dr. never said it could be related to this medicine. Makes me curious.	Lisinipril made me cough. Cough did not go away immediately with cozaar, but eventually subsided. HBP is back to normal now with cozaar. I also take digoxin for irregular heartbeat that i've had for 20 years. Cozaar is very pricey, even with my rx discount.	F	46	3 months		2/5/2008 Email
3	High blood	Extreem fatigue, low libido, irritabillity, sore heel joints, light headed... most of what others are saying, but with different degrees of seriousness.	It would appear that the side effects have different qualities for different people, BUT there are some side effects which seems to be a common denominator to most users. This means that there are valid reasons to be sceptical and aware of the dangers. I am looking into weaning myself off this chemical drug for something called Preasure-ease. More natural	M	53	5 years		2/4/2008 Email
5	High Blood Pressure	None. One of the main reasons I rate this drug a 5. I have taken a number of others and think its great.		M	49	2 months		1/20/2008 Email
1	HBP	Warm feeling in feet after 3 days of taking 100 mg. Stopped taking for 4 days and experienced severe fatigue. Started taking again and side effects got worse. Here are a few- insomnia, anxiety, rapid heatbeat/fluttering, severe depression, nightmares, lack of concentration, loss of sex drive and erection, sweats, rattling chills, severe headache and neck pain, stuffiness, choking sensation from a feeling of having a finger down my throat which caused nausea. Side effects not all at once. Some would dissipate for days then return. The longer I was on it the more intense they got. I can't handle the anxiety and depression. I feel like I am literally losing my mind. I want to sleep it off but I can't. What a miserable experience. I am scared to take anything else. I think I'll become a vegetarian, cut all salt and exercise like CRAZY!	This medicine was given to me as a sample. This medicine, to me, hasn't been researched long enough.	M	31	4 weeks		1/17/2008
4	hypertension	angioedema- my tongue, eylids ,lips were a little swollen, and I have muscle pain. Then my tongue started having little cracks on it, making it painful to eat or even drink anything. THis lasted about one week. My doctor said once I did not have any airway obstruction it was ok and that my tongue will heal and it did. I remained on cozaar because it's managing by bp well. I'm now 117/70. For now it's doing the job, unlike norvasc which caused my upper and lower extremeties to swell.		F	43	5 days		1/7/2008
3	mild hypertension	Fatigue, joint pain, muscular aches	No side effects when starting dosage, and it works to lower b/p. Side effects seemed to "sneak up" on me after 6-7 months. Stopping dosage for even a short time relieved s/e almost immediately. My dosage was very low..1/2 25mg/day	M	72	9 months		1/7/2008
3	Hypertension	Muscle and tendon pain, affecting lower back, elbows and upper arms.	I am asking my doctor for advice on discontinuing the drug.	M		2 years		1/7/2008
5	Hypertension	For the initial 2-3 weeks after starting cozaar I felt like i might have been experiencing some mild adverse mental effects like drowsiness or cloudiness. However I am also on beta blockers, and I changed from a different medication. This could explain the cloudy feelings. No other overt adverse side effects. The only issue with the medicine is that it won't be available in generic form for at least another 2-3 years. I'll go broke. I think alot of you guys that have these crazy side effects are hypos. I think you need to get a doctor you trust, and give the medicine clear, objective consideration before discontinuing. If you don't take the medicine, there are far greater consequences than being tired or having diarrhea... like death. It's been 1.5 years since i started taking cozaar.	If I take Cozaar at night, I sleep better. If I take my dose about 1.5 hours before I plan to sleep, it's easier to sleep. For the longest time I had pretty bad palpitations. When I started taking cozaar, they diminished and they're basically gone now. This could be purely coincidence. For the most part, my blood pressure is stable, with no big spikes or troughs in between or just after taking the med. On an even more positive note, I read in some studies that cozaar was beneficial to people that have brain diseases like parkinsons or alzheimer's. I also read somewhere that people who take cozaar have "significant increases in sexual satisfaction" -- whatever that means. I haven't noticed.	M	24	1.5 years		1/6/2008
2	Hypertension	joint pain, irregular heartbeat, depression		F	47	1 years		12/30/2007
3	hypertension	dizzyness, light-headedness	worked for first year, but now seeme inneffective	M	63	2 years		12/26/2007
3	hbp	none		M	66	10 days		12/7/2007

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Average rating for drug: 2.9. This page is printer-friendly; use landscape print with background color turned on.

Key to ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine.

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